2015 Global Enterprise Video Webcasting Product Line Strategy Leadership Award

Transcription

1 2015 Global Enterprise Video Webcasting Product Line Strategy Leadership Award 2015

2 Contents Background and Company Performance... 3 Industry Challenges... 3 Product Line Strength and Customer Impact of MediaPlatform... 4 Conclusion... 6 Significance of Product Line Strategy... 7 Understanding Product Line Strategy Leadership... 8 Key Benchmarking Criteria... 8 Best Practice Award Analysis for MediaPlatform... 8 Decision Support Scorecard... 8 Product Line Strength... 9 Customer Impact... 9 Decision Support Matrix The Intersection between 360-Degree Research and Best Practices Awards Research Methodology Best Practices Recognition: 10 Steps to Researching, Identifying, and Recognizing Best Practices About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan 2 We Accelerate Growth

3 Background and Company Performance Industry Challenges Webcasting has become a must-have, oftentimes business-critical feature in enterprises around the globe today. For any large enterprise with a geographically dispersed workforce, webcasting is seen as a tool that helps not only to save cost but also to train workforces, communicate with employees and partners and create efficiencies within organizations. Video, both live and on-demand are thus becoming increasingly adopted by enterprises. Several technology vendors have identified the business opportunity that resides in webcasting platforms and over the years have launched their own webcasting solutions. Apart from the traditional vendors in the space like VBrick, Qumu and Haivision, companies like MediaPlatform, TalkPoint and Kontiki have had success in this market. Companies with traditional core competencies in other areas have also played in this space- for example, video conferencing giants like Cisco and Polycom, virtual events companies like ON24 and INXPO, online video platforms like Brightcove and Kaltura. As a result, the enterprise video webcasting space is both crowded and dynamic. A number of different vendors offer a variety of different solutions- while some vendors provide point solutions that enable enterprise IT departments to stitch together home grown offerings that leverage existing infrastructure and end points, other vendors provide end-to-end platforms that power all parts of the workflow from ingest to delivery and video management. For many customers, this market fragmentation is confusing. The sheer number of vendors and the comparison of product and pricing models, and integration capabilities, usually make for long sales cycles. For vendors, market education is an important priority and the messaging of competitive differentiation is critical. Companies that invest in this and not only have a great product but also significant market and mind share stand to do well in the market should they constantly evolve to meet changing customer requirements. On a broader scale, demand analysis suggests that enterprises would like a single platform that cater to live and on-demand video requirements, for communication with internal (employees) and external stakeholders (customers, suppliers, investors, partners). Cloud solutions and hybrid models are hugely popular because of flexibility and scalability considerations. Also, enterprises globally have a declining tolerance for building and fostering multiple different business relationships to solve different parts of the same problem. Consequentially, there has been an ongoing wave of convergence- where in most vendors in the markets are building out platforms to include all the above mentioned capabilities. Frost & Sullivan 3 We Accelerate Growth

4 Another key challenge in this market is that enterprise IT departments usually have limited budgets. And video is often a second class citizen in many enterprises. Even where they are not, few organizations truly devise enterprise wide video strategies. Therefore, even when budgets become available, they are diverted for upgrades to existing document based systems or more widely adopted video conferencing systems. The buyer ecosystem as a result comprises of enterprise departments looking for a solution- once the departments are satisfied with the experience, it is adopted by others, and eventually there is a push for widespread enterprise adoption. Simplified pricing models that are more palatable for the enterprise customer are key in this environment. Scalability, reliability, security and high-quality continue to be the most important requirements in this space. These solutions typically have high visibility because of their use by enterprise C-suite members. Networks and outdated enterprise technology continues to be a challenge, and vendors who can navigate this quickly and with precision have a competitive edge. Product Line Strength and Customer Impact of MediaPlatform Breadth Founded in 2005 and head quartered in Los Angeles, California, MediaPlatform offers the webcasting market a fully integrated platform that empowers enterprises to webcast live video as well publish on demand content. Several large global organizations with geographically dispersed workforces use the MediaPlatform solution for their internal as well as external communications. Fortune 500 companies like Adobe, Facebook, General Motors, and Ericsson form part of MediaPlatform s clientele. MediaPlatform has two products, the enterprise video platform PrimeTime and the enterprise webcasting solution WebCaster, which form part of its fully integrated offering. To aid with delivery, the company also provides an ecdn product known as MediaPlatform SmartEdge. WebCaster, in particular, is used by companies for live and rich media webcasts. The product includes a number of interactive features such as Q&A, polls, surveys and the ability to insert pre-recorded video. MediaPlatform offers its customers full deployment flexibility. Enterprises can choose from an on-premises, hybrid or cloud deployment option. Only a handful of vendors in the space truly offer this. The hybrid model where in the management of the application is left to the cloud while the delivery still remains on-premises and behind the firewall forms a large part of MediaPlatform deployments. MediaPlatform has been early to identify the trends leading up to the evolution of the enterprise video space. As mentioned earlier, customers today largely prefer a single Frost & Sullivan 4 We Accelerate Growth

