The enterprise video sector has been experiencing rapid year-on-year growth for some time, and the last couple of years has created an even more pronounced spike in demand for capable and scalable storage solutions in the cloud dubbed enterprise video platforms (EVP).
A recent analyst report predicted that the global market for enterprise video was worth US$14.8 billion in the year 2020, and is projected to reach a revised size of US$21.8 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 6.5% over that period. Within the broader market, the report found that the video content management segment is readjusted to a revised 6.5% CAGR for the next 7-year period.
That’s an impressive growth rate, and there are good reasons behind it – many of which you may have noticed at play in your organisation. Video has become integral across multiple communication channels, creating an exponential rise in video usage and exposing poor enterprise video management