Streaming Media - December 2008/January 2009 - (Page 33)

The New Era of Corporate Communications Industry Perspectives t’s no secret that easy and effective collaboration among teams is critical to achieving and maintaining a competitive edge. And while there is no shortage of technologies to achieve this goal, none are as immersive as video. The technology fosters an ideal collaboration environment that operates in real time, accommodates large or small teams, and provides rich-media interactions. But don’t just take my word for it. Industry giants such as eBay, Microsoft, and Dell have led the pack in leveraging video to decrease the time it takes to deliver strategic messages, provide training, and enhance employee and partner experiences. Others are eager to follow in their footsteps. Check out these actual quotes from companies Qumu recently spoke with: • “Podcasts are dead. It’s downloadable video now.” • “We want a YouTube-esque content management interface—make it as easy as YouTube.” • “Demand for video is expanding across the company.” • “We produce more than 1,200 videocasts per year.” I Such feedback simply reaffirms what we’ve known all along: Enterprise video is the next big thing in corporate communications. A variety of factors can lead to the emergence of video within an enterprise, from an increase in globally disparate teams and rising gas prices to environmental concerns and increasingly mobilized work forces. Video enables companies to quickly improve their operations while minimizing the impact on their IT infrastructures. In the case of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), a global supplier of microprocessors and graphics solutions for the computing industry, a multibillion-dollar acquisition served as the impetus. Video helped ensure that global executive and department communication was effective. It also took center stage in the efforts to integrate two distinct corporate cultures. Valued at $5.4 billion, AMD’s acquisition of ATI Technologies in October 2006 marked the second largest semiconductor acquisition in history. The new company boasted 17,000 employees in more than 30 sites around the globe—from Sunnyvale to Shanghai and Massachusetts to Milan. AMD’s leadership quickly realized it would need to take bold moves to improve employee alignment and collaboration. The team needed to find a new way to communicate globally, break down existing silos, and get the two companies working as one team. Video seemed like an obvious choice to Dave Kroll, vice president of global communications at AMD. “With Generation Y coming into the workplace and advancements in social media like YouTube, Facebook, and blogging now pervasive, we knew video could enable and encourage participation in new, more meaningful ways,” he says. “Video adds depth to communications that simply can’t be achieved with written or audio formats.” For example, communications that formerly occurred only through formal reviews or email distributions can now be achieved with spontaneous sessions. These “brief bursts” by executives or managers are used to quickly and easily deliver messages to teams around the globe. Because video encoding is not required, they can be completed and distributed within minutes. But perhaps more important than how these spontaneous sessions are created is how they are perceived. Before they invested in an enterprise webcasting solution, AMD had to invest in high-end production teams to generate a corporate video. Today, the company has not only eliminated that expense but also upped the impact of its videos. As Kroll puts it: “Employees don’t want to feel they are being marketed to. Rather, they want to be part of an open, frank discussion. Simplicity brings credibility.” Recently, AMD has undergone another monumental change: Dirk Meyer took the company’s reins from 6-year CEO Hector Ruiz in July. Meyer has already set the tone for his era by rolling out video in the form of multiminute updates to help employees stay focused and motivated. Video will complement Meyer’s communication style, which is open and direct. He plans to create and share biweekly videos discussing customer experiences, big wins, news announcements, financials, strategies, product updates, and department and employee recognition. This level of transparency will serve to keep employees informed and inspired as AMD enters a new phase in which video will play a critical role. According to Kroll, “The real ROI is just starting to unfold. Our executives knew video could be powerful, but now that the first deployment has rolled out, they truly get it. From my perspective, enterprise video is poised to dramatically alter the way companies do business forever.” Ray Hood is CEO of Qumu (www.qumu.com). Comments? Email us at www.streamingmedia.com, or check the masthead for other ways to contact us. WWW.STREAMINGMEDIA.COM By Ray Hood 33 http://www.qumu.com http://www.streamingmedia.com http://WWW.STREAMINGMEDIA.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Streaming Media - December 2008/January 2009

Streaming Media - December 2008/January 2009 Table of Contents User-Generated Politics Netflix Needs a Business Model Technology and Business Trends by the Numbers Improving Video Color Quality What Makes for Compelling Video? Game On: Bringing the NHL to IPTV Give! The New Era of Corporate Communications New Video Frontiers: Taking It Beyond the PC The HD Showdown: Codec Vendors Battle It Out for Supreme Quality The Ultimate Guide to Creating Online Video Content That Works, Part 2 Planning for Webcasting Success: Considerations for Deploying an Enterprise Video Communications Platform All Mobile Devices Are Not the Same Datmedia Datpresenter LSI Tarari Encoder Accelerator LCPX-6140 Gomez Active Streaming XF Transcoding for Global Reach Executive Visions 2009 The Revolution Is Being Televised

Streaming Media - December 2008/January 2009

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