Key Considerations When Planning Your Video Conferencing Environment: Cloud, Quality & Scale

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1 September 2016 Key Considerations When Planning Your Video Conferencing Environment: Cloud, Quality & Scale A real-world guide to making informed decisions This study sponsored by

2 Today s Drivers for Video Collaboration Video conferencing is no longer an executive-only tool. And it is no longer just for company meetings or formal, scheduled presentations. Instead, video conferencing has become a core business tool that not only saves time and money, but also drives revenue and new business opportunities. And for nextgeneration companies, video conferencing is empowering and enabling a new, more nimble, less formal way of working. WR has noted a handful of industry and market drivers that are fueling increased demand and usage for video collaboration, and as a result the increased importance of a properly defined and implemented video conferencing architecture. - Growth in Remote Workers to survive and compete, companies need to leverage their resources effectively, regardless of their location. Desktop / personal video conferencing is a key part of keeping those remote workers connected to their partners, peers, and clients around the world. - Growth in Inter-Company Video according to a recent Wainhouse Research survey, more than 40% of video calls in companies with less than 10,000 employees include one or more external participants. Similarly, 26% of video calls in companies with 10,000 or more employees includes one or more externals. - Growth in Mobile Video Applications video conferencing is not just for people sitting at their desks. Today, people are participating in video calls while on the road, at a client s site, in a hotel, and everywhere in between. - Growth in Video Embedded Apps and Workflows and Customization adding video to an existing application or workflow adds value for all involved. For example, when a customer has a question about his bill, a face-to-face interaction via embedded (and possibly customized) or branded video within your contact center is more powerful and positive than visiting the website to see an invoice. The ability to video-chat easily with a representative not only expedites support, but also generates customer stickiness. Similarly, adding video to a healthcare mobile app allows health care provider to reach and care for more patients in more locations and provide more convenient and cost-effective care. The key is to add value by video-enabling an existing, familiar customer experience Wainhouse Research Page 2

3 The above list is not all-inclusive. However, these are a few examples of use cases that are driving an increased demand for video conferencing and the back-end technologies that power these impromptu, internal, external, B2B, B2C, and point of service video experiences. Supporting Video for the Masses The prior sections highlight the growing dependency of organizations on video conferencing. Simply stated over the last few years, more people, in more organizations, are using more video conferencing, in more ways, and in more places. Many of WR s end-user consulting clients report that their video conferencing usage is growing at a rate above 50% each year. Some even report > 100% usage growth year over year. From a value perspective, larger deployments, more personal video users, and increased usage are good news for customers. This, however, makes an organization s video conferencing architecture more important than ever before. Larger deployments with more personal video users are good news in terms of return on investment, but make video conferencing architecture more important than ever before. Wainhouse Research has identified a number of items that IT managers should consider as they define and implement their video conferencing environment including topics related to cloud, scale, and quality over mobile. IMPORTANT NOTE the list below is NOT intended to cover every possible area of interest or concern for IT managers researching video conferencing. Instead, the list below highlights some key areas that WR believes to be of importance to the majority of video-enabled organizations. Area of Consideration Description / Commentary A key part of driving the adoption, use, and resulting value from video conferencing is the need to provide a consistent, no-surprise user experience. Consistency & Accessibility Quality of Experience IT managers should ensure that the video conferencing architecture is able to support various types of systems and clients including standards-based systems (SIP, H.323) and group, desktop, and mobile software solutions. This is especially critical for business-tobusiness (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) situations. IT managers should ensure that their video conferencing architecture is able to provide a suitable quality-of-experience. Key areas of focus include video resolution and quality (especially critical over mobile networks), call speeds supported, network resiliency capabilities, audio performance, call latency / delay, and more. Note that the need to verify that the architecture can meet user quality expectations is important whether the architecture is based on a cloud or on premises strategy Wainhouse Research Page 3

