Realizing the promise of enterprise video communications · correct video origin, protects a...

© 2007 Palgrave Macmillan Ltd 1743–6540 $30.00 Vol. 3, 4 197–208 JOURNAL OF DIGITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT 197

www.palgrave-journals.com/dam

Mukul Krishna 7550 14-10 West, Suite 400, San Antonio, TX 78229, USA.E-mail: mkrishna@frost.

com

Realizing the promise of enterprise video communications Mukul Krishna is responsible for the digital media practice at Frost & Sullivan. He has written extensively on the enterprise content management, digital asset management, video server, video streaming and encoding services and interactive kiosk markets. He has also led consulting projects in these fi elds for key clients, has spoken at various speaking engagements on his area of expertise and is widely quoted in the press, including major publications such as Forbes and the Economist.

Keywords: enterprise video , rich media , technology drivers , value chain , corporate governance

Abstract The adoption of digitized rich media content has been progressively changing the business landscape over the past decade. Historically, the media and entertainment space has led the market in demand for managing rich media content. Now increasingly, with a surge in the usage of all types of digital content, the need for organizations across industry verticals to manage and deliver rich media communications has grown dramatically. This shift in demand has primarily come about because of the extensive and increasing use of time-based content (audio, video and animation) across departments within the enterprise. Coupled with improvements in the corporate IT infrastructure and network capacities, corporate entities have started seeing the tremendous ROI in moving towards a digitized environment. Global 2000 companies not only have much of their brand equity on rich media but also have accumulated and are continuously creating a large amount of rich content in corporate communications, education and training, HR / benefi t administration, sales / channel enablement and other departmental areas. The desire and ability to use rich media to educate and communicate across the enterprise, both internally and externally, has resulted in the need to store and manage those assets in a scalable and secure fashion. The further inclusion of added functionalities such as interactivity with the media, on-demand content, tracking and auditing of usage has led to the establishment of a whole new market category of Enterprise Video Communications (EVC) software and technology.

EVC business drivers :

1. Use video to communicate quickly and easily. 2. Create and distribute live, VOD and Digital Signage seamlessly. 3. Schedule and conduct video events with minimal IT intervention. 4. View usage reports that present “ who watched what for how long ” . 5. Deliver and repurpose video to multiple platforms: portals, plasmas, devices.

EVC technology drivers

1. Proactively manage and monitor video infrastructure through a single, web-based console.

2. Scalable and reliable live and video on demand (VOD) delivery. 3. Elimination of Live ] VOD ] Digital Signage interfaces. 4. Publishing point and distribution network fallover. 5. Security administration that addresses user authentication and network security.

Although there is strong and growing interest for EVC solutions, the market is relatively new and corporations are only now becoming cognizant of the requirement to have

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JOURNAL OF DIGITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT Vol. 3, 4 197–208 © 2007 Palgrave Macmillan Ltd 1743–6540 $30.00198

THE ENTERPRISE VIDEO VALUE CHAIN

Enterprise video applications As enterprises embrace the use of video assets within their business process, the need to effectively create, manage and distribute those assets through a single platform has increased in importance. An enterprise-wide business video strategy may include live video webcasting,

video on-demand (VOD), and digital signage / syndication capabilities, all functioning transparently on an organization ’ s existing IT infrastructure ( Figure 1 ).

Video creation and authoring Video may be created and / or captured through various means within an organization. Video events may include live event webcasts, video

Figure 1 : The enterprise video value chain

technology and business processes in place to effectively scale rich media usage. Many organizations today, when pressed to implement an initial platform for EVC, have either pieced together various point solutions available in the market, or have developed homegrown solutions. This ad hoc , customized approach has created a drain on IT resources due to many factors such as:

The time and money required to develop and integrate the solutions. The requirement to maintain and upgrade these solutions over time. Communication and portability issues associated with the lack of industry standards and best practices. Business users are forced to rely on IT resources rather than work autonomously.

