L E V E R AG I N G V I D E O IN THE ENTERPRISE T H RO U G H VIDEO CONTENT M A NAG E M E N T A Paper Sponsored by Polycom, Inc. Authors: Alex Brasil, Consultant & Jarad Carleton Senior Consultant, ICT Practice Partnering with clients to create innovative growth strategies
TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS Digital Content Management & Business Today: An Introduction 3 Corporate Compliance and Digital Content 3 Knowledge Sharing Across an Organization 3 Business Continuity and Employee Turnover 4 The Need for Content Management 4 The Use of Video Content in Business Today 4 Video for Employee Training 5 Conference Calls, Meetings, & Communications to Employees 5 Issues & Challenges with Managing Video Content 5 Disparate Creation Sources & Storage Silos 6 Comprehensive Searching & Locating 6 Integrating Non-Video Content & Different Audience Needs 6 Polycom Resolving Video Communication Challenges 6 Polycom VMC 1000 Enterprise Class Video Content Management 6 Knowledge Sharing & Business Continuity with Polycom VMC 8 Polycom VMC 1000 and the issue of Corporate Compliance and Governance 8 Polycom VMC 1000 Helping Enterprise Leverage Video Content 8 Conclusion 9 2
DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGEMENT & BUSINESS TODAY: AN INTRODUCTION The amount of digital content produced yearly is forecasted to increase from 161 exabytes in 2006 to almost 988 exabytes in 2010 with businesses responsible for 85 percent 1 of the content, most of which is multimedia content that includes video. The growth of multimedia content can be attributed to the popularity of consumer applications (such as online video and digital photography portals) and is now an expected application for communication and collaboration in the business world. With that said, businesses are poised to face significant new challenges in managing the unstructured nature of multimedia data and content especially with regards to: Corporate compliance and governance Knowledge sharing Business continuity Content management Corporate Compliance and Digital Content To better protect shareholders and investors, regulatory agencies have increasingly exercised oversight authority regarding the storage and control of electronic information. Data archiving and control requirements have expanded from publicly traded companies to third-party firms storing other organizations data and numerous others in industries such as: Automotive Financial Services Aerospace & Defense Government Commercial Aviation Healthcare & Pharmaceutical The U.S. federal government today requires many businesses to archive and control access to digital information related to activities such as mergers and acquisitions, personnel, intellectual property, medical/patient content, and other critical information. The scope of these digital archives often extends for years and in some cases decades. In organizations without strict controls over electronic content, concerns range from the simple specter of operational inefficiency to legal liability during phases of search and discovery. Organizations in both the private and public sectors are expected to rapidly track, locate and wherever possible, leverage digital content. Knowledge Sharing Across an Organization Most businesses today acknowledge and work around the fact that employees store digital content in places and ways that are meaningful to them individually, rather than the organization. The result is that the organization suffers from an inability to find critical Structured vs. Unstructured Data Structured data is data that resides in fixed fields within a relational database. Unstructured data is filebased data that does not reside in a fixed location format. A word processing document, spreadsheet, presentation, images, and video are all examples of unstructured data. Corporate Governance vs. Corporate Compliance Corporate governance consists of company policies that address a company's assets and employees. These policies are often associated with operational efficiency, including lowering operational costs, increasing worker productivity, and improving financial performance. Corporate compliance occurs when a company implements policies in order to obey established laws and regulations in the nation or state where it conducts business. Quite often, the only difference between the two is the organization requiring adherence the Company (governance) or the Government (compliance). 1. Donoghue, Andrew. "Data explosion will cause compliance headache." ZDNet UK 07 Mar 2007 24 Aug 2007 3
