Enterprise Case Study: Microsoft’s Mandate
Many large corporations are beginning to dip their toes into the streaming media pond. A few are diving in. But when it comes to using streaming media to accomplish the core goals of the enterprise, Microsoft - not surprisingly - is the biggest fish in the sea. Using its own corporate culture and infrastructure as a laboratory (and, of course, employing its own Windows Media Technologies), Microsoft is defining the role streaming media can play in many areas of corporate life. While few companies will stream on the same scale as Microsoft in the near term, any enterprise looking to integrate streaming media into its own processes would be well advised to learn from Microsoft's experience.
The streaming media produced at Microsoft today is primarily designed for three core applications: corporate communications, sales and marketing, and e-learning. Microsoft's earliest use of streaming media was for either large-scale corporate communications, such as company-wide addresses by Bill Gates or Steve Ballmer (delivered over the Microsoft intranet), or for major marketing events, such as new product launches (streamed over the public Internet). Most of these highly produced events were webcast live, then archived for on-demand viewing.
Today, streaming media plays an increasingly important role in corporate communications at Microsoft. For example, employees can view major keynote addresses by Gates and Ballmer at industry gatherings over the Microsoft intranet. These and other streaming communications - many aimed at more select audiences within the company - are available for viewing at Microsoft's internal Windows Media Events site. Microsoft typically delivers about 500 internal streams daily, but live virtual company meetings attract up to 15,000 viewers. About 7,000 on-demand viewers log on within 48 hours of the event.
As Windows Media Technologies have matured, and word of their capabilities has spread throughout the company, implementation of streaming has become more decentralized. Today, streaming media presentations are developed and produced by virtually every product group at Microsoft. This has created an opportunity for the WMT product group to prove its technology in a receptive, real world environment.
Marcus Matthias, product manager for Windows Media Technologies, notes, "There are all kinds of opportunities internally for us to evangelize the technologies. It's a huge company, and we're always finding new opportunities to show people that, ‘Hey, there are some cool things that our technology can do that you may not know about, but that are going to really help you.'"
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