5 platform for their live and on demand video needs. Deployment flexibility, interactivity, reporting and analytics are also very important features to have in a webcasting solution. From a product line perspective, MediaPlatform s solution is second to none in this market. Scalability Navigating a large enterprise s network, in order to deliver a scalable, reliable, high quality, live webcast is one of the biggest challenges for webcasting vendors across the board. Enterprise networks and infrastructure are often outdated, and many are not multicast enabled. Smaller, sometimes newly acquired offices do not have the necessary infrastructure. The increasing instances of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and telecommuting requires webcasting vendors to offer mobility and ways to reach remote workers. MediaPlatform s SmartPath technology gives the company a distinct edge on its competition. SmartPath enables enterprises to manage live webcast distribution across all types of corporate networks in a flexible manner. Depending on network capabilities in different parts of an organization, SmartPath evaluates the enterprise network, segregates it and mixes and matches different technologies like multicast, P2P, HTTP streaming, mobile streaming to deliver the webcast out to the entire organization. This helps MediaPlatform to scale webcasts in challenging situations. For example: enterprise wide events like town halls, all hands meetings, large departmental meetings etc. For Accenture s annual Sustainability 24 event earlier this year, MediaPlatform WebCaster was employed to webcast to 70 countries over a 24 hour period. Technology Leverage The SmartPath technology detailed above is MediaPlatform s single most compelling differentiator from a technology perspective. It solves the live distribution issue for organizations of all sizes. Whether it is an on-premises or a cloud deployment, security is the topmost consideration, right next to scalability. The enterprise security features of the product are another key differentiator. MediaPlatform tackles secure transit by employing best practices for encryption across the board, be it HTTP or RTMP traffic. Access control protocols help control authorization to view, edit, and download content. MediaPlatform also has permission mapping with the enterprise SAML system - this enables the company to easily manage and maintain permissions across thousands of employees through the centralized directory. In order to extend the platform and enable widespread video adoption within enterprises, MediaPlatform integrates with several popularly used enterprise communication and collaboration platforms. Its SharePoint integration, for example, allows a live webcast to Frost & Sullivan 5 We Accelerate Growth

6 be viewed within a company s SharePoint portal. MediaPlatform also integrates with Jive and Yammer, the two most popular enterprise social networks. Live webcasts can be shared and viewed on these platforms, and the comments and conversations on the MediaPlatform webcast are viewable within the social networks as well. To enable its enterprise customers to leverage existing infrastructure investments, the MediaPlatform solution is also integrated with several video conferencing units. Through standards based SIP, MediaPlatform is able to integrate with Cisco, Polycom and Tandberg end points among others. Feeds from video conferencing end points can be ingested into MediaPlatform and broadcasted out to large audiences. The MediaPlatform solution can also integrate with Winnov lecture capture solutions that are widely used in K-12 and higher education organizations. Where WebCaster is used for external communications and lead generation, the solution is integrated with SalesForce and marketing automation software Eloqua to streamline the lead communication process to CRM applications. Brand Equity Since its founding in 2005, MediaPlatform has been focused on the enterprise video segment of the market. Some of the world s top brands and organizations are MediaPlatform s customers. Technology companies like Facebook, business service firms like Accenture, Ericsson and Ernst & Young, financial services firms like Charles Schwabb, and several other large global organizations like Dow Chemicals and General Motors are clients. Close to 65% of MediaPlatform s revenues come from North America, and the United States is the single largest market for the solution. MediaPlatform is also gaining traction in Europe and Latin America. MediaPlatform s sound product line and early customer successes in North America are helping the effort as the company scales to other geographies. Conclusion MediaPlatform has been early to identify the direction in which the enterprise video market is headed. The company s solution is a fully integrated platform that enables large global organizations to deliver and manage live webcasts as well as publish to on demand content. MediaPlatform s SmartPath technology gives the company a significant competitive edge. The technology empowers the largest and most dispersed organizations to enjoy scalable, reliable high quality webcasts as it helps to navigate even the most complex enterprise networks. Even though the value proposition of webcasting is powerful, the technology is yet to reach widespread enterprise adoption. MediaPlatform s integrations with a slew of popularly used enterprise technologies help extend video Frost & Sullivan 6 We Accelerate Growth