Integrating and streamlining the various point solutions into a seamless “ Video Value Chain ” is a core requirement for companies embarking on an enterprise video implementation. In the subsequent sections, we will describe in further detail the application and infrastructure components of the Video Value Chain, and the overarching EVC framework that unifi es the components into a complete, end-to-end solution. Journal of Digital Asset Management (2007) 3, 197 – 208. doi: 10.1057/palgrave.dam.3650086

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Realizing the promise of enterprise video communications


conferences, classroom training programs, corporate and investor relations video presentations and marketing / promotional collateral.

The proliferation of video production has led to adoption beyond the traditional studio-based, highly produced live event webcast to the “ democratization ” of video creation in meeting rooms, classrooms and to events produced from an individual ’ s offi ce. A true EVC solution must be able to support the corporate communications requirement, where executive presentations are delivered live to large audiences, and the application supports a separate moderator user interface to enable slide advancement, polling and interactive Q & A. Given the level of senior management exposure and target audience size typical of this use case, it is important to have a stable application and supporting infrastructure in place to avoid event failure and / or partial delivery to the viewer audience.

While the studio-based, corporate communications use case is a critical part of an EVC solution, the system must also be able to support more distributed, lower “ production value ” creation scenarios: conference room webcasting, classroom-based video training or in-offi ce podcasting. In order to encourage the adoption of video communications while minimizing the resource allocation, product maintenance, support and training burden, it is important to select a single platform that offers applications targeted to each of the use cases that are of interest within a given organization.

As a complement to live event creation, a complete EVC solution must have VOD capabilities that not only facilitate the conversion of live event webcasts to archive but also provide stand-alone video editing capabilities for previously recorded or uploaded content. VOD editing capabilities include video event trimming (where the delay at the front or back end of a video is deleted), chaptering, metadata editing, categorization and indexing. Another key trend in the EVC market is the demand for integrated solutions that allow archiving and playback of video conferencing sessions. With the introduction of technologies that enable conversion of video conferencing content to IP format, this high ROI requirement is no longer a “ leap of faith ” but a tangible reality.

Digital signage and syndication Increasingly, digital signage is becoming a key tool used by organizations to provide constant streams of information for internal and external consumption, usually in the form of video. Digital signage can be defi ned as a network of displays that can be remotely managed and whose business model revolves around messaging, merchandising or advertising. Digital signage technology is comprised of centrally managed playback devices that serve content to displays. The media players receive and store video, audio, graphic and text via an IP Network and display the content according to a pre-defi ned playlist.

Until now, the end-user market has been characterized by point solution purchases creating breaks and bottlenecks in the transition from live event creation, to VOD, to digital signage. These breaks in the “ video value chain ” have led to signifi cant head aches for IT and dissatisfaction within the user community. Given the growth in usage across live, VOD and signage, it is essential that organizations migrate to a common platform that supports all three usage scenarios seamlessly.

Enterprise video security Delivering rich media to distributed users across the network represents new challenges for IT organizations that must be understood and addressed carefully. In addition to the need for role-based security profi les that determine which individuals can perform certain application functions or access specifi c content, attention must be given to network security and, where applicable, Digital Rights Management (DRM) to secure content that is highly sensitive and widely distributed.

Large enterprises are beginning to demand comprehensive identity and access management solutions that can provide self-service to end users in a secure environment, while addressing all aspects of user administration, authentication and access control. Identity and access management is defi ned as the process of managing authentication, access rights, privileges and administration of digital users. It is essential that an EVC platform integrate with an organization ’ s authentication schema, lightweight direct access protocol (LDAP) or others, to ensure that the corporate security model is not violated.

