The Video Conferencing Cloud of Confusion

Transcription

1 October 2015 The Video Conferencing Cloud of Confusion Demystifying the myths behind video conferencing cloud services This paper sponsored by

2 Introduction The concept of the cloud is all the buzz in the video conferencing industry. In the process, cloud has generated renewed interest in video conferencing, excitement about new features and capabilities, and most prominently a cloud of confusion about what cloud even means for this 25+ year old industry. At a recent industry event, Wainhouse Research (WR) delivered a presentation entitled, The Cloud of Confusion which highlighted our observation that enterprise customers, channel partners, and even vendors are confused about the pros, cons, and risks associated with cloud services, and what cloud services could mean for their company. Our goal was to demystify the concept of cloud, and enable informed decision making. Apparently our presentation resonated with many people, as we ve received countless requests for more detail about this theme. Recognizing the importance of this topic, cloud video conferencing and calling service provider StarLeaf asked us to expand on the concepts we presented during that event within a formal study (this paper). Our intention with this study is to cut through the fog and provide clear answers to key questions that conferencing managers are often afraid to ask like: - What is a cloud service? - What makes one service different from another? - How can I choose between service offerings? - How can I minimize the risk associated with a cloud service deployment? Note that the concepts and ideas within this study are positioned within the context of conferencing, collaboration, and UC. Although this study focuses on publicly accessible hosted and cloud services, many of the same concepts apply to private cloud services Wainhouse Research Page 2

3 What Is A Cloud Service? Cloud-based video conferencing services have become all the rage. But the reality is that this general concept is far from new it is simply the result of rebranding hosted services as cloud services. 1 For 20+ years, the video conferencing industry has included service providers offering an array of hosted services. The most common example was hosted video bridging, an offering in which a provider purchases, racks, and stacks video bridges (a.k.a. MCUs) within its data center(s) and makes video ports available to customers over ISDN (initially) and IP (today). Video bridging services are still available from many providers. WR defines a Hosted Service as follows A technology service offered by a provider that is powered by technology located in a remote location. Note that hosted services are typically (but not always) accessed via the public Internet. And in most cases, the same technology platform is used to support the needs of multiple customers. One day, the longstanding, well understood, and revenue-generating world of hosted services all but disappeared. And almost instantaneously, those same offerings that used to be called hosted services were renamed as cloud services. But what is a cloud service? And was it fair to simply rebrand a hosted service as a cloud service? The answer is Yes and No depending on the offering itself. As the name suggests, the definition of a cloud service can be a bit well cloudy. Some vendors have defined a cloud service as one that is easy to use, or easily accessible (meaning via the Internet). Others view a cloud service as one that integrates well with other cloud services. Given the range of often self-serving definitions, it s no wonder that the video conferencing industry has faced such headwind trying to sell the notion of cloud services. WR defines a Cloud Service as follows A hosted service powered by technology in numerous locations that work together to create a single, coherent service fabric. Note how the definition of a Cloud Service actually incorporates the term Hosted Service. Digging deeper, we see that a cloud service is a hosted service powered by geographically distributed technology elements that are linked together as a single platform. The geographically distributed element is of particular interest for global customers seeking redundancy and a strong user experience for their users around the world. 1 This is remarkably similar to the way some factions of the industry rebranded the term video conferencing to telepresence Wainhouse Research Page 3