7 webcasts as well as on demand video into other avenues such as collaboration platforms and enterprise social networks. With its strong overall performance and future oriented product line strategy, MediaPlatform has earned Frost & Sullivan s 2014 Product Line Strategy award in the Enterprise Video Webcasting Market. Significance of Product Line Strategy Ultimately, growth in any organization depends upon customers purchasing from your company, and then making the decision to return time and again. A full, comprehensive product line that addresses numerous customer needs and preferences is therefore a critical ingredient to any company s long-term retention efforts. To achieve these dual goals (customer value and product line strength), an organization must be best-in-class in three key areas: understanding demand, nurturing the brand, and differentiating from the competition. This three-fold approach to delivering Product Line Strategy Leadership is explored further below. Frost & Sullivan 7 We Accelerate Growth

8 Understanding Product Line Strategy Leadership As discussed above, driving demand, brand strength, and competitive differentiation all play a critical role in delivering unique value to customers. This three-fold focus, however, must ideally be complemented by an equally rigorous focus on building a superior and comprehensive product line. Key Benchmarking Criteria For the Product Line Strategy Leadership Award, we evaluated two key factors Product Line Strength and Customer Impact according to the criteria identified below. Product Line Strength Criterion 1: Breadth Criterion 2: Scalability Criterion 3: Technology Leverage Criterion 4: Features Criterion 5: Supply Chain Reliability Customer Impact Criterion 1: Price/Performance Value Criterion 2: Customer Purchase Experience Criterion 3: Customer Ownership Experience Criterion 4: Customer Service Experience Criterion 5: Brand Equity Best Practice Award Analysis for MediaPlatform Decision Support Scorecard To support its evaluation of best practices across multiple business performance categories, Frost & Sullivan employs a customized Decision Support Scorecard. This tool allows our research and consulting teams to objectively analyze performance, according to the key benchmarking criteria listed in the previous section, and to assign ratings on that basis. The tool follows a 10-point scale that allows for nuances in performance evaluation; ratings guidelines are illustrated below. RATINGS GUIDELINES Frost & Sullivan 8 We Accelerate Growth

9 The Decision Support Scorecard is organized by Product Line Strength and Customer Impact (i.e., the overarching categories for all 10 benchmarking criteria; the definitions for each criteria are provided beneath the scorecard). The research team confirms the veracity of this weighted scorecard through sensitivity analysis, which confirms that small changes to the ratings for a specific criterion do not lead to a significant change in the overall relative rankings of the companies. The results of this analysis are shown below. To remain unbiased and to protect the interests of all organizations reviewed, we have chosen to refer to the other key players in as Company 2 and Company 3. DECISION SUPPORT SCORECARD FOR PRODUCT LINE STRATEGY LEADERSHIP AWARD Measurement of 1 10 (1 = poor; 10 = excellent) Product Line Strategy Product Line Strength Customer Impact Average Rating MediaPlatform Competitor Competitor Product Line Strength Criterion 1: Breadth Requirement: Product line addresses the full range of customer needs and applications Criterion 2: Scalability Requirement: Product line offers products at a variety of price points and functionality levels Criterion 3: Technology Leverage Requirement: Demonstrated commitment to incorporating leading edge technologies into product offerings, for greater product performance and value Criterion 4: Features Requirement: Products offer a comprehensive suite of features to serve customers at multiple levels of functionality, ease of use and applications Criterion 5: Supply Chain Reliability Requirement: There is sufficient control over the supply chain to ensure availability of key components and thereby the availability of products in the product line Customer Impact Criterion 1: Price/Performance Value Requirement: Products or services offer the best value for the price, compared to similar offerings in the market Frost & Sullivan 9 We Accelerate Growth

