Structural Group: Brick and Mortar Streaming

Finally, Structural employs Comprehensus for decision support, and to more clearly define best practices. Rather than walking the halls asking more experienced co-workers for help with a particular problem, employees can enter relevant keywords and view videos detailing the knowledge gained from past experience with similar problems. Company-wide best practices are established by comparing videos showing different methods employed on similar projects — often by project managers in different parts of the country. "You combine all the answers into a better solution and you’ve become the expert," says Emmons.

As the number of projects to be videotaped continues to grow, Structural plans to bring another videographer/ reporter on board. It is also seeking creative new ways to utilize its streaming media expertise. Last year, for example, Structural videotaped 80 sessions at the American Concrete Institute convention, and made them available for pay-per-view streaming from the ACI Web site.

In the near future, Structural may defray some of Comprehensus’ operating costs by allowing key vendors to run paid advertising on the Comprehensus Web site. With an eye to the longer term, Structural is testing wireless streaming applications using Metricom’s Ricochet technology. And Structural has already received so many inquiries about Comprehensus that it has even considered making a business out of helping other companies develop similar systems.

In the days of the dot-com boom — just a little more than a year ago — confident new companies spent millions on hopes of big profits down the road. Today, many fearful enterprises are loath to invest in anything that doesn’t promise immediate returns. Like any "old economy" company worthy of the name, Structural Group keeps a tight rein on its streaming expenditures. But Structural has achieved consistently high growth rates, in part by being willing to investigate and invest in new technologies — like streaming media — that can be shown to add value in excess of their cost.

In a world where most adopters of large-scale streaming are themselves high-tech companies, Structural Group is still an anomaly. It is a company engaged in the traditional task of building out America’s physical infrastructure, while simultaneously pioneering the application of cutting-edge streaming technology. If Structural’s experience is any indication, the road to more ubiquitous streaming within America’s mainstream enterprises may be paved with brick and mortar — and concrete — after all.