Streaming Media East 2007: Emphasis on the Enterprise

At the 2006 Streaming Media East show in New York, as well as Streaming Media West in San Jose last fall, most of the buzz in the exhibit hall had to do with consumer-facing technology and services, with a special emphasis on user-generated content.

This week, at Streaming Media East 2007, much of the emphasis is still on user-generated content (UGC). But the announcements from vendors on the show floor this year reveal the ways in which the UGC boom is now influencing the workplace, with major announcements from Accordent, Media Publisher, and other enterprise-focused vendors balancing out the more consumer-friendly announcements we’ve gotten used to seeing over the past couple of years.

"People have been getting used to YouTube, Skype, and other services they use for personal use, and they’re asking, ‘Why can’t I have access to these kind of things like this for business use?," says Mike Newman, CEO of Accordent Technologies, which is introducing Accordent Engage, an audio webcasting tool that’s designed to allow business users to deliver live rich media presentations online to audiences ranging from the dozens to the thousands without relying on traditional webconferencing and conference call services. "And we were also getting feedback from our customers that they wanted to empower the use of video at the desktop level."But desktop-level video production and distribution within the enterprise isn’t as easy to employ as end users might think, says Steve Pattison, VP of marketing and business development for Media Publisher, Inc., which introduced the latest version of broadcast management software at NAB in April and is announcing compatibility with ViewCast’s Niagara line of encoders and servers at Streaming Media East. "YouTube is pretty simple, and it’s not dealing with a complicated enterprise network topography," he says, comparing what the end user sees to a faucet from which content seems to flow. "It’s all well and good to make a pretty faucet, but if the plumbing’s not there, nothing’s going to come out."

Together, applications like Accordent’s Engage and Media Publisher indicate a renewed vitality in the enterprise space. At the same time, there’s no slowdown on the media and entertainment side of online video. Here’s a look at some of the major announcements coming out of the show, in alphabetical order. (Editor's Note: This article reflects announcements that were delivered to us before Tuesday, May 15. For a complete list of show announcements, check StreamingMedia.com’s press releases section frequently during the show, which runs until Wednesday, May 16 at the Hilton New York.)