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In addition to developing and adhering to a user access and authentication model, it is critical that delivery and distribution of video over the network is managed properly to avoid live event “ intercepts ” or the persistence of VOD assets remaining on the edge of the network. To address these concerns, organizations should consider adoption of EVC solutions that provide dynamic URL generation for video events and the deletion of nonactive content from the network “ edge ” . Dynamic URL generation, where a unique URL is generated for each video event that directs authorized users to the correct video origin, protects a company from having unwanted parties detect and tap into static or hard-wired URLs. Deletion of nonactive VOD content from all connected servers on the network, based on retention schedules maintained by an EVC administrator, prevents unauthorized parties from accessing expired, but still sensitive content.

DRM technology can be used to control unauthorized access to sensitive and confi dential information. Be it health records, sales fi gures, sensitive correspondence through email or copyrighted rich media fi les — in order to maintain the level of security required for data not to leave the defi ned boundaries, there is a need to integrate DRM solutions with the EVC solution.

Viewership monitoring and reporting In large-scale EVC deployments where users may be accessing video programs around the clock, it is essential to have systems in place to monitor and report on video usage. Knowing what unique users are viewing video programs, when they are viewing them and what type of programs are most often accessed is valuable information that can aid in planning video communications more effectively.

Tracking usage on an individual user basis for required program completion also ensures compliance. Reports should be available for both live and on-demand. For live video communications, an event manager should be able to run a report to see how many viewers are online at any given moment during an event. Additionally, streaming server connections should be monitored during events so that any dropped connection can be immediately detected and re-routed.

Polling is also a key component for live events, and allows real-time interaction with the viewing audience. This type of dynamic interaction enhances video communications in a way that parallels face-to-face communication. Video communications solutions should provide the most common report types in easy-to-use browser-based reporting applications. It is important, however, to ensure that the system uses a database to store all user information for maximum reporting fl exibility. This allows third-party reporting tools to extract customized report data at any time.

Enterprise video infrastructure In order to create and deliver video content in a secure and scalable fashion, a number of key infrastructure components must be managed effectively, including: encoding and transcoding, streaming servers, content delivery networks (CDNs) and storage systems ( Figure 2 ).

Encoders / transcoders Encoding is the process of taking analog media, in the form of audio or video, and converting it into digital format. Transcoding is the process of taking digitized audio / video and encoding it in a different format. By encoding in digital formats, enterprises are able to take a compressed form of video that takes less bandwidth to distribute and playback. Encoding, and optionally transcoding, is important to enable streaming video over private or public networks. In the case of studio-based live event webcasts, the ability to confi gure a system with multiple encoder failover is a critical requirement.

Streaming servers A streaming platform over an IP network is defi ned as a software system with a server component and a client component that allows rich media to be delivered over private or public networks. Streaming servers deliver content over the network through the server component and allow users to watch dynamic media content via client component media players residing on their desktops.

Content delivery networks The content delivery market is defi ned as the technology and services that enable the rapid



and uninterrupted fl ow of content from the origin server to the end user. A CDN is a service that increases the web and streaming content sites ’ performance by pushing frequently requested content to the edges of the network, positioning it closer to end users and thereby reducing the wait time by avoiding overly crowded areas in the internet cloud that can lead to packet loss. This is accomplished through a system of computers networked together across the internet that work in conjunction seamlessly to deliver content to end users. An investment in CDN infrastructure is key for companies desiring to deliver live event webcasts and / or distribute VOD to large audiences.

Media asset management Media asset management solutions enable the archiving, management and delivery of media. Products that come within the scope of this space are used in the management of digital content, which includes various fi le types such as audio, video, graphics, animation and images, among others. Solutions in this area generally enable the archiving, indexing, search and retrieval, ingest, browsing, repurposing, display and transport of digital media. The key to effective media asset management starts primarily through different forms of metadata capture and categorization.

There are a number of asset management requirements that are unique to video, due to the nature of the content and its use in the enterprise. Typically, a given enterprise video event will consist of a video stream — with Microsoft PowerPoint or other presentation materials synchronized with it — that is stored as a fi le and grouped with other downloadable collateral related to the EVC event. This grouping of event and downloadable fi les is often referred to as a “ program bundle ” , which is then published (sometimes via categories or “ channels ” ) to a portal or other user interfaces. The association of metadata at the program, fi le and streaming fi le time interval is also a feature set unique to the universe of media asset management.

