Meet Face To Face...web and video conferencing options. In comparing the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) of traditional video conferencing systems vs software-based web and video conferencing

Meet Face To FaceTeamwork without borders: Pervasive Video solutions

Meet Face To Face – Optimized Cloud Video | December 2014

2© Coevolve Pty Limited 2014

Contents

Contents 3

Introduction 4

Video Conferencing That Encourages Travel 5

Demand Is There, But Spend Isn’t 8

Why Current UC Technology Doesn’t Unify Us 9

Current State of the VC Market 10

The Challengers In The ‘New’ VC Space 13

Cloud VC - Hype or Solution? 14

Conclusion 17

About Coevolve 19



In a world filled with technology that’s supposed to bring us closer, we can sometimes forget what our distant work colleagues or business partners look like.

Sure, we might use Apple FaceTime® or Microsoft Skype® at home to call relatives or catch up with friends overseas, but we don’t tend to maximise the incredible benefits of video conferencing in our professional settings.

Maybe it is because of the need to have a full IT team to troubleshoot the inherent issues that arise (like the video conferencing system not working again), or the inconvenience of having to setup a virtual conference room and manually send emails to all participants, with a 12 digit passcode, just to facilitate a simple business meeting.

In many cases there remains a desire to communicate face-to-face, rather than over the phone or via email & instant message. There are visual cues that can get a message across more effectively, and the ‘togetherness’ of being face-to-face can often build a strong environment of collaboration and teamwork. And most importantly, results.

This edition of the Coevolve Technical Whitepaper Series looks at the current state of Video Conferencing (VC) in the enterprise environment, the challenges impeding adoption, and the future of unified communications in a cloud- centric world.

Introduction



Video Conferencing That Encourages Travel

We’ve all been there. The key meeting is set to introduce a new concept to the organization or to ‘rally the troops’ around a common goal. And then, as usual, the VC system doesn’t work. The IT support staff are called and they spend 30 minutes trying to fix it, which they eventually do.

Not only does it cost thousands of dollars in lost productivity but it also adds fuel to any sentiment that the organization simply can’t ‘get it together’. This same scenario plays out endlessly across the world each year, in all industry sectors, resulting in business people going back to how things were done before.

Catching planes

Despite videoconferencing solutions being commercially available for 15 years or more, the user satisfaction hasn’t been there for many organizations.

International research firm IDC has this IDC Opinion from their 2010 – 2014 Forecast on the topic, which highlights the low adoption rate of the video conferencing in business:

“Enterprise videoconferencing has been through a number of hype cycles over the past few decades and has failed to become culturally integrated into the fabric of business processes and communications.

However, IDC believes that only recently have the technologies delivered to end users’ experiences worthy of initiating a videoconference over a phone call or conducting business across locations that in the past required travel.”

IDC Worldwide Enterprise Video Conferencing and Telepresence Forecast 2010 – 20141



Even back in 2010 when this report was published, the three (3) factors that IDC stated would shape the outcome were Technology Capability and Market Awareness, Bandwidth Availability, and Interoperability.

It’s interesting to note that some of these challenges are still present today, despite advancements in the technology offerings from major vendors.

Bandwidth availability has grown in huge leaps over this time, both in fixed (fiber access) and wireless (3G / 4G / LTE). If managed well, this growth certainly has been more than enough to cover the increased demand for video traffic in the enterprise. This trend in bandwidth increases shows no sign of slowing down, as shown in this report from Cisco’s Visual Network Index:

Figure 1: Cisco VNI Forecasts 132 Exabytes per Month of IP Traffic by 2018

SOURCE: Cisco VNI 20142

Exabytes per Month 21% CAGR 2013-2018

140

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

70

0

51 EB

62 EB

76 EB

91 EB

110 EB

132 EB



The Capability and Interoperability challenges still remain.

The basis of the problem is sheer complexity; it comes from three different angles:

1. Devices are changing rapidly (new tablets, smartphones, laptops and UC apps are being launched constantly), resulting in the lack of a consistent technology platform to improve stability

2. Video is an inherently difficult medium to work with because it has different CODECs (translation codes) for various video formats and if it’s not delivered seamlessly, it’s considered useless from the user’s perspective

3. Users expect high quality video, anywhere and everywhere (like Skype and FaceTime offers consumers).

So even if vendors could come up with a fully unified, ‘any device’ platform, they will still have to continually innovate to keep up with the moving goalposts set by the users.

Until then, dissatisfied corporate office users and those in remote locations will continue to fly for meetings.



Demand Is There, But Spend Isn’t

Before webcams became commonplace in smartphones, laptops and tablets, implementing a VC solution was relatively easy. This is because requirements were to have the equipment and bandwidth at just few larger enterprise offices, or perhaps the occasional outlying offices where senior executives were based.