4 Area of Consideration Description / Commentary Video conferencing architecture decisions should not be made lightly as switching between one back-end environment to another can involve both cost and user disruption. Future Proofing To reduce the risk of obsolescence, IT managers should pay careful attention to the provider s track record for innovation as this directly impacts the lifespan of the environment. For example, some vendors lead the industry by offering next-generation features first (e.g. support for 4K video resolution, support for H.265, support for mobile video), while others lag behind. IT managers should seek video conferencing solutions designed with flexibility in mind. Such solutions can be deployed in various ways to address specific requirements and everchanging corporate priorities. Flexibility For example, some organizations will find that a cloud / hosted conferencing service offers the right combination of benefits and performance. Others may find that a hybrid deployment including some on premises technology will provide superior bandwidth management and quality of experience. Ideally, the solutions should offer the same features (called feature parity) and functions, regardless of how it s deployed. It should also allow an organization to change its deployment methodology in the future with limited expense and complexity. Scalability Given the growing importance of video conferencing to many organizations, and the fact that video is being used for more client-meetings, customer interaction sessions, and to empower more remote workers than ever before, the scalability of the video conferencing environment has never been more important. Savvy IT managers will ensure that their video conferencing architecture can easily scale to properly support both today s and tomorrow s personal (desktop, mobile) and group video conferencing usage. Video conferencing usage does not typically increase massively overnight. Instead, it takes users time to embrace video and incorporate it into their day to day routine. But once video catches on, usage often grows exponentially. Elasticity IT managers should seek solutions that allow them to right-size their video environment as their needs change. For example, many cloud service offerings and software solutions allow customers to add users one at a time. This is more efficient and cost effective than legacy hardware solutions that forced users to purchase video bridging ports in banks of 16 or 32. Organizations depend on video more today than in the past. As such, reliability is no longer a nice-to-have it is a must. When making video conferencing decisions, IT managers should seek solutions architected for maximum reliability. Reliability It is vitally important for IT managers to investigate the inherent resiliency of product / service platforms in use. For example, to ensure uninterrupted service, cloud service offerings should be powered by geographically dispersed servers in professional co-location centers. The focus on reliability should also include the ability to mask the impact of network issues (packet loss, jitter), including those over mobile networks, that might impact the users Wainhouse Research Page 4

5 Area of Consideration Description / Commentary Video conferencing has earned its place as a core business communication tool used by organizations around the world. As organizational dependency on video increases, so does the importance of proper security. Security IT managers should design their video conferencing environment with security in mind. Key areas of focus include support for standards-based encryption, adherence to industryspecific security and privacy regulations (e.g. HIPAA), and a roster of security certifications (e.g. JITC). End-to-end security depends heavily on the video conferencing architecture. To provide value, a business tool must be accessible to users without requiring them to change the way they work. Embedding both video workflows and video functionality into apps they already use is a powerful way to make video more accessible and convenient, while simultaneously increasing communication efficiency as users no longer have to use separate, stand-alone applications for video conferencing. Embedded Video For example, users should be able to schedule calls from within their enterprise groupware systems and calendars (e.g. Outlook / Exchange, Google Calendar, etc.). Similarly, the video conferencing environment should integrate with and leverage enterprise directory information (e.g. LDAP, Active Directory) for user account creation, management, and security. IT managers should define their video architecture to support native integration with enterprise tools and systems. Ideally, the environment would offer strong and mature APIs and SDKs to support client-specific requirements (branding/skinning) and allow customers to add video to their core business (e.g. contact center tools, customer service systems, marketing and sales automation engines, etc.). Despite a frustratingly slow transition, video conferencing has finally become an IT (vs. an audio-visual) technology. Video systems leverage the corporate data network and can be monitored and managed over IP. IT / Network Citizenship IT managers should seek solutions that are both IT centric and network friendly. Such solutions offer centralized monitoring and management using web-based tools that are easy enough for mid-level IT managers to use. Additionally, these solutions should support various network configurations, and respect network queuing / QoS algorithms. Essentially, these solutions should protect the video conferencing experience while simultaneously respecting other network-centric applications Wainhouse Research Page 5

6 Solution Spotlight The sponsor of this study, Vidyo, was the first company in the video conferencing space to offer a solution based on scalable video coding (SVC), an extension to the H.264 standard ratified in Vidyo is also the only vendor that provides both spatial and temporal scalability within SVC, and is collaborating with Google to implement SVC inside VP9, a next generation video codec for WebRTC. SVC involves the encoding of video streams into multiple layers including a base layer and one or more enhancement layers. The base layer provides a basic video conferencing experience, and each enhancement layer adds frame rate, spatial resolution, and/or image quality to the base layer. Vidyo s use of SVC provides several notable benefits including the ability to: - provide a high quality experience over best effort / lossy data networks like the public Internet - dynamically adapt resolution and frame rate for optimal performance - support multi-party video conferencing without the need for expensive, processor-intensive, transcoding video bridges or MCUs Vidyo s offerings are available in three flavors: - VidyoCloud a hosted video collaboration service hosted by Vidyo and powered by Vidyo technology that provides high quality (up to 4K video resolution), highly reliable, highly scalable, video conferencing including interoperability with standards-based systems. - Vidyo On-Premises Software a portfolio of software applications that provide an end-to-end, highly scalable, highly resilient video conferencing environment. - Vidyo Hybrid the entire Vidyo portfolio includes native support for hybrid (mixed cloud and on premises) deployments, allowing customers to optimize the Vidyo environment to best address their needs, priorities, and specific situation. In addition, Vidyo offers a robust set of APIs that enable the Vidyo platform to be used with other applications and within a customer s existing workflow. For example, Vidyo s APIs have enabled the California Telehealth Network, Mercy Hospital, SBR Health, and the Ontario Telehealth Network to embed video and content sharing (e.g. patient records, telemetry) into their telehealth service offerings. The Vidyo architecture was designed from the ground up to address IT manager requirements and concerns. Referring back to our list of areas of interest for video conferencing infrastructure - Consistency the Vidyo solution provides a consistent user experience, regardless of deployment method (cloud, on-premises, or hybrid). - Quality of Experience the use of scalable video coding allows Vidyo to provide a high quality, low latency video experience. In addition, support for 4K video and 60 frames per second offers the quality needed for even the most demanding applications. - Scalability the Vidyo solution was designed to support very large scale video environments. For example, CERN uses Vidyo to enable collaboration between 20,000 scientists Wainhouse Research Page 6