Video component summary The scope and complexity of software and infrastructure components outlined in the previous section might sound like a handful, but business and IT managers should not be alarmed by this perception due to two recent developments that together have made delivery of video across the enterprise feasible and cost effective:

The maturation of the component technologies, and their ability to scale individually, has improved exponentially.

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Encoding / Transconding

Video Server

Digital Signage

Content Delivery NetworkVOD

VOD

VODContent AcquisitionCorporate VideoTraining VideoVideo WebcastVideo ConferencingEmergency Broadcast

Archive Management Security

Multiple PC Users

Mobile Devices

ENTERPRISE VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS

SYSTEM

Video Management

Tracking/Auditing

InteractivityOn-demand

Content

Corporate IT

Figure 2 : The enterprise video infrastructure

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The advent of comprehensive, EVC solutions that manage all of the infrastructure components under a single platform has simplifi ed the video event execution for IT and business users alike.

The latter point is critical, as EVC solutions not only provide a unifi ed management console for IT but also free up business users to create and deliver video events with minimal IT intervention.

THE BUSINESS CHALLENGE OF IMPLEMENTING AN EFFECTIVE EVC STRATEGY The ability to harness video as an effective communication tool in an enterprise environment is a relatively new phenomenon that is now possible due to numerous technological advances especially in terms of improved video compression formats and increased bandwidth availability. With the rapid proliferation of video in the enterprise, the need to manage and distribute video assets has led corporate entities to encounter signifi cant challenges. Most organizations are aware of the business need to manage video, but few are aware of effective solutions that support both the business users who create, present and view video events and IT who manage the underlying environment.

With rising travel costs, the cost of lost or misplaced work, the expense and risk of maintaining a physical archive and the increased time to market associated with analog assets, many organizations have launched initiatives to digitize their business processes. With this business transformation, digital video has now emerged as a primary means to communicate to internal and external stakeholders. This transformation has come about because of the following key factors.

Reaching large audiences with uniform messages and information Utilizing video in an enterprise allows a company to reach an extremely wide audience that may otherwise be diffi cult to reach. Streaming video over an intranet can make vital information available to anyone in the company at any time. In addition, extremely large numbers of employees and partners can be reached simultaneously if desired. Interactive

• features allow real-time polls and Q & A sessions to provide instant feedback and guide the participants towards a more productive session instead of a one-way broadcast. Additionally, the ability to offer VOD playback capabilities further extends the communication reach for a given event.

Corporate education and training is one of the most important applications for EVC. Corporations are striving to create better-trained employees to improve effi ciency and meet corporate goals and client needs. This is essential in the face of a rapidly changing business landscape, where the ability to keep employees armed with the latest skills required, and the latest corporate messaging and positioning, is an enterprise-critical success factor.

Large companies are continuously striving to ensure that the vision of the company is understood at all levels. EVC allows corporations to create and communicate important messages to an array of employees and partners. Corporate communications may include new product information, marketing communications, repositioning of existing products or simply sharing of work and ideas. By utilizing EVC technologies, an enterprise can increase the frequency and impact of their corporate communications, creating a better understanding of goals and objectives between upper management and employees.

Video conferencing allows one or more participants to collaborate with others in different locations. In addition, important conferences and meetings can be stored, archived and viewed at a later time. Video conferencing applications are extremely bandwidth intensive as they require two-way high-bandwidth network connections. As the world moves towards a global economy, however, the need for face-to-face dialogue with partners, customers, shareholders and employees is becoming more diffi cult to accomplish economically and effi ciently. With travel budgets under pressure, video conferencing, augmented by video webcasting and VOD archival, are fast becoming the key modes of visual communication for the global enterprise.

