Does the future of streaming lie in the enterprise?

Entertainment and sport have played a key role in showcasing the potential of so many media platforms -- where would satellite television be today without premiership football? Streaming media has also been following a similar path. High-profile events such as Madonna’s Brixton Academy concert and this year’s Wimbledon Championships have highlighted just how popular streaming is today among the public. However, although these events are very well publicised, the longer-term strategy for streaming companies like NaviSite lies in taking streaming into the enterprise market, where income is more robust and regular.

According to a Jupiter Media Metrix report in April last year, revenues from this sector are set to grow at a phenomenal rate over the next four years, from $140m in 2000 to over $2.8bn in 2005. If this is accurate, these companies’ focus is understandable.

The key to achieving this growth for vendors is approaching the enterprise market with a suite of solutions for particular problems rather than just a technology. For example, pharmaceutical companies have been hooked by the way that they can use streaming technology to get information and training on new products out to the field. It is a recognised fact that pages of text can be quickly skipped over and important issues overlooked, but a short video piece by a senior member of the company (or a respected doctor) can often carry more weight and depth.

With streaming, it is also far easier to track who has watched a clip, for how long and when. This means that if an employee needs to have seen a particular training video before selling the latest pensions, this can be assigned and tracked without having to bring that remote worker off the road for a day.

There are many cases like this; car companies training on new updates and product recalls, or financial companies ensuring sales forces have learned about the latest products. Many HR departments are seeing advantages in training, both in skills and legislation, and the marketing teams are finding new ways to get messages out.

Interestingly, the feedback from large companies is similar, with many now far more reserved about spending on technology, especially when branching into new areas. Again, the key thing for any business today is to show how streaming can either enhance profits or reduce costs. In each of the examples above, there is a clear ROI, both in cost reduction and speedier time to market.

One of the last remaining obstacles to be overcome is the internal/external debate. There are typically three types of communication: those that are internal only, such as training; those that are mixed, such as investor relations; and those that are external only, such as PR. Large enterprises are naturally concerned about security, and the thought of putting commercially sensitive data out on the internet is understandably a worry.

To combat this, we are starting to see behind-the-firewall solutions becoming available, where streaming can be delivered internally, externally or both, under the control of the enterprise in question. These solutions allow enterprises to create their own little content delivery network behind their firewall, so ensuring data is kept secure. Feeding data out to the internet as and when needed is a simple exercise for larger streaming companies.

Another aspect that makes streaming such an obvious choice for the enterprise customer is that of bandwidth. If you are transferring a training video out to workers on other campuses, the vast bandwidth available allows full-screen, high-quality video to be accessed. This is still something that many domestic users of streaming can only dream about.

Finally, understanding how the majority of this type of information is delivered today (by PowerPoint presentations and in classrooms) and integrating this into the solution will be an important offering. Seldom does a new medium arrive and steamroller existing forms, but those that take the best of each and create an enhanced offering win out.

So will streaming in the enterprise fundamentally change businesses and return them to profitability? The answer is no but, as one of the tools that can be brought to bear in reducing costs and improving quality of service, it has an important place. Many organisations, not least Microsoft, IBM and HP, are working hard on streaming products for the enterprise market and with the skills learned from the entertainment sector, are hoping to make this a key part of their arsenal.

As streaming is more openly accepted by the enterprise sector over the coming years, we will see more and more case studies of how it is being effectively used. In a few years, it will be as much a way of life as PowerPoint is today for imparting information. As with all transfer mediums, the quality is more often in the content than the transfer and, as we start to see better use of the suite of tools available, the logic behind streaming will, I hope, become evermore clear.

By Graham Whitehouse, NaviSite European general manager