Writing an RFP for Maximum ROI
Asset Management. There are numerous types of assets that are used in creating dynamic webcasts, including archived video, PowerPoint presentations, logo images, and Flash animations. As your company scales up its webcasting presence, it is important to consider how these preproduction assets will be managed. A good asset management system is crucial to the production of webcasts. Making sure that your vendor has a well-designed system in place will go a long way toward assuring your webcasting platform’s overall success.
Here are questions to ask about asset management:
—Is the asset management system online and easily accessed?
—Can the assets be used in multiple presentations (reused)?
—Is it part of and included in the webcasting platform?
—Does it handle the types of assets you need?
—Are there administrative and/or tracking capabilities, such as time-stamping and asset history?
—Is there an easy-to-navigate directory structure?
—Are you able to control the naming conventions in order to be consistent with existing conventions?
—Are the assets searchable?
—Can you do a batch upload of assets or upload only one asset at a time? Can you do both?
—Can you edit the metadata after upload?
—Can you predeploy assets in order to speed up publishing times?
Content Management. A standard function of webcasting systems is a content management system that will manage, archive, and promote the streaming content you create with your webcasting solution. As your organization creates more and more video content, you will need to set up a library or menu with various security levels.
Here are questions to ask about content management:
—Does the system offer a clear list of content reports by item type (content, type, media, creator, date, etc.)
—Does your content management system seamlessly integrate with your webcasting platform?
—Does the webcasting platform have the ability to easily modify archives?
—Is the content management system time-stamped?
—Are you able to integrate the webcast platform with your existing content management system?
—Does it provide easy search capabilities?
—Does it allow security settings for access to content and/or system reports for different users?
Content Portal. As your company grows, you may want to set up a portal for participants to locate and consume video content. A portal, much like YouTube, allows end users and creators to locate content by searching keywords, browsing categories or tags, or selecting promoted or suggested content. It may also offer the ability to rate and comment on content, email links to other users, and submit content for review. Administrative tools allow you to manage, edit, or unpublish previously published content. If such a feature is part of your future plans, make sure that the vendor you select can either integrate with portal systems or offer one that will consistently and reliably meet your needs.
Here are questions to ask about the content portal:
—Do you provide a content portal?
—Does the webcasting system integrate easily with this portal? Does it do so as a part of the webcasting system or as a separate product? Does it integrate easily with other portals?
—Does the portal provide the ability for end users to locate content by searching keywords, browsing by categories or tags, or selecting promoted or suggested content?
—What security features are included with the portal?
—What can end users do on the portal besides view the content? Rate? Comment? Email links to other users? Submit content with or without approval?
—What content management features do you have for the administrators? Publish/unpublish content? Edit metadata? Promote content? Bulk-manage content?
Customer Support and Training
It is important to understand the level of customer support and training provided by a vendor for its applications. Ask how training is provided and through which medium: phone, email, online, or in person. You should also ask the vendor to clarify which training and support services are standard and whether there is a point at which these services will incur additional costs.
Here are questions to ask about customer support:
—How is customer support provided to users?
—Through what channels does your support staff communicate with customers?
—What is the average length of experience for your support staff in the area of streaming media and/or webcasting?
—What factors are taken into consideration when establishing a service-level agreement? What is your process for handling support escalations?
—What types of professional services are available to customers? Do your customers typically engage your professional services organization as a part of implementation or for ongoing services?
—Who will be my contact person after purchase?
—Is there an urgent live event support line?
Here are questions to ask about training:
—What training courses do you provide for customers?
—What training would you recommend to allow us to sufficiently operate the webcasting system?
—Do you offer any advanced training classes?
—Do you provide training remotely, at the customer site, and/or at scheduled training centers?
Pricing
Vendors should provide a detailed pricing description that has been customized for your systems and anticipated requirements that includes realistic, concrete details about the size of the investment, technically as well as financially. This is another reason why it is important to give vendors specific information about the people who will be using your webcasting software and the types of presentations they will be producing. You may also want to ask the vendor to include a transition plan that considers future change and growth in your business along with the subsequent changes in your webcasting needs.Although there is a lot of variability in pricing, the most cost-effective way to get started is generally provided by the SaaS category. SaaS offerings are priced competitively on an annual subscription basis, preclude the need for any hardware or software installations, minimize IT resources, and are available for immediate ramp-up and usage. On-site webcasting systems, however, generally require additional hardware and streaming servers and may have either a lump sum perpetual license fee with annual maintenance or an annual subscription system.
Subscription pricing can fall under your operating budget rather than your capital budget. It usually gives you a lower entry point than a perpetual license, which could influence how you view subscription versus perpetual offerings. CDN costs can typically be built into the price or charged separately. "Per-viewer" fees may also exist. In order to make an informed decision, make sure to ask for detailed descriptions of all pricing options.
Here are questions to ask about pricing:
—What is the schedule of all applicable fees for a SaaS configuration and an enterprise installation configuration for a new customer?
—Do you offer a subscription-based service for enterprise installation or is it one large fee upfront with annual maintenance?
—What fees are associated with implementation, training, and maintenance?
—What are some optional fees you feel we may need either during implementation or after?
—Is there a pricing transition plan in place if we opt to implement additional features as our business grows?
Conclusion
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14 Dec 2011