ROI through enterprise video The value proposition that digital media brings to an organization is multi-faceted and diverse.



Managing rich media assets, an essential part of the EVC value chain, provides tangible metrics to assess the ROI that an organization realizes from this process. Frost & Sullivan has examined ROI metrics for companies undergoing this process transformation for over fi ve years. The following example illustrates benefi ts in terms of the cost of man-hours that a regional affi liate of a broadcasting and cable network received through deploying an EVC solution. The company delivers more than 200 channels of programming in digital-quality picture and sound. For the regional affi liate, there are approximately 45 employees that are publishing and managing branded media assets from programming to advertising material. They include marketing mangers and employees with technical media experience who are involved with ad insertion and data up-link ( Table 1 ).

The implementation of the media management component of the EVC solution results in a 7:1 reduction in the time spent on publishing and management of media assets. Work that formerly required an employee 30 h to complete has now been reduced to 4.3 h per week after implementation. Because the solution enables employees to create intelligent queries that can be run across the entire organization ’ s central repository of brand assets, the time spent manually shuffl ing through video content is all but eliminated. Previously, assets may have resided in different fi le systems, in different locations, with different metadata models applied to each. Now with a properly implemented EVC system where there is one repository and all of these parameters are consistent, the result for this company is a total cost of $ 201,240 per annum, an annual cost savings of $ 1,202,760.

This is a saving of 85.6 per cent on the cost of man-hours.

As seen in the example, the ROI associated with an EVC implementation can lead to signifi cant cost savings for a company. Organizations across verticals have started acquiring content in a digital form or are looking to encode legacy content into digital formats. Archiving solutions add value to the digital asset by creating a process to index, search and retrieve the asset. This is a great time saver when it comes to production time and in turn reduces overhead costs signifi cantly. The process also enables repurposing of digital assets, especially video, which are now of great value to corporate entities and advertising fi rms that have huge repositories of their branded electronic assets that need to be catalogued. By employing digital delivery services, dispersed workers can easily work and access the same assets from different locations and, in so doing, also cut down the time-to-market signifi cantly.

Corporate governance and compliance Corporate governance consists of company policies that address a company ’ s assets and employees. These policies are often associated with internal controls, operational effi ciency or both. Internal controls refer to the rules a company implements for information lifecycle management (data migration, retention and disposition) whereas operational effi ciency pertains to lowering operational costs, increasing worker productivity and improving fi nancial performance. Effective management and record keeping of assets has become paramount for enterprises to reduce their exposure to fi nancial risk and litigation.

Table 1 : Cost of man-hours

Before media management

After media management

Savings

Number of employees in direct contact with brand-related media assets

45 45

Average time that an employee spends managing media assets

30 h per week 4.3 h per week 25.7 h per week

Average cost of employee $ 20 per hour $ 20 per hour Total annual cost for this company in man-hours spent managing media assets

$ 1,404,000 $ 201,240 $ 1,202,760

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The increasing popularity of video communications in the enterprise is having a signifi cant impact on corporate governance and compliance. Much has been done to capture, organize and archive static content (documents, fi les, web content) in an effort to ensure corporate compliance, but very little has been done to date to proactively manage video content that is proliferating across the enterprise. Ironically, video content is one of the most sensitive “ content types ” : it is highly attributable, as the creator or presenter is directly linked to the message and content they are delivering (unlike a document or static fi le, where authorship is more disputable). As a result, the ability to detect and capture video assets that are being created across the enterprise, track and report video event viewership and archive and delete expired video assets in an organized fashion are critical requirements for companies actively managing corporate governance and compliance.

The EVC needs assessment matrix Interactive and on-demand video is rapidly emerging as the communication medium of

choice for organizations. As discussed earlier, through proper implementation, an effective enterprise video strategy has the potential of not only providing signifi cant cost savings but also enabling revenue generation and productivity enhancement. Despite these growth drivers, however, there is still much confusion and a signifi cant lack of awareness among organizations about solutions that can help them achieve effective video creation, management and delivery through component integration under a single robust platform.

