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By
Brian Bateman
Chief Information Officer
The Technical Wizard
W"As
travel budgets are slashed, head counts decrease and competition
for the customer dollar is heightened, corporations will
begin using their existing networks to keep employees as
productive as possible, using interactive streaming media
applications to communicate, train, motivate and retain
both workers and key customers," reports Cahners In-Stat
Group.
The tension escalates, and more businesses turn to live
and on-demand streaming media solutions to help cure their
business ills.
Streaming media - the delivery of audio and video content
over networks on a live or on-demand basis - is one of the
fastest growing
technologies on the Internet. Streaming media is growing
in popularity because it greatly enhances Web-based communications
and
it makes a large amount of programming content (music and
video) available to audiences - without the time and storage
requirements
associated with downloading large files. In addition, streaming
media enables companies to convey information in a more
dynamic and
compelling fashion, which in turn allows them to communicate
information more effectively. Organizations with a significant
Web
presence (e.g., Web portals, e-retailers, and broadcasters)
have found that streaming media provides a more interesting
viewing
experience, which attracts more Web surfers and encourages
them to stay longer on the site - both of which can increase
the success of
the Web site.
Aetna Inc., a leading provider of health plans, retirement
benefit plans and financial services, has selected Microsoft
Windows Media
streaming technology as the exclusive digital media solution
for its interactive employee training programs. Aetna has
deployed the
Windows Media corporate streaming solution to 35,000 employee
desktops and plans to add it to another 15,000 desktops
in the next
year.
Aetna has created virtual company meetings streamed live
to every PC desktop in the company, a solution that has
brought Aetna executives closer to their geographically
dispersed employees. The company now plans to expand its
use of streaming to include knowledge management, virtual
employee training, and its use in external media relations
programs and customer education. Aetna estimates this investment
will easily pay for itself in the next year in reduced travel
and training costs, on top of the benefits of more dynamic
and immediate internal communication. Aetna's actions demonstrate
the growing momentum among large organizations turning to
Windows Media as their scalable end-to-end digital media
solution for corporate communications.
Hewlett-Packard Co. weighed the live communications options
of road shows, satellite broadcasts, and audio conferences
and chose
streaming media to be the cornerstone of marcom. HP chose
streaming live via the Web (web casting) because it is more
cost-effective,
immediate, and effective in conveying content; it can also
reach a much broader audience. In addition, Web casts have
unique attributes,
such as the ability to provide effective methods of interactivity
and feedback to the audience, deliver a consistent message
to the entire
audience, and provide an easy and cost-effective way to
archive the content for on-demand viewing at a later date.
HP decided to implement streaming media for external audiences
first, using an outsource service, and is in the process
of deploying
similar capabilities for internal Web casts. By using streaming
media, HP can more effectively educate and influence customers
and channel partners by quickly and conveniently delivering
rich information content. Furthermore, in order to demonstrate
the value of its e-services strategy, HP chose to have streaming
media - and the related applications - hosted by an e-services
partner.
Audience response to the Web casts has been very positive,
and news about this enhanced capability has spread rapidly
- fueled by
word-of-mouth marketing within EC and among other organizations
at HP. Consequently, 15 groups are currently using streaming
video
capabilities, and several more groups are interested in
adopting this technology for a variety of functions. For
example, some
organizations have built Web-only programs such as Business
Intelligence Live, a periodic show featuring outside consultants
discussing critical business and competitive issues. Another
group has Web cast tradeshow demos and presentations on
the Web, so that
information is widely available to customers and field personnel
who could not attend the trade show.
HP is now producing and broadcasting approximately 10 Web
casts per month, up from one per month when the program
started in early 1999. All indications are that interest
is accelerating, and the amount of programming will increase
as news of this capability spreads
throughout HP. In addition, the Web cast studios is an important
component for helping various organizations within HP quickly
and
cost-effectively produce video content for Web casts.
Aberdeen found that HP needed to invest approximately $60,000
in the first year to implement streaming media. In return,
HP was able to save approximately $1.2 million in direct
cost savings relative to other options. As a result, HP
received an 1800% ROI in its first
year (using discounted cash flows) and payback time of less
than one month.
Based on HP's experience with utilizing streaming media
technology for business use, Aberdeen concludes that the
business case for this new technology - even using conservative
assumptions - is extremely compelling. Although individual
enterprises will need to perform their own business case
analysis, Aberdeen believes that they will find cost-benefit
ratios and payback periods similar to those HP experienced.
Moreover, the business case presented in this document only
quantified cost savings and did not include any revenue
or profit that would arise from getting to market faster.
Therefore, we expect that most companies that include the
revenue impacts of implementing media technology into their
business case will see an even greater ROI. Aberdeen expects
that enterprises' adoption of streaming media, as a new
communication medium will increase
dramatically over the next 18 months.
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