But now, with the recent explosion in teleworking arrangements and smart, intuitive technologies (Apple FaceTime®, Microsoft Skype®, Google Hangouts®) that consumers are using outside of work hours as second nature, both VC vendors and business owners had to significantly raise their game.

“Demand for video capabilities is at an all-time high, but businesses’ willingness to spend isn’t, causing a shift from high-end telepresence suites and multipurpose room systems to lower-cost software and videophones for personal videoconferencing,”

Matthias Machowinski Directing Analyst, Enterprise Networks and Video at Infonetics Research3

And that right there is part of the problem. With many enterprises having experienced lackluster VC solutions in the past, choosing a new one to tip more money into can certainly be a cause of reluctance.

It shouldn’t be though. Significant cost savings are to be had by investing in effective cloud-based video conferencing solutions, as indicated by Aragon Research;

“Organizations are realizing significant savings by moving to cloud-based web and video conferencing options. In comparing the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) of traditional video conferencing systems vs software-based web and video conferencing solutions, organizations stand to save between 15% and 50% over 1-3 years.”

Aragon Research, Web And Video Conferencing: The Hidden TCO Gold Mine 25 July 20144



Why Current UC Technology Doesn’t Unify Us

With the exception of a few key players, Video Conferencing and more broadly, Unified Communications (UC) so far hasn’t been a truly unifying experience.

With expensive, vendor specific solutions that limit the enterprise by way of choice and flexibility, UC solutions haven’t gained the traction that could be gained with a ubiquitous ‘anywhere, anytime, any device’ utopian outcome.

Even Microsoft Lync®, which is one of the most popular UC and desktop video conferencing solutions marketed to enterprise isn’t compatible with all devices and is generally designed for Microsoft operating systems. Apple FaceTime® offers an excellent quality, one-on-one video conferencing experience but no ability to use it on any non-Apple devices (nor have more than two parties participate).

This isn’t to say that the technologies aren’t good; on the contrary, they are a lot better that what was available just a short time ago. But it’s not a ubiquitous experience, by any stretch of the imagination.



Current State of the VC Market

The following is an excerpt from research firm Gartner’s IT Market Clock for Enterprise Video, 2014:

“As enterprise video becomes embedded in such a comprehensive range of experiences, users and infrastructure leaders are seeking simplification.

This has placed greater urgency on ecosystems that promise greater levels of interoperability and more seamless user experiences independent of endpoint. Microsoft and Cisco have established comprehensive endpoint ecosystems, while Google has also enhanced its room-based options with Chromebox for meetings.

Each of these ecosystems offers greater promise of simplification, from multiscreen group video down to mobile with the ability to inject and collaborate on content through a variety of channels.

The enterprise video market continues to show high levels of technology innovation and differentiation by vendors, in codec implementations, scalability and infrastructure virtualization. This has allowed small, innovative suppliers to emerge in VaaS, video endpoints, content management and distribution.”

Gartner’s IT Market Clock for Enterprise Video, 2014 (26 August 2014)5

But the current leaders in enterprise video conferencing aren’t Microsoft or Google. Seventy-nine per cent (79%) of the market is controlled by three players; Cisco, Polycom and Huawei.



Broken up into their respective market-shares, they are as follows:

1. Cisco remained the leader in enterprise videoconferencing equipment with a 41.4% share of the worldwide market.

2. Polycom ranked second in enterprise videoconferencing equipment with a 26.9% share of the worldwide market.

3. Huawei ranked third with a 10.8% share of the worldwide enterprise videoconferencing market.

SOURCE: IDC Press Release: Worldwide Enterprise Videoconferencing and Telepresence Equipment Market Showed Mixed Results in Third Quarter, 2 Dec 20146

Figure 2: Top Enterprise Telepresence and Video Conferencing Vendors

2013GLOBAL

REVENUE

Other

Huawei

Polycom

Cisco

SOURCE: : ©Infonetics Research, Enterprise Telepresence and Video Conferencing Equipment Quarterly Market Size, Share, and Forecasts, March 20147



Even with cloud-based video conferencing solutions coming into their prime deployment period, many organizations are still entrenched in older technologies, as shown by this graphic from Forrester Research.

Figure 3: “In the future (your next provisioning cycle), how do you think your firm would prefer to manage or deploy the following video technologies?”