To effectively consider an organization ’ s current and future video requirements, and make a proactive and aligned platform decision, the EVC Needs Assessment Matrix has been defi ned ( Table 2 ).

THE VENDOR RESPONSE A growing number of organizations today are using video on a regular basis to communicate, train, market and share product information, services offerings and reinforce corporate culture. With video becoming more popular as the tool of choice to communicate and message internally and externally, the effort and

Table 2 : Enterprise video communications needs assessment matrix

Yes No

Enterprise video business applications required to create and publish video content • Live event webcasting, including slide synchronization, interactive polling and

Q & A, to an appropriately sized concurrent user audience

• Video On-Demand, including tools to edit, assign metadata and categorize video content, as well as workfl ow to publish events to portals and/or other access devices

• Digital signage, delivery of video events to defi ned signage end points, confi gurable playlist to defi ne “ what to play where at what time ”

• Video sourcing, ingestion of pre-existing or externally produced events, as well as live event streaming through publishing system

• Monitoring and reporting, including reports that indicate “ who viewed what for how long, ” event relevance and EVC system monitoring

Management of network components required to stream and distribute video content • Integration with multiple 3rd-party Content Delivery Networks, including Cisco,

Blue Coat, Stratacache, etc, to automate content distribution

• LDAP integration, for authentication of users, or integration to other 3rd-party or in-house developed authentication systems

• Multiple levels of failover, across the entire length of the distribution chain: encoder, streaming server and distribution path

• Proximity services, which automatically determine the mapping of end users to geographic end points

• Dynamic URL generation, created automatically for each video event to avoid unauthorized access

• Automated publishing point setup and teardown, in the form of video publishing/distribution templates, to minimize manual IT per-event confi guration



complexity required to support the line-of-business user and simultaneously automate IT processes is increasing at a dramatic rate. Customers desire solutions that minimize and

streamline the myriad of “ moving parts ” at both the end-user application and infrastructure levels.

One of the few companies that have stepped up to the plate to address the EVC needs of an

• Clustered server environment, for video streaming and end-user polling/Q & A to support large concurrent audiences

• Live to video on-demand (VOD) transition, to seamlessly archive live-event webcasts to VOD for future playback

• Webcasting in native Windows Media Server environments, to support locations that do not have CDN infrastructure

• VOD scalable distribution, including pre-positioning to edge servers and deletion from the edge upon asset expiration

• Integration with video conferencing, to allow VOD archiving and/or webcasting to wider audiences

• Extensible platform that integrates with and readily adapts to other technologies added to the video infrastructure: encoders, CDNs, authoring tools, search tools, etc

Asset management for the storage, categorization and retrieval of video programs • Unifi ed storage system, which allows the creation, ingestion and storage of all

video assets across the enterprise

• Video asset management, including creation of program bundles that include video stream, synchronized slides and downloadable fi les

• Video metatagging, including automated metatag attribution at creation and ingest, and manual override/addition capabilities

• Asset categorization and search, including publishing video to pre-defi ned “ channels ” and calendars, to provide multiple means to locate and view programs

• Video content expiration, scheduling content for expiration and automated deletion from user interfaces and network edge locations

• Digital Rights Management, integration with 3rd-party DRM systems to ensure content protection in distributed environments

Program viewing across multiple viewer formats • Customized user experiences, for administrators, publishers, presenters and

viewers

• Dynamically generated end user portal, which displays only that content which an end-user has access rights to

• Integration with third-party portal technologies, to expose video content and services in enterprise portals

• Integration with single-sign-on technologies, through an SSO integration framework

• Video content syndication, to multiple web properties, mobile devices and digital signage displays

• Program search and retrieval, via user search, categorization and calendar updates • Desktop calendaring integration, with widely used and currently installed systems

(Outlook, etc)

• Content subscription services, to enable push of content to end users based on topics of interest and live events

