Business Video: Challenges and Opportunities in the Year Ahead

If market trends and analyst predictions are any indication, 2013 is shaping up as a banner year for business video. As a longtime observer of this market, in fact as one who in a previous life as an analyst predicted more than one year in the past two decades to be the year of business video, I am usually cautious about agreeing with predictions. However, this year appears to be the real deal.

Market drivers are in place

One of the most over-used phrases of this past year is “Perfect Strom.” In the case of business video, while there is little disagreement that IT professionals are going to be facing a storm of data traffic, much of it video, I tend to view what is transpiring as the perfect confluence of industry drivers. The list is extensive to back up this assertion but the short version includes:

• The technology for personal video in the workplace is now affordable
• Conferencing capabilities are also reasonably priced, high definition and high fidelity
• The value of video integration with other enterprise collaboration tools, particularly unified communications (UC) is tangible
• BYOD device users want to use video
• Social media is increasingly video-centric and users of Google Talk and Apple FaceTime (News - Alert) do not wish to be constrained as to when they can use such capabilities
• Security has been improved
• Ease-of-use has become a design criteria
• Interoperability issues finally are starting to melt away
• WebRTC is about to potentially revolutionize the way video is consumed by all of us in business as well as when we are nomadic

Like I said at the top, the list is long. I think it is also compelling as validation as to why 2013 is going to be the year your organizations is going make access to video functionality a priority.

What you need to know

As the headline notes, this perfect confluence brings with it not just the opportunities for organizations of all sizes to reap the business optimization benefits of video but also the challenges of getting video deployed correctly—to the right people, in alignment with business objectives, with high performance and security and at a cost where the perceived value is undeniable. A lot of questions regarding the proper implementation of business video are likely on your mind.

With the above as context, I would like to recommend that you start the New Year right by joining me Wednesday, January 9 at 2:00 p.m. EDT for the webinar, Bringing habits to work: The road to successful business video communication. Joining me will be Avi Fisher, CTO SURF Communications Solutions and Niv Kagan (News - Alert), VP Marketing of SURF. 

Topics to be covered include:  

• Technology trends
• Challenges in video communication protocols such as SIP and H.323
• Network interaction with networks such as the Google (News - Alert) Talk network (XMPP based)
• NAT traversal techniques
• Deployment options
• Security considerations
• The utility of WebRTC as a technology for corporate video communication

In short, we will be covering the things you need to know about business video and answering questions that can assure your video experience meets your needs. 

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO Miami 2013, Jan 29- Feb. 1 in Miami, Florida. Stay in touch with everything happening at ITEXPO (News - Alert). Follow us on Twitter.