 | Issue: | Asia-Pacific I 2011 |
| Article no.: | 13 | |
| Topic: | Visual shock – the video transformation of corporate life | |
| Author: | Andrew Dobbins | |
| Title: | Regional VP Asia-Pacific | |
| Organisation: | Verizon Business | |
| PDF size: | 262KB |
About author
Andrew Dobbins is Regional Vice President Sales and Services Asia Pacific. Prior to this, Mr Dobbins was Asia Pacific Vice President of Sales for Orange Business. At Orange Business Services, Mr Dobbins served in a variety of roles including Director of Sales Australia and New Zealand, Director of Sales Hong Kong and Vice President of Sales Asia Pacific. Mr Dobbins’ responsibilities included managed network services, security, messaging, LAN management, IP telephony, professional services and full telecommunications outsourcing. Prior to Orange, Mr Dobbins worked at Telstra.
Article abstract
Video, as a real-time communications option, brings depth, context, personalisation and choice to the communications experience and is fast becoming a transformational force -including for business; IP-enabled networks enhance productivity, improve collaboration and offer a foundation that can streamline business processes, enhance-decision-making and improve customer service. Even so, should a business operate this expanding ecosystem, or should it call on third party expertise? Cloud computing and outsourced models are increasingly viable options for the immersive engagement platform of the future.
Full Article
Visual shock – the video transformation of corporate life by Andrew Dobbins, Regional Vice President, Verizon Business Asia-Pacific As Ivan Seidenberg discussed in his 2011 CES keynote, technology is having a dramatic impact on the way we live our lives today. Wireless data usage and smartphone penetration is growing rapidly; a new computing platform for mobile broadband has emerged, creating the market for mobile apps that is changing the way we relate to the Internet. Millions now have increasingly high-speed broadband access to the Internet in their home. These connections are sparking a revolution in digital media, fuelling growth in game consoles, HDTV’s, DVR’s, home networking equipment and more. The increasingly common factor in this media-everywhere world is the moving image – self-generated or highly produced – on the move or in the home, over the web or in the workplace, 3D, holographic, or immersive. Video, as a real-time communications option, brings depth, context, personalisation and choice to the communications experience and is fast becoming a transformational force. The consumer takes control The moving image has always had a powerful sway over people – from magic lanterns to the talkies, we have striven to deliver, translate, replicate and control moving images. We have seen tremendous advances in image technologies in past decades. Today, everyone with a mobile phone can capture still and moving images. We can access, print and share our images on the go, at home, everywhere. We can choose from hundreds of TV channels, download our favourite films in seconds, watch programmes on demand, enhance our learning experience with a click of a button, and create and share our own content quickly and simply with others around the globe. We are all TV cameramen, journalists and editors, of our own and others’ lives. The boundaries between the different media we use to communicate and access information and data are blurring, as we – and they – become more social. This confluence of networks, devices and lifestyle has made video an integral part of our personal lives – but it still doesn’t explain the transformational power of the moving image. The power of the visual Video might literally mean ‘I see’, but video today is really about engagement and participation. The moving image infuses every moment of our lives – and is easier and cheaper to create and share than ever before, so geographically dispersed individuals can form communities of interest and gain insight into the worlds and activities of others. This is important. Thanks to technology, our community is no longer the streets in which we live, but rather is linked and defined by real and virtual superhighways, fixed and mobile communication lines, real and imagined worlds. Building-in ‘real’ visual aspects to display each of the global communities helps make them feel more real to the participants. Perhaps one result of the growth of social, video-based communications is to make us think again about how we engage on a personal level. So many of us now have hundreds of Facebook friends, with whom we share life updates on a second-by-second basis. But our real relationships tend to be with the small group of people we meet in person and follow face-to-face. Video, though, helps maintain those relationships via a computer screen or smart phone even when people are at opposite ends of the world. Implications for Business What does this mean for business? It doesn’t take long for consumer trends to permeate the business world and this confluence of devices, networks and lifestyle is now having a major impact on the world of work. The next generation has always inhabited a technology-enabled, always-on, multi-faceted and increasingly social world. The question is, will businesses be able to harness social technologies to their benefit? Business today is operating in an increasingly global marketplace, and 24/7 operations are the norm; competition is fragmented, and the economy remains challenging – and so the issue of determining how to focus business effort is increasingly complex. Business, then, is looking to establish new, fluid constructs that will help make the most of opportunities as they arise. The ability of global, IP-enabled networks to enhance productivity through better