4 While researching this topic, WR stumbled across a humorous but extremely relevant analogy made by technology analyst Owen Swart who said Connecting an internal solution to the web and calling it a cloud is a bit like waterproofing a truck and calling it a submarine. Well put Owen. Well put. Differences between Video Clouds Source: Owen Swart (technology analyst) There are literally hundreds of cloud video conferencing offerings available today, and in many cases those services look the same on paper (or in a sales presentation). Key differences between cloud services include Differentiator #1 Core Architecture There are two basic architectures in use within cloud services are as follows: Native Cloud Architecture leverages technology elements that were designed from the ground up to power a cloud service. Such platforms support (or even embrace) geographically dispersed and redundant deployments, and natively support multiple customers. Cloud Wrapper Architecture leverages technology elements that were designed to support a single customer, but wraps a cloud layer around those independent devices to enable them to work together to power a single service. Note that the features available to end-users may not be that different. Native cloud services offer multi-customer support, and so do cloud-wrapper services. They both offer (or can offer) a geographically distributed technology, redundancy, load balancing, and more. It is more a matter of whether the architecture was designed for cloud or adapted for cloud. For both the provider and the end-user, the architecture in-use impacts cost, complexity, failure rate, response times, etc. Differentiator #2 Level of Dependency This second point is somewhat related to differentiator #1 above and relates to the cloud provider s level of dependency on third parties for features, functions, and innovation. Zero Dependency - Providers that leverage internally developed technology have full control over their service. These providers decide which features to develop, and how those features should operate. They also define the priority of features within the development plan, and when to release specific features (and to whom). They even have full control over how each feature impacts other features. These providers also have to shoulder the burden (stress, cost, etc.) of having to develop and maintain their own platform. Nothing is free in this world, and end-to-end platform control is no exception Wainhouse Research Page 4

5 High Dependency Providers that leverage 3 rd party solutions relinquish some degree of control over their offering in favor of reduced development cost and burden, and perhaps additional feature / functionality. For many providers, this is an ideal approach as it provides access to capabilities at a much lower cost. However, these providers are then dependent on others to determine the features and functions they can offer to their customers. In other words, the providers can t easily add new features to address expanding customer requirements. Limited Dependency - Hybrid models are not only possible, but quite common today. For example, WR knows many service providers who leverage 3 rd party video bridges and SIP servers within their offering, but have developed their own management platforms. These providers enjoy a range of benefits including faster time to market and decreased cost (vs. having to develop their own video bridge). However, they are limited by the features available within the 3 rd party technology they utilize. And these providers have to mold their development efforts around the workflows and integration options made available by their 3 rd party partners, which impacts their ability to enhance their offerings. Differentiator #3 Breadth of Ecosystem Some cloud services extend beyond the cloud and into the customer s premise; a concept we refer to as cloud-service attach or simply cloud-attach. Cloud-Attach to Infrastructure some services allow video infrastructure devices installed within the customer s premise to be included within the provider s cloud. The most common example is the ability to add a specific customer s internally deployed video bridges to a provider s cloud. Note that this is NOT the same as having a provider manage a video bridge or other piece of video infrastructure. The key here is that with this approach, the video bridge located on the customer s premise actually becomes a part of the provider s cloud service. It just so happens that the device is located on the customer s premise (and behind the customer s firewall). This enables a range of interesting options such as the ability to host video calls on internal bridges when possible, but automatically roll traffic over to the provider s bridges as required (e.g. for outages, capacity issues). The key benefit of this approach is cost reduction by allowing the customer to leverage his corporate LAN / WAN instead of having to route video traffic out to the provider s cloud over the Internet. Cloud-Attach to Video Endpoints a handful of providers offer both cloud services and their own portfolio of video conferencing endpoints. An even smaller number of providers have taken things one step further, leveraging their end-to-end control over their cloud service and their video endpoints to incorporate special features and functionality into their solution. WR refers to this as a cloud-attach offering. 2 2 The cloud-attach concept has much in common with a traditional PBX model in which using the PBX vendor s phones provides the most robust functionality. The same holds true for a cloud attach situation in which using the cloud-attach provider's video endpoints yields the most robust functionality Wainhouse Research Page 5

6 Examples of cloud-attach features (which vary by provider) include: - Streamlined endpoint registration often requiring only the entry of the user s credentials. - Enhanced monitoring and management monitor and manage various aspects of the system including settings, call quality, and more. In general, the depth and breadth of the monitoring and management capabilities far surpass those found in non-cloud attach offerings. - Automatic upgrades and updates feature and firmware updates are pushed to the video endpoints automatically via the cloud, and typically without service interruption. - Automatic call escalation enables users to automatically escalate from a point-to-point (2 person / system) call into a multi-party meeting without having to hang-up and dial back into a meeting room or VMR. The graphic above highlights the difference between a typical cloud service and a cloud service with cloud-attach. As shown, with a typical cloud service, the connection between the cloud service and the video endpoint is rather limited. In some cases there is no attachment while not in a call. In other cases, the attachment is basic (e.g. SIP registration only). With the cloud-attach provider, however, the connection between the cloud service and the video endpoint is much tighter, to the point that the video endpoint itself is actually virtually present within the provider s cloud. Differentiator #4 Level of User Control One common cloud service benefit is the frequent release of new features. Traditional offerings release software updates on a regular basis, usually every 6 12 months depending on the vendor. But cloud service providers tend to operate on much faster development and release cycles, often adding new features and functions on a monthly or even more frequent basis Wainhouse Research Page 6

