Recently, two Qumu customers were named Excellence in Enterprise Video Award (EEVA) winners by research firm Interactive Media Strategies based on four criteria: demonstrated business impact of video, ROI data and success metrics, uniqueness of video applications deployed, and thought leadership demonstrated by the implementation of enterprise video in innovative or ground-breaking ways. Congratulations to Qumu customers, Sprint and Northwestern Mutual Life! Read press release.
Report: US business travel down 15 percent in '09
Corporate travel is expected to decline 15 percent this year, according to a new report from PhoCusWright, the travel industry research company. In contrast, the total U.S. travel market is projected to decline only 11 percent in 2009, dipping below 2006 levels, PhoCusWright's "U.S. Corporate Travel Distribution" report said.
Historically, corporate travel has comprised about 40 percent of the total U.S. travel market, but that share is expected to shrink to 35 percent in 2010, the PhoCusWright report said. "Current economic challenges and public scrutiny of travel and entertainment spending has placed corporate travel on the chopping block," said Susan Steinbrink, PhoCusWright's senior research and corporate market analyst.
She said not only will there be less corporate travel, but there will be "stricter policies and tougher policing when spending does occur."
On the plus side, she noted that the downturn will "positively affect innovation," in everything from optimizing value in travel to leveraging new technologies "from mobile to video conferencing."
Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/travel/ci_12982715
The Associated Press, 8.3.2009.
Our 2009 CIO Role Survey shows that CIOs expect the importance of business tasks in their portfolio to increase much more quickly than technology tasks over the next two years. This points to the need for a new skill-set for the next generation of CIOs.
See the results at: http://www.cioinsight.com/c/a/IT-Management/What-Tomorrows-CIO-Will-Have-to-Do-419113/
Your Other Tube: Audience for Video-Sharing Sites Soars
The share of online adults who watch videos on video-sharing sites has nearly doubled since 2006. Audiences for Web sites like YouTube and Google Video continue to grow swiftly across all demographic groups, far outpacing the adoption rates of many other internet activities. Fully 62% of adult internet users have watched a video on these sites, up from just 33% who reported this in December 2006. Online video watching among young adults is near-universal; nine-in-ten (89%) internet users ages 18-29 now say they watch content on video-sharing sites, and 36% do so on a typical day.
Over time, online video has become more deeply integrated into daily life and has started to move into the spaces that are typically reserved for traditional television viewing. Overall, 19% of internet users say they use video-sharing sites on a typical day. In comparison, just 8% of internet users reported use of the sites on a typical day in 2006.
Source: http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1294/online-video-sharing-sites-use?src=prc-latest&proj=peoplepress
Pew Research Center Publications, 7.29.2009.
Is your network ready to handle videoconferencing?
As IT budgets shrink and sensitivity to travel costs grows, recent improvements in videoconferencing have made the technology a logical consideration for many companies. Videoconferencing helps reduce travel expenses and decreases carbon footprints, while also creating a highly productive work environment. These benefits create a compelling return on investment (ROI), but if organizations do not have the foresight to power their videoconferencing technology with a supportive network environment, they put their investments and potential cost savings at risk.
Source: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/networking/?p=1765
By Kathryn Lynch, TechRepublic Network Administrator Blog, 7.29.2009
Can Streaming Offset Losses In Traditional Revenue?
We've all heard that traditional revenues in the media and entertainment space have been slipping, with the music industry held up as the primary example. Yet, for those of us in the streaming industry, we're compelled by the strong belief that digital delivery not only offsets traditional revenue streams but has the potential to exceed them by growing the customer base.
Recent statistics support the fact that streaming continues to grow, including a recent IDC report on first-time streaming users, which found that 92% of people who've watched movies online want to do it again.
What happens in the interim, between the time that online revenues meet or exceed traditional revenues, is a bit more nebulous, and a series of earnings reports and strategic research papers (including this one from Oxford Analytica, published at Forbes.com) released over the last week paint an interesting picture.
On the upside, pure-play video rental services such as NetFlix, which owns no brick-and-mortar stores but has a market share that continues to dent its more traditional rivals, announced its earnings late last week, citing streaming as significant to both current and future growth. ...
Source: http://streamingmedia.com/article.asp?id=11298
By Tim Siglin, Streamingmedia.com, 7.28.2009
Online video and the cloud
Many professional media companies and content owners have their heads in the clouds these days - and for good reason. They are grappling with the best ways to build, operate or expand their broadband video businesses.
More of them are now talking about the notion of "cloud computing," and how it can be applied to support the various elements required to run a broadband video site. The concept isn't a new one, of course, but there are many important details that they need to explore. Before diving into this topic; however, let's start with a common definition of cloud computing from Wikipedia, which defines it as "a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet. Users need not have knowledge of, expertise in, or control over the technology infrastructure in the ‘cloud' that supports them."
In the context of video, those who operate a consumer portal or video service not only need to evaluate what goes into the cloud and what doesn't, but they need to determine the implications of cloud-based implementations across a wide range of areas including: storage and delivery, transcoding, video management, advertising and reporting.
Source: http://www.fierceonlinevideo.com/story/online-video-and-cloud/2009-07-22
By Ian Blaine, FierceOnlineVideo, 7.22.2009.
Video pushing mobile broadband use
Mobile data bandwidth use is up 30% worldwide during the second quarter, with increased video streaming on cell phones helping to drive growth, according to a new report.
People tuning into shows and clips on sites such as Hulu, YouTube and MySpace via mobile devices pushed up video streaming nearly 60% during the quarter, mainly as a result of expanded smartphone use and a growing selection of mobile programming. "It's outgrowing any other application," said Jonathon Gordon, director of marketing for Boston-based Allot Communications, a broadband-related service provider that conducted the study.
Source: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=110240
By Mark Walsh, MediaPost Online Media Daily, 7.21.2009.
Are the stars aligning for telemedicine's succcess?
The current health care crisis has some experts saying that telemedicine's time has finally come.
While technology companies have been touting the use of virtual technology to allow doctors to remotely examine and monitor patients for decades, up until recently the business case for deploying these expensive systems was hard to justify. But now as lawmakers in Washington, D.C. look for ways to fix the broken health care system, technologies, such as high-definition video conferencing and telepresence, are getting a second look.
Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10290067-92.html
By Marguerite Reardon, CNET.com, 7.20.2009.
Archive
What went wrong with mobile video?
Survey: Economy Motivates Rise in Virtual Meetings, Stategic Meetings Management
Congress 2.0
Cisco Officials Push Online Collaboration, Video
Videoconferencing helps companies cut travel costs
Beyond the iPhone: What Open Source Means for Mobile
Enabling enterprise video surveillance with video analytics
Microsoft to refocus Soapbox video site
We Should Care About YouTube's Core Business, Not Their Market Share
Who Should Pay for Online Video Transit?
Why Twitter doesn't mean the end of Iranian censorship
Video Makes Its Way into the IP Cloud