business content where and when it is most important. Locating fundamental information becomes grossly inefficient and negatively impacts productivity. Furthermore, the business content that is located rarely represents the comprehensive amount of information residing in storage silos across the organization. When content is found, employees rarely understand its relation or linkage to other information; and when content is not found, employees recreate already-existent information, merely perpetuating organizational inefficiency. Business Continuity and Employee Turnover Every organization faces the issue of employee turnover. As managers and individual contributors arrive and depart, moving the organization towards strategic objectives in unison is a common struggle. When an individual leaves an organization, the insight into whether information exists, what format it exists in, and where it can be found, often leaves unstructured files with meaningless names stored on a desktop or notebook PCs instead of a networked storage silo that is governed by organization policies for structured data. The Need for Content Management Among the leading methods used by forward-thinking organizations to end content chaos is the deployment of a content management system. The importance of content management is exemplified by one study indicating that a company of 1000 employees can lose up to $5.7 million dollars in productivity a year 2 when information cannot be located. Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems address the need to bring unstructured and semi-structured data (scanned images, electronic documents, spreadsheets, presentations, audio, video, email and more) under control. These systems enable organizations to create pools of information that can be repurposed and consolidated on a single storage infrastructure or repository specific to a particular content type such as video. As a result, organizations striving to improve corporate governance and compliance, knowledge sharing, business continuity, and productivity make measurable progress towards these goals while decreasing operational costs through the elimination of lost content. Enterprise Content Management (ECM) encompasses a variety of content management modules such as Business Process Management, Document Management, Records Management, Digital Asset Management, Web Content Management, and Email Management to name a few. Digital Asset Management modules manage the lifecycle of multimedia files such as audio / video. THE USE OF VIDEO CONTENT IN BUSINESS TODAY The use of video in the enterprise via video conferencing and video webcasting is, for good reason, increasingly common in today s business environment. Properly utilized, video is superior to a number of methods of communication, as studies have shown approximately 70% of human communication comprises body language. 2. Donoghue, op cit 4
In addition, increases in the quality and bandwidth of enterprise networks have made the installation, maintenance, and use of video far more reliable and simpler than in the recent past. Creating video content and capturing events via video is also easier through reduced production costs utilizing videoconferencing endpoints, codecs and recording and streaming servers. The use of video within the enterprise varies depending on the industry or organization in question, though three common uses can be readily identified: training, conferences calls, and company wide messages from executives. Video for Employee Training Training is an integral part of extending knowledge, remaining competitive, and is an investment in the future success of an organization. Unfortunately training efficacy is frequently stymied by two problems: training dates are not flexible, and without advanced notice scheduling conflicts arise. Furthermore, if a company has offices spread around a country or the world, travel expenses rapidly add to the operating costs of an organization. However, when training sessions are streamed live to participants and recorded for viewing on-demand at later dates, companies save travel costs, regain productivity, and ensure that employees can participate in training events regardless of the time or date. Conference Calls, Meetings, & Communications to Employees Similar to missed training, when employees are not able to attend conference calls, project meetings, or company-wide updates, the effectiveness of the organization suffers. The ability to avoid travel expenses and provide employees with scheduling conflicts the ability to review important information via video is a significant benefit to the organization. Video can also serve as a reliable way to record and track critical teleconferences or meetings, including human resources processes, merger and acquisition negotiations, legal discovery meetings, and more. ISSUES & CHALLENGES WITH MANAGING VIDEO CONTENT Finding stored video content presents a similarly large challenge as data in organizations where users have the ability to save video from meetings, conference calls, training seminars, and other sources. Complicating matters further are issues including: Disparate creation sources Comprehensive searching / locating Different creation / storage silos Integration with non-video content Communicating to different audiences 5