7 An often overlooked side-effect of these rolling feature releases is the limited (or lack of) control for the users. With traditional hardware / software offerings, the end-user customer can decide when or even if to deploy any updates. They can test pending upgrades in their labs, or talk to other customers who ve chosen to roll the new code. But with a cloud service, the provider decides what features go live and when. And more importantly the provider decides how much testing is accessible, and the degree of risk its customers shoulder. This is a cloud concern most people don t consider. Previously, this level of control required the customer to use a private cloud (meaning a private version of the service offering available only to that particular customer). While functional, this is more of a work-around than a real solution for risk aversion. 3 A limited number of providers (including StarLeaf) allow customers to choose to be on the current generation of the service or a prior generation, without the use of a private cloud. These providers run parallel instances of their service on different versions of code, and make those levels (sometimes called layers or stratas) available to customers. In some cases, the customer can choose service generations on a company-wide, department / group-specific, or even user-specific basis. For example, an investment bank might put its equities department on last generation of the service, and its less risk-averse internal project teams on the most current code. Then, a few months later, the company might shift the equities team over to the current code. The ability to choose which service generation to use adds almost a hardware / software level of control to the cloud service, and lets customers follow their own risk-aversion strategies. Conclusion Cloud service offerings are very compelling, offering a combination of affordability, flexibility, strong performance, short deployment time, redundancy, scalability, obsolescence protection, and more. The key takeaway of this study is that not all cloud services are the same. Some differences, such as the number and locations of services / points of presence, price points, and look and feel of the UI, are relatively easy to uncover through basic research and discussions with the vendor. These above the surface items are clearly critical, but some of the most important differences are hidden below the surface. Proper due diligence requires one to dig a bit deeper and not just look at the tip of the iceberg. 3 There are valid reasons to use a private cloud such as the need for heightened security and customized features and workflows. We do not, however, see the desire to delay code upgrades as a good reason to use a private cloud (and pay the additional costs associated with a private cloud) Wainhouse Research Page 7

8 About the Authors Ira M. Weinstein is a Senior Analyst & Partner at Wainhouse Research and a 20-year veteran of the conferencing, collaboration and audio-visual industries. Ira has authored and contributed to dozens of articles, white papers, studies, reports, and evaluations on rich media communications, video conferencing, streaming and webcasting, audio-visual design and integration, business strategy, and general business practices. Ira specializes in providing strategic advisory services to vendors, resellers, and end-users within the collaboration space. Ira can be reached at iweinstein@wainhouse.com. Saar Litman is a Senior Researcher & Consultant at Wainhouse Research and has 15 years of experience in the audio-visual and video conferencing industry. Saar s primary focus is the products, services, and companies within the audio-visual space. In addition, Saar provides AV design services, helps enterprise organizations define and implement global AV standard systems and designs, and manages the WR test lab in Coral Springs, Florida. Saar can be reached at slitman@wainhouse.com. About Wainhouse Research Wainhouse Research, is an independent analyst firm that focuses on critical issues in the Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C). The company conducts multi-client and custom research studies, consults with end users on key implementation issues, publishes white papers and market statistics, and delivers public and private seminars as well as speaker presentations at industry group meetings. About StarLeaf (Copy provided by StarLeaf) StarLeaf, offers public, internally developed native cloud services, as well as a range of video endpoints for meeting rooms, desktops and mobility. The StarLeaf Cloud has been built from the ground up and does not rely upon any third-party products or technology. StarLeaf delivers customers real-time reliability for their voice and video communications, and is unique in its ability to deliver both direct video calling and conferencing. The company operates a robust global network, with multiple points of presence, assuring customers a fully redundant, secure and high performing environment Wainhouse Research Page 8