10 Customer Impact BEST PRACTICES RESEARCH Criterion 2: Customer Purchase Experience Requirement: Customers feel like they are buying the most optimal solution that addresses both their unique needs and their unique constraints Criterion 3: Customer Ownership Experience Requirement: Customers are proud to own the company s product or service, and have a positive experience throughout the life of the product or service Criterion 4: Customer Service Experience Requirement: Customer service is accessible, fast, stress-free, and of high quality Criterion 5: Brand Equity Requirement: Customers have a positive view of the brand and exhibit high brand loyalty Decision Support Matrix Once all companies have been evaluated according to the Decision Support Scorecard, analysts can then position the candidates on the matrix shown below, enabling them to visualize which companies are truly breakthrough and which ones are not yet operating at best-in-class levels. DECISION SUPPORT MATRIX FOR PRODUCT LINE STRATEGY LEADERSHIP AWARD High MediaPlatform Competitor 2 Competitor 3 Low Low Product Line Strength High Frost & Sullivan 10 We Accelerate Growth

11 The Intersection between 360-Degree Research and Best Practices Awards Research Methodology Frost & Sullivan s 360-degree research methodology represents the analytical rigor of our research process. It offers a 360-degree-view of industry challenges, trends, and issues by integrating all 7 of Frost & Sullivan's research methodologies. Too often, companies make important growth decisions based on a narrow understanding of their environment, leading to errors of both omission and commission. Successful growth strategies are founded on a thorough understanding of market, technical, economic, financial, customer, best practices, and demographic analyses. The integration of these research disciplines into the 360-degree research methodology provides an evaluation platform for benchmarking industry players and for identifying those performing at bestin-class 360-DEGREE RESEARCH: SEEING ORDER IN THE CHAOS levels. Frost & Sullivan 11 We Accelerate Growth

12 Best Practices Recognition: 10 Steps to Researching, Identifying, and Recognizing Best Practices Our awards team follows a 10-step process (illustrated below) to evaluate award candidates and assess their fit with our best practice criteria. The reputation and integrity of our awards process are based on close adherence to this process. STEP OBJECTIVE KEY ACTIVITIES OUTPUT 1 Monitor, target, and screen Identify award recipient candidates from around the globe Conduct in-depth industry research Identify emerging sectors Scan multiple geographies Pipeline of candidates who potentially meet all bestpractice criteria 2 Perform 360-degree research Perform comprehensive, 360-degree research on all candidates in the pipeline Interview thought leaders and industry practitioners Assess candidates fit with best-practice criteria Rank all candidates Matrix positioning all candidates performance relative to one another 3 Invite thought leadership in best practices Perform in-depth examination of all candidates Confirm best-practice criteria Examine eligibility of all candidates Identify any information gaps Detailed profiles of all ranked candidates 4 Initiate research director review Conduct an unbiased evaluation of all candidate profiles Brainstorm ranking options Invite multiple perspectives on candidates performance Update candidate profiles Final prioritization of all eligible candidates and companion best-practice positioning paper 5 Assemble panel of industry experts Present findings to an expert panel of industry thought leaders Share findings Strengthen cases for candidate eligibility Prioritize candidates Refined list of prioritized award candidates 6 Conduct global industry review Build consensus on award candidates eligibility Hold global team meeting to review all candidates Pressure-test fit with criteria Confirm inclusion of all eligible candidates Final list of eligible award candidates, representing success stories worldwide 7 Perform quality check Develop official award consideration materials Perform final performance benchmarking activities Write nominations Perform quality review High-quality, accurate, and creative presentation of nominees successes 8 Reconnect with panel of industry experts Finalize the selection of the best-practice award recipient Review analysis with panel Build consensus Select winner Decision on which company performs best against all best-practice criteria 9 Communicate recognition Inform award recipient of award recognition Present award to the CEO Inspire the organization for continued success Celebrate the recipient s performance Announcement of award and plan for how recipient can use the award to enhance the brand 10 Take strategic action Review reprint and banquet opportunities Coordinate media outreach Design a marketing plan Assess award s role in future strategic planning Widespread awareness of recipient s award status among investors, media personnel, and employees Frost & Sullivan 12 We Accelerate Growth

13 About Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth and achieve best in class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined research and best practice models to drive the generation, evaluation and implementation of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages almost 50 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from 31 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit Frost & Sullivan 13 We Accelerate Growth