HD in-room videoconferencing

Off-premises cloud-type/as-a-service(shared infrastructure)

19%

Self-provisioned and self-managed 39%

Outsourced or on-premisesmanaged CPE

25%

Off-premises hosted(dedicated infrastructure)

17%

Base: 521 to 594 global technology decision-makers whose firmsare planning to adopt or have adopted the above video technologies

Desktop IP videoconferencing

Off-premises cloud-type/as-a-service(shared infrastructure)

13%

Self-provisioned and self-managed 41%

Outsourced or on-premisesmanaged CPE

26%

Off-premises hosted(dedicated infrastructure)

20%

SOURCE: Forrester’s Business Technographics Global Networks And Telecommunications Survey, 20148



The Challengers In The ‘New’ VC Space

Major players like Google have capitalized on the demand for personal video conferencing quite quickly by building free, easy-to-use web tools that just require a browser, a webcam and an account. Google’s business solution, called “Hangouts” is a simple but effective cloud video conferencing tool that comes as part of a package of services called Google Apps for Work. It integrates with any device and has features such as screen sharing, chat, automatic sound tracking to feature the current speaker and HD video.

Other startups in this field include Lifesize, which offers HD video conferencing via a cloud based solution or an on-premise solution that is controlled by the enterprise IT team.

Vidyo is also another key player in this emerging space, with HD video offerings the same as Google and Lifesize, but requiring apps to be installed on devices rather than being web-based. The pricing model however relies on a certain number of licenses being paid for (which can be pooled rather than restricted to each user specifically) and a software-based video routing system of a minimum 25 users.

Blue Jeans Networks has an offering using an entirely cloud-based solution. This model can be attractive in some scenarios where there is a requirement to integrate a limited amount of video traffic, but for some larger deployments the lack of dedicated infrastructure can be a limitation.

Acano

UK based Acano is another cloud-optimized solution making waves in the enterprise collaboration space. However, Acano is unique in that it operates as a seamless ‘orchestration layer’ rather than just another web based client.

It not only allows a connection from any device (smartphone, tablet, VC station, laptop, desktop) or browser-based WebRTC (Real Time Communication) but even from enterprise UC systems like Microsoft Lync and Cisco Call Manager. For the Enterprise IT manager who is cautious of having to justify yet another ‘rip and replace’ style of VC system upgrade, Acano offers a fluid integration unlike any other system.



Cloud VC: Hype or Solution?

It’s abundantly clear that despite cloud-based VC technology being seen by some as hype, it definitely is a solution that’s here to stay.

With the promise of elastic capacity (in some solutions) and eliminating the technology or brand silo’s that so often get in the way of creating a truly unified workforce, cloud VC is developing into a market force of its own.

“Cloud-based videoconferencing is particularly appealing to small companies and workgroups or branch offices. All you need is a laptop or mobile device with a built-in camera and a high-speed Internet connection — equipment that most business users have by default. There are no infrastructure investments or on-staff IT expertise required.

The biggest expense is the cost of the videoconference itself; depending on how many meetings you plan to host a month and how many participants you will have, a pay-as-you-go cloud service may be a nearly negligible expense.”

Frost & Sullivan Report: Videoconferencing Market Is Shifting Towards Software9

Technology Research and Advisory firm Gartner recommends that enterprise should;

“Leverage cloud-based video-as-a-service offers to gauge the demand set for personal videoconferencing and simplify gateway calls to non-native endpoints.”

IT Market Clock for Enterprise Video, 201410

The current marketplace allows enterprise clients to ‘experiment’ with new cloud VC platforms in the way that Gartner recommends, without committing to significant investment in hardware, integration and training.



The focus should be on flexibility, ubiquitous access, and ease of use (so as to encourage active uptake among employees) as primary drivers of selecting the technology to make a more concrete investment in.

Video conferencing in the enterprise should not be seen as just a fad or a ‘nice to have’ but should be encouraged, so as to create a more cohesive and effective workforce that produces better overall results.

“Recent IDC survey adoption data indicates that video is still a key component of collaboration and continues to place high on the list of priorities for many organizations”

“IDC believes that among the challenges customers are currently working through are determining exactly when and how to provision their video deployments as more software-centric and cloud-based service offerings become part of the enterprise video market landscape.”

Petr Jirovsky, Research Manager, Worldwide Networking Trackers11

With a swathe of new technologies starting to go through the product lifecycle, it’s clear that the established technologies shown in the ‘Choice’ quarter in the next infographic have the best potential for success in new deployments.

Optimized cloud solutions fall into this category, offering Video-as-a-Service on the front-end with seamless transcoding and software MCU smarts on the backend.



