Streaming Media - August/September 2008 - (Page 74)

writing an RFP for maximum ROI Here are questions to ask about viewership metrics: • Does the reporting system track and record all aspects of the viewer experience? • Does the reporting system have graphical representations of viewers or use mapping techniques? • Can the reporting be customized? How? • In what ways can your reporting system integrate with other internal or third-party systems? • What elements are included? • Can users access reports directly (on demand)? Product Installation. As you begin to think about product installation, you will need to start making decisions about installation, hosting, and servers. A critical question, and one that can rule out certain vendors, is whether or not you should install on-site or in the newer SaaS model. With SaaS, the complete offering is hosted by the vendor. You can access this software to create your webcast. This is similar to the Salesforce.com model, in which the site provides software that can be used in a browser to manage sales leads and opportunities. If you want to roll out video webcasting products quickly without investing a lot of resources into installation and maintenance, you should consider vendors who offer a SaaS delivery model. On the flip side, if your company’s IT philosophy is to hold all content behind the firewall, you should narrow down the selection to vendors who offer on-site solutions. Make sure the software can integrate with existing streaming servers or servers you intend to install. In addition to selecting the right software, you will also need to decide how you will stream or deliver the video to your audience. One key infrastructure question is whether you should set up your own streaming servers, use a content distribution network (CDN) provider, or use your vendor’s streaming solution. Certain webcasting solutions cannot be purchased unless your company has its own streaming servers, while others give you the flexibility to connect to the vendor’s solution. Connecting to your own streaming server with an on-site solution gives you control over the content along with the ability to put it behind your firewall. However, setting up an external CDN account allows you to avoid installation and maintenance of in-house streaming servers. If you are trying to make the installation as easy as possible and would like to avoid lengthy CDN contracts, it may be worthwhile to start with the webcasting vendor’s CDN setup and bring it in-house later. Here are questions to ask about product installation: • Are your solutions SaaS-based or do you offer software for installation at the customer’s site? • How is the content published and where is it hosted? • Do you offer software- or hardware-based solutions? Can I log in to the system from anywhere (i.e., is it a browserbased system)? • Can I connect to my own streaming server or CDN provider? Which ones do you support or do you offer your own? • What are the steps involved in setup and configuration of your systems? Do you provide on-site and/or remote installation assistance? • Overall, how long does installation take? CRITICAL COMPONENTS OF THE REPORTING FUNCTION Standard webcasting systems have the following: • User-list reports, including name, email, user ID, viewing behavior by participant and by slide (for each participant) • Total viewing stats, such as number of unique participants at different time intervals, registered versus nonregistered, viewing length (by page and total) • Detailed Q&A, polling, and survey results in totals and chart format • They also allow you to download the reports in standard formats, e.g., Excel or XML. Product Technology. In today’s dynamic business environment, your webcasting solution must have a flexible and scalable architecture. Make sure the vendor has designed its solution and product line to be scaled along with your organization. In addition, consider whether the solution is based on open standards and whether it has web service APIs that will allow you to integrate your webcasting program with existing or future systems. Here are questions to ask about product technology: • Do you have APIs and/or SDKs for programmatic control and access to the abilities of your system? • Do you support web services as an option for programmatic control and access to the abilities of your system? • Can you list which features of your system offer programmatic access and which do not? • Is your application web-enabled (i.e., browser-based)? • What types of servers are required for operation of your system? • Is your application capable of being distributed over multiple servers? • What is a typical configuration that would allow for complete redundancy with no single point of failure? Are there any single points of failure on your server side implementation? • Does your software offer clear architectural layering between presentation, business logic, and data? Can you provide a diagram of the architecture of your software applications? • Does your company provide well-documented user guides for your software applications? If so, please provide an More advanced systems include the following: • Detailed viewer profiles showing browsers, operating systems, screen colors, screen resolution, and media players the webcast audience used • Geographic reporting (stats or mapped) • User-defined custom reports They also allow data downloads via web services in addition to standard formats, e.g., Excel or XML. 74 STREAMING MEDIA August/September 2008 http://Salesforce.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Streaming Media - August/September 2008

Streaming Media - August/September 2008 Table of Contents No Doubt - Editor's Note Mo’ Videos, Mo’ Money: Solving the Problem of Network Cost Why Good Design Matters More Than Ever: Just. Press. Play. Technology and Business Trends by the Numbers High-Touch Encoding With Microsoft Expression Encoder 2 The State of the Content Delivery Market, 2008 Get a Life: New Tools Put Lifecasting Within Anyone’s Reach So Many Codecs, So Little Time: Comparing H.264 Files Using Codecs From Apple, Dicas, and MainConcept Writing an RFP for Maximum ROI: Things to Consider and Questions to Ask When Writing a Request for Proposal for a Corporate Webcasting System The Patent Wars Producing Screencams in Camtasia Studio Analyze That Using Video to Communicate Change for Business Success Intellectuals’ Property Rights

Streaming Media - August/September 2008

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