Centralized management system with remote access capabilities • Centralized administration console, available through web interface to distributed

IT personnel

• Remote location management, supporting multiple encoders, encoding formats and distribution paradigms at multiple distributed locations

Table 2 : Continued

Yes No

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enterprise is Media Publisher. The company is unique in its approach to addressing the enterprise video business and technology challenge. Media Publisher offers a complete, all-in-one EVC solution, comprised of a suite of applications designed to support business users as they create and deliver live event webcasts, VOD and digital signage solutions, as well as one of the industry ’ s fi rst platforms, designed to support IT with proactive management of all related video infrastructure components — the Video Control Center ( Figure 3 ).

Media Publisher provides a complete video communications solution with an emphasis on scalability and reliability for the global enterprise.

The Video Control Center provides a robust software platform on which the Media Publisher applications are built. Solutions for specifi c customer needs are available across multiple industries ( Table 3 ).

By offering a single platform that supports the complete “ video value chain ” — live event webcasting, VOD and digital signage — as well as a Video Control Center to manage the underlying video infrastructure, Media Publisher unifi es business processes under a common system, aggregates video content into a single, centralized system and positions the enterprise to grow its video use with confi dence. The modular nature of Media Publisher allows an organization to start an EVC roll-out at one end of the value chain, live event webcasting for example, and then expand usage over time to other applications and departmental use cases.

Similar to other communication systems in use within the enterprise — email, voicemail, etc — it is imperative that organizations migrate to a common platform to facilitate EVC. Adoption of nonuniform or point solutions, on a department-by-department basis or otherwise, will signifi cantly diminish the communication, information sharing and content reuse advantages of a common platform. Since its

Table 3 : Media publisher solution components at a glance

Product Description

Media publisher video control center

Connects all components of the video infrastructure together, providing overall management of the video assets, the video network, the display of video for end users and reporting

MP Live EventPRO Provides a fl exible and highly scalable software application for live video webcast

events, providing global companies with true enterprise-wide video communications with multiple levels of failover to ensure a successful video experience

MP LiveCaster Allows non technical business users to deliver a live video webcast without

learning how to use a special tool, freeing them to present as they would to a live audience while the system automatically captures their computer screen and shares it with the remote audience viewers

MP VOD Manager Provides the most scalable VOD solution available anywhere, with the ability to manage and categorize many 1,000s of video assets and provide end users with easy ways to search for and view video presentations online

MP digital signage Enables publishing of video content to LCD and plasma displays for dynamic

messaging, enabling the extension of enterprise communications beyond the desktop

MP MediaNet Provides media delivery services for live webcasting that allows customers to

leverage new or existing streaming media servers and create a tightly connected, fully managed delivery network that provides an unparalleled level of security and fault-tolerant reliability

Figure 3 : Media publisher Enterprise Video Communica-tions solution



inception, Media Publisher has aggressively addressed both dimensions of the EVC challenge required to provide a unifying solution — application breadth and platform scale and reliability. In so doing, Media Publisher offers a comprehensive solution for companies desiring to focus more of their energy on the central business value of EVC — organizational communication and education — and less on infrastructure development and support.

EVC IN ACTION

JYSKE BANK

Profi le Based in Denmark, Jyske Bank has 3,700 employees and 122 branch offi ces offering a full range of fi nancial solutions to retail as well as corporate clients. Jyske Bank is known for its innovation and is constantly striving to offer more advanced services to customers ahead of any other fi nancial institution .

Challenge Jyske Bank was experiencing increased pressure to innovate and stay ahead of the competition. The executive team had a vision to leverage technology to set the company apart and differentiate their services. Video was a core part of their vision to distinguish themselves in the eyes of their customers and employees and defi ne their brand in a very competitive retail banking marketplace.

Goals

Provide executives with a better way to communicate to geographically dispersed staff. Supply one integrated video delivery infrastructure that minimizes cost and resources. Digital signage video content must reach every branch and employee without signifi cant latency or bandwidth constraints. Control access rights so that only the intended audience can view video content.

