Biggest Video Manager Partners with Biggest HD Streamer for Easy Solution
Getting your videos online isn't enough anymore. Now you need a service that makes it simple to manage your library of videos, and that delivers great-looking high-definition content that won't stop or stutter.
Brightcove, the largest online video platform, and Akamai, the largest content delivery network, made waves this morning with news of a partnership that would extend Akamai's global HD Network to Brightcove's clients.
Brightcove had previously been partnering with CDN Limelight for bundled services, but is now switching to Akamai. Acccording to Jeff Whatcott, Brightcove's senior vice president of marketing, Brightcove made the switch because Akamai's HD network, which was launched in September, 2009, offers global adaptive bitrate HD streaming that others can't match. Akamai also offers rich APIs, he notes, that allow both companies to create a tight integration for a seamless customer experience. Akamai also offers unique features, such as Live DVR, which allows viewers of live events to jump back and re-watch any portion of an event that they choose.
Brightcove currently has over 1,500 customers around the world, and approximately 80 percent of them use Brightcove's bundled services. Brightcove will begin transitioning major clients to Akamai this fall, with others following after.
Customers will still be able to use other CDNs through Brightcove, if they prefer. Those happy with Limelight can stay with Limelight.
That partnership is an important step, says Whatcott, because deploying Akamai's HD Network is tricky without an OVP in the middle. Thanks to the integration, the complexity should "melt away."
"Our alliance with Brightcove is important because it is designed to enable companies to have easy access to the high quality delivery made possible by the Akamai HD Network, and they will now have it instantly and around the world," says Paul Sagan, Akamai's president and CEO.
Troy Dreier's article first appeared on OnlineVideo.net