collaboration is well known ; they offer a foundation on which companies can streamline business processes, enhance decision making and improve customer service. IP-enabled networks enable corporate stakeholders to find and use information in ways that are increasingly mirroring the always-on communications in their personal environment with multiple formats, and devices, from any location, on demand. Unified communications brings together the ability to speak, share information, view presence information, and increasingly, visually engage, over a single platform. This has significant implications for businesses. With immersive video communication, mobile devices and social networking tools increasingly filtering into the office environment, the bandwidth demand is tremendous. So high-capacity networks and always-available applications are becoming critical business enablers. On-demand access to data-intensive multimedia applications like video also requires assessment of storage capacity, linked to which audiences should be able to access it. Mobile device management and content delivery systems are transforming the office intranet into trusted social workspaces that extend beyond the office walls, giving stakeholder ecosystems the freedom to innovate and collaborate, and enabling the benefit of fresh thinking to be quickly realised. This all begs the question as to whether or not a business needs to own its IT assets, or merely enable information access to personal devices. Should a business operate this expanding ecosystem, or should it call on third party expertise? Cloud computing and outsourced models are increasingly viable options for the immersive engagement platform of the future. All of this is disrupting the given assumptions of business practice. Technology enablers Perhaps the most important factor driving enterprise video adoption is the exponential growth of ‘cloud computing’, and its fundamental shift towards an everything-as-a- service delivery model. This is a world in which cloud-based, converged solutions are delivered with built-in security via managed and professional services over global IP networks. Giving flexible access to large amounts of scalable computing power gives enterprises the freedom to access resources on demand to support natural business cycles. High-IQ networks – which comprise ultra-wideband capacity, super data centres for the cloud and smart devices for anywhere, personalized applications – are also offering an inventive, efficient and cost-effective platform for a new decade of innovation. They will enable applications to be seamlessly and securely ‘mobilised’ – that is, ported – beyond the desktop to smarter, ever more portable devices, using a thin-client approach, where applications are stored and delivered from the cloud. Higher-capacity wireless networks are also enabling face-to-face and face-to-machine interaction. Building on the growth of telepresence, high definition desktop video units and Web-based applications, new business models are already evolving to monetize digital content and deliver video across multiple screens. Another factor driving the growth of collaboration technologies in business is the need to be a good corporate citizen. Sustainability is a good business practice, so companies are increasingly using technology to minimise travel, enhance the work-life balance, reduce their carbon footprint and improve productivity and their bottom line. Immersive and mobile video has a role to play that is transforming enterprise communications. Video is becoming part of the expanding arsenal of tools that enable stakeholders to engage with an organisation how, when and where they wish and make a personal connection. Key considerations What should businesses consider when integrating video into the fabric of their operations? • Purpose – why are you bringing video into your business – have you considered the ROI and your overall business strategy? ; • Capacity -once video is enabled, its usage grows exponentially, so quality and network optimisation capabilities must be guaranteed via provider service level agreements; • Network reach – networks should enable a consistent viewing experience for all your stakeholders; • Archiving – high-capacity data exchanges must be hosted and stored, not least for compliance or regulatory requirements. Are you going to build out your own data centres, work with a third party or move to the cloud?; • Security – how do you protect corporate intellectual property in a real-time exchange over a live video feed? Do you police or engage employees? Will your data be safe in the cloud? What about privacy?; • Future proofing – will you be able to support your future live-streaming, multi-casting, geo-locating, personalising, customising and other needs. Make sure what you do today will still make tomorrow possible; and • Prevent information overload – can you keep your live, full colour information up-to-date, and of real value? What is its shelf life? Who is its guardian? We are on the edge of a real paradigm shift in global collaboration. Superfast LTE, fibre and global IP networks are combining with new devices, applications, and interactive content to deliver increasingly powerful visual and multi-faceted experiences. Smart networks are breaking down barriers between different form factors and platforms. Moving computing power into the cloud is transforming information into intelligence that can create new industries and revolutionize existing ones. Disruption is now part of the fabric of society – and disruption is bringing about a revolution in how companies engage with their stakeholders. What is clear is that the moving image has a crucial role to play in helping to make these social, visual models our new realities.