Disparate Creation Sources & Storage Silos Despite the advantages attributed to the use of video in the enterprise, the lack of a standardized method to create and store video content can often create more chaos for organizations already struggling with overwhelming volumes of digital content. Without common policies and tools for video content creation, such as metadata tags for better searching and locating of video files, employees will simply perpetuate the spread of disparate unusable video content throughout the organization. Comprehensive Searching & Locating Putting systems in place that allow employees to create, package, and publish video content in an organized comprehensive manner makes access to content far more complete and efficient than piecemeal approaches. Many times, without a standardized means of packaging publishing and distributing video content, information can get lost on network storage silos and even become a legal liability if unauthorized viewing and sharing takes place for private or copyrighted information. Enterprise needs to secure access to certain content but without a process to regulate the distribution of video, securing the distribution is difficult to manage. Integrating Non-Video Content & Different Audience Needs Different audiences will at times require different methods of communication, such as the integration of non-video content with video. These situations can include the need to display graphics and slides to business users, subtitles for the hearing impaired, etc. To properly meet the communication needs of organizations and leverage video as an ongoing resource, integration of different types of content is a business necessity. POLYCOM RESOLVING VIDEO COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES Recognized as a leader in the video conferencing industry, Polycom has addressed the challenges that organizations continue to struggle with when leveraging video content in the work place. Cognizant of the business problems organizations face without a video content management system, Polycom introduced the Polycom Video Media Center Polycom VMC 1000 to address the need for video content management, knowledge sharing, business continuity, and compliance. Polycom VMC 1000 Enterprise Class Video Content Management The Polycom VMC 1000 provides enterprise class video content management for organizations that need to manage video content and leverage it to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the business. To achieve those goals, an organization needs the ability to easily share video content with the relevant individual or group. 6
Effectively leveraging video without a content management system is difficult because when video has been stored haphazardly on individual computers a number of questions arise. For instance, how many copies exist? Where do the copies reside in the network? How can all copies be located and destroyed after a retention period? What type of civil and or criminal liability is the organization risking when video content cannot be found during a legal discovery process? The Polycom VMC 1000 eliminates these questions by tightly integrating with Polycom endpoints 3 and the RSS 2000, a solution capable of recording video conferences. Yet, it also provides the management features enterprises need such as securing access to content, eliminating emailed copies, setting policies for distribution of content, and protecting copyrighted information. Video Creation The Polycom RSS 2000 moves business away from the expense of production studios, DVDs, and VCR tapes by placing the ability to record meetings and create audio and video messages for later playback on a video conferencing unit by business professionals. Video Publishing The Polycom VMC 1000 enables organizations to publish and store video content from the RSS 2000 in a secure and centralized video content repository with audit trails and the ability to automatically expire content when it has reached the end of its lifecycle. Integration of the Polycom VMC 1000 with other components across Polycom s product line provides enterprise users with a comprehensive video content management solution that encompasses each phase in the lifecycle of video content as seen in the next illustration. 3. Polycom endpoints are audio and video conference call devices used for real time capture of audio and video. For more information on Polycom endpoints, visit http://www.polycom.com 7
Knowledge Sharing & Business Continuity with Polycom VMC 1000 As previously discussed, the issues of knowledge sharing and business continuity are closely linked. Polycom VMC 1000 helps organizations eliminate the challenges of knowledge sharing and business continuity with a centralized content management system that provides advanced search tools through the use of metadata and a flexible taxonomy structure. Using the Polycom VMC 1000 to manage video, an organization no longer has to rely on social networking to find important content, nor is employee turnover a concern as video can be easily found not only through the use of key-word searches regardless file names, but also through a customizable portal that contains all published video content. Polycom VMC 1000 and the issue of Corporate Compliance and Governance Compliance with government regulation is an issue that organizations continue to focus on due to corporate governance programs that seek to minimize outside liability and increase the productivity and fiscal health of the business. Of critical importance to organizations focusing on compliance improvement is the issue of restricting access to sensitive video content to authorized users, maintaining an audit trail to indicate who accessed it and for how long, and ensuring that when content has reached the end of its lifecycle, it is made inaccessible. The Polycom VMC 1000 addresses each of these points by offering organizations the ability to authenticate access via an LDAP interface and a user database