7 - Flexibility the Vidyo architecture is available as a cloud service, for local (on premises) deployment, or in a hybrid configuration, and can be deployed centrally or in a distributed architecture running on dedicated or virtualized servers. Regardless of the deployment methodology, users enjoy the same features, workflow, and quality of experience. - Elasticity Both VidyoCloud and Vidyo s software licensing model allow enterprises to purchase licenses in bulk or one at a time as required. - Reliability the Vidyo architecture supports redundant servers and systems, and offers exceptionally strong network resiliency which is particularly important for mobile devices operating over lossy wireless network connections. - Security Vidyo s architecture offers end-to-end security for both video call traffic, and management and control traffic between infrastructure elements. - Embedded Video the Vidyo platform is built on a set of APIs and SDKs that enable high degrees of integration and customization. The platform supports branding, skinning, and more sophisticated workflow and business process integrations. Additionally, the Vidyo environment integrates with Outlook / Exchange, Google Calendar, active directory / LDAP, and others. - IT / Network Citizenship the Vidyo ecosystem was designed for easy installation and management, offering IT managers access to detailed information within web-based management portals. In addition, Vidyo automatically adapts to changing network conditions to protect the user experience and other network-centric applications. Conclusion Video conferencing has become a core business tool for organizations around the world. As such, video conferencing can no longer be treated or operated as an independent technology or application. The silo d approach simply won t cut it anymore. Within this study, we have identified a number of key areas related to video conferencing architecture and deployments ranging from consistency and accessibility, to reliability, to scalability, to network and enterprise-friendliness. While reviewing the various options, IT managers should consider how well the offerings under review address these areas. In addition, IT managers should consider how their requirements will change over time, and how well the platforms can support those future needs. The sponsor of this study, Vidyo, offers a software-based, enterprise-ready platform with a robust and flexible architecture. The Vidyo environment is available as a cloud service, as an on premises solution, and as a hybrid deployment, and is especially well suited for large deployments and situations in which video is to be embedded within existing applications or tools. Once implemented, shifting between video platforms can be difficult and obtrusive to the user population. For this reason, IT managers should make their video conferencing architecture decisions carefully and from a position of knowledge Wainhouse Research Page 7

8 About the Authors Ira M. Weinstein is a Senior Analyst & Partner at Wainhouse Research and a 25-year veteran of the conferencing, collaboration and audio-visual industries. Ira has authored and contributed to dozens of articles, white papers, studies, reports, and evaluations on rich media communications, video conferencing, streaming and webcasting, audio-visual design and integration, business strategy, and general business practices. Ira specializes in providing strategic advisory services to vendors, resellers, and end-users within the collaboration space. Ira can be reached at iweinstein@wainhouse.com. Saar Litman is a Senior Researcher & Consultant at Wainhouse Research and has 15 years of experience in the audio-visual and video conferencing industry. Saar s primary focus is the products, services, and companies within the audio-visual space. In addition, Saar provides AV design services, helps enterprise organizations define and implement global AV standard systems and designs, and manages the WR test lab in Coral Springs, Florida. Saar can be reached at slitman@wainhouse.com. About Wainhouse Research Wainhouse Research, is an independent analyst firm that focuses on critical issues in the Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C). The company conducts multi-client and custom research studies, consults with end users on key implementation issues, publishes white papers and market statistics, and delivers public and private seminars as well as speaker presentations at industry group meetings. About Vidyo (copy provided by Vidyo) Vidyo is changing the way people connect. We have moved the business model for video conferencing beyond expensive legacy hardware and dedicated networks to provide a powerful, flexible and scalable softwarebased solution that is also affordable. Easy to use and manage, Vidyo technology innovations put HDquality, multipoint video communications within reach of anyone using any device, anywhere. All that s needed is an Internet, LTE or 4G connection to join in a lifelike and truly collaborative meeting experience. Today, Vidyo s video collaboration solutions power new workflow applications that close information gaps and boost productivity in industries such as banking, education, government, healthcare, and high tech. For more information about Vidyo, please visit vidyo.com 2016 Wainhouse Research Page 8