Figure 4: IT Market Clock for Enterprise Video, 2014

Replacement

Market Start

ISDN Videoconferencing

h.263

4K Videoconferencing

WebRTC Video

Video Search

Robotic Telepresence

Video Content Managementh.265 HEVC

Mobile Videoconferencing

Video-as-a-Service

Transcoderless Video

Scalable Video

Software MCU

Time to Next Market Phase

h.264 AVC

Video Exchange

Immersive Telepresence

Soft Room Endpoints

Dawn ofStandards

Zenith ofIndustrialization

Com

mod

itiza

tion

Dusk ofObsolescence

Cost

Choice

Advantage

<2 years 2 to 5 years 5 to 10 years >10 years End of life

SOURCE: Gartner (August 2014)12



Doing business face-to-face is always going to be the most effective way to drive results.

With enterprises stretching across multiple country borders and time zones, the need now is stronger than ever to bring people closer by using smart technologies.

There will always be a need for corporate travel, but the savings that Enterprise can have by implementing the latest cloud-based video conferencing solutions will prove staggering.

And that’s not counting the benefits of accelerated results that your multi-regional teams can achieve by effectively collaborating and building relationships as if they were all in the same room.

At Coevolve, we have a deep understanding of the technologies associated with video integration, and can help from the first pilot deployment to an enterprise-wide rollout. We know the impact that video can have on global networks, and how to achieve the best possible quality and user experience without impacting other critical applications. Our solution can be used to extend the lifespan of some existing video infrastructure while rolling out Lync or other leading-edge solutions, or it can be used as the foundation for new collaborative environments.

If you would like a more in-depth discussion about how your enterprise can gain a dynamic advantage through Cloud Optimized Video solutions, or to set up a trial of our service, contact Coevolve via our website at coevolve.com/contact-us

Conclusion

Please also see our earlier White Paper Renting an optimized WAN – How WAN Optimization as a Service can deliver a better user experience without breaking the bank

http://www.coevolve.com/download-white-paper-renting-an-optimized-wan/

http://coevolve.com/contact-us



REFERENCES

1 IDC Worldwide Enterprise Video Conferencing and Telepresence Forecast 2010 – 1014. http://www.ivci.com/pdf/video-conferencing-telepresence-market-forecast.pdf

2 Cisco VNI 2014 http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/service-provider/visual-networking-index-vni/VNI_Hyperconnectivity_WP.html

3 Infonetics Research Enterprise Telepresence and Video Conferencing Equipment Report http://www.infonetics.com/pr/2014/4Q13-Enterprise-Telepresence-and-Video-Conferencing-Market-Highlights.asp

4 Aragon Research, Web And Video Conferencing: The Hidden TCO Gold Mine 25 July 2014. https://www.fuze.com/resources/2014-31WebAndVideoConferenceTCO.pdf

5 Gartner’s IT Market Clock for Enterprise Video, 2014 (26 August 2014) http://www.gartner.com/technology/reprints.do?id=1-20VTTAL&ct=140905&st=sg

6 IDC Worldwide Enterprise Videoconferencing and Telepresence Equipment Market Showed Mixed Results in Third Quarter. 02 Dec 2014 http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS25285114

7 Infonetics http://www.infonetics.com/pr/2014/charts/ms14_vtp_4q13_chart.jpg

8 Forrester Global Networks and Telecommunications Survey, 2014. http://www.ucinsight.com/latestnews/videoconferencing-on-premise-or-cloud/

9 Frost & Sullivan Report: Videoconferencing Market Is Shifting Towards Software http://www.corporatetechdecisions.com/article/frost_sullivan_report_videoconferencing_market_is_shifting_towards_software/P2

10 Gartner’s IT Market Clock for Enterprise Video, 2014 (26 August 2014) http://www.gartner.com/technology/reprints.do?id=1-20VTTAL&ct=140905&st=sg

11 IDC Worldwide Enterprise Videoconferencing and Telepresence Equipment Market Showed Mixed Results in Third Quarter. 02 Dec 2014 http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS25285114

12 IT Market Clock for Enterprise Video, 2014 Source: Gartner (August 2014) http://www.gartner.com/technology/reprints.do?id=1-20VTTAL&ct=140905&st=sg



Coevolve provides a range of consulting and managed services across the entire network life cycle for multinational enterprises. Coevolve’s mission is to deliver measurable improvement in the technical, operational and commercial performance of these complex networks.

Many new “as a service” offerings are driving an unprecedented need to change outdated network designs. Constantly changing traffic patterns mean achieving application performance visibility across the network is now essential. Coevolve helps enterprises face these challenges, bringing new levels of flexibility and agility into the network infrastructure arena, and always with the objective of achieving improved application performance for end users.

About Coevolve

One Westbrook Corporate Center Suite 300 Westchester, IL 60154 USA

Level 8, Menara CIMB No.1, Jalan Stesen Sentral, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

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www.coevolve.com

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Meet Face To Face...web and video conferencing options. In comparing the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) of traditional video conferencing systems vs software-based web and video conferencing