internal to the Polycom VMC 1000. Further, Polycom provides single sign on support for the Polycom VMC 1000, URL concealment securing the organizational file structure, PIN code support for an additional level of security, and tiered permission levels and user lists. Finally, automatic content expiration management of video files provides a final layer of compliance and governance protection to ensure that old video content can be removed from distribution as policies change and require updates to some types of content. POLYCOM VMC 1000 HELPING ENTERPRISE LEVERAGE VIDEO CONTENT By providing enterprise with a video content management system, business users are able to leverage video content in the organization for a variety of uses, such as the replay of training videos, meetings, video conference calls, executive communications to employees, and more. With the highly scalable Polycom VMC 1000, users can reach a wide audience by live streaming or by making video accessible on demand. Business users can access content on their own terms and instantly view a video important to them. The Polycom VMC 1000 features take the concept of time shifting to the enterprise level. They also help defray professional video studio costs via the Polycom VMC 1000 s 8
production suite, which allows content creators to edit, synchronize presentation material, enhance video with captioning, set rights permissions, and publish video without costly middlemen. Business users are now empowered to create content without the need to involve IT and video specialists because of the Polycom VMC 1000 s integration with the RSS 2000. The integration enables simple creation and management of video since content is created and captured with video conferencing endpoints and a RSS 2000, which automatically transfers video to the Polycom VMC 1000 for management and publishing. Video content can be enriched with the attachment of other types of media or content so users can package custom video content to create customized subject matter portals and be more effective with their communication strategy. Finally, the Polycom VMC 1000 has also been packaged with a set of reporting tools to let the enterprise monitor who viewed what, when it was viewed, and which pieces are most popular, all of which can be important for training, education, and compliance. CONCLUSION In the past 5 years, the creation and use of video in the enterprise has increased at a rapid pace and continues to gain momentum. This trend has important implications for enterprise, as a lack of proper content management will lead to lost videos, negatively impact productivity, and create outside liability risks that can lead to fines, remedial government oversight, as well as civil and criminal litigation. The Polycom VMC 1000 can help enterprise minimize risk and the problems associated with outside liability such as legal fees, bad press, and damage to reputation and brand, while improving business continuity, knowledge sharing, productivity, and customer service. The integration and use of the Polycom VMC 1000 and RSS 2000 provides enterprise with a cost effective method to control and manage video throughout its lifecycle from creation to delivery. Putting and end to video chaos and disorganization within an enterprise is one of the best ways to improve productivity and gain a competitive edge. The Polycom VMC 1000 helps organizations seeking to leverage video content to succeed in that effort. 9
Silicon Valley 2400 Geng Road, Suite 201 Palo Alto, CA 94303 Tel 650.475.4500 Fax 650.475.1570 San Antonio 7550 West Interstate 10, Suite 400, San Antonio, Texas 78229-5616 Tel 210.348.1000 Fax 210.348.1003 CONTACT US London 4, Grosvenor Gardens, London SWIW ODH,UK Tel 44(0)20 7730 3438 Fax 44(0)20 7730 3343 Palo Alto New York 877.GoFrost myfrost@frost.com http://www.frost.com San Antonio Toronto Buenos Aires Sao Paulo London Oxford Frankfurt Paris Israel Beijing Chennai Kuala Lumpur Mumbai Shanghai Singapore Sydney ABOUT FROST & SULLIVAN Based in Palo Alto, California, is a global leader in strategic growth consulting. This white paper is part of s ongoing strategic research into the Information Technology industries. regularly publishes strategic analyses of the major markets for products that encompass storage, management, and security of data. Frost & Sullivan also provides custom growth consulting to a variety of national and international companies. The information presented in this publication is based on research and interviews conducted solely by and therefore is subject to fluctuation. takes no responsibility for any incorrect information supplied to us by manufacturers or end users. This publication may not be downloaded, displayed, printed, or reproduced other than for noncommercial individual reference or private use within your organization, and thereafter it may not be recopied, reproduced or otherwise redistributed. All copyright and other proprietary notices must be retained. No license to publish, communicate, modify, commercialize or alter this document is granted. For reproduction or use of this publication beyond this limited license, permission must be sought from the publisher. For information regarding permission, write: 2400 Geng Rd., Suite 201 Palo Alto, CA 94303-3331, USA Tokyo