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Improve customer service through new channels and capabilities. Provide consistent communication to employees for the introduction of new products.

Solution benefi ts Today, customers experience a completely new and dynamic experience when they walk into a Jyske branch offi ce. The EVC infrastructure is in place to manage their ongoing video needs, including live webcasting, VOD and digital signage in the branch offi ces. Benefi ts include:

Extended services create differentiation and increased customer value. Video kiosks provide customer self-service and increased satisfaction. The Jyske brand is consistently delivered through dynamic video at every branch. Time-critical information is delivered to the appropriate audiences instantly. Tighter communications between executives and their business units provide a stronger shared vision and sense of community. Employee training is more effective with valuable reporting metrics.

LAMAR UNIVERSTIY

Profi le Based in Beaumont, Texas, Lamar University offers over 100 programs of study administered through fi ve colleges and a graduate school. Lamar also has relationships with regional education service centers and is chartered to deliver traditional distance learning content out to the local K-12 schools.

Challenges

Huge demand to provide e-learning to its IT division initially with the requirement to expand across all of the different departments. Create and distribute video over existing infrastructure (eg Cisco ’ s hardware).

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Use recorded video training to replace in-person training. Requirement for interactive communications between students and teachers. Need to digitize media to reduce the time spent in delivering VHS tapes physically. Requirement for key employees to meet State of Texas training and compliance demand audits.

Solution benefi ts Lamar University was determined to increase the ways for students, faculty and employees to communicate and learn in an environment that optimized the experience. Extending the channels for distributing material via e-learning, VOD and live events was the only viable solution for Lamar. Benefi ts of the Media Publisher solution include:

Options for interdepartmental communications and student learning is signifi cantly improved. Sensitive information and pertinent classroom material is delivered to the appropriate employees and students across Lamar ’ s existing infrastructure. Videotaped training improves productivity by saving the time and resources spent in face-to-face sessions. Real-time interactivity between faculty and students is leveraged through live polling and survey distribution. Video content is auditable, which allows Lamar to fulfi ll compliance demands.

CONCLUSIONS Video usage in organizations has come a long way from its perception as a “ nice to have ” asset to a “ must have ” communication tool. Despite the widespread use of enterprise video, most organizations still struggle with deploying a comprehensive video communications strategy. Although end-users are getting more educated about individual components of the video value chain, the overall picture still looks blurry to them.

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The end-user market has never been better positioned to roll out true enterprise-grade video communications systems. The value proposition of using video and digital media as a primary means to communicate and educate across wide audiences is quickly becoming an accepted concept for entities in both the private and public sector. Organizations have made, and are continuing to make, investments in infrastructure components required to capture and deliver video. As a complement to these investments, comprehensive software solutions are available that provide the full range of applications required to support business users, while simultaneously unifying and proactively managing core infrastructure technologies. The advancement and convergence of video software and infrastructure technologies has, for the fi rst time, enabled the creation and delivery of video content to distributed audiences in a secure and scalable fashion.

In a rapidly growing and evolving market, it is critical for organizations to make investment decisions that support both their immediate-term and long-term needs. Solutions like Media Publisher offer signifi cant advantages to organizations that are just getting started with video in the enterprise, as well as organizations that are expanding video usage to multiple events per month, week or day. Media Publisher ’ s complete suite of business applications allows end-users to create live and VOD programs with minimal assistance from IT. The Media Publisher Video Control Center allows the IT organization to leverage and manage existing infrastructure technologies, as well as incorporate other component investments over time.

This paper has shown how organizations across industry verticals are now uniquely positioned to realize the business and IT benefi ts of enterprise video. With the availability of end-to-end solutions like Media Publisher, the waiting game is over — realizing the promise of EVC is here today.

Realizing the promise of enterprise video communications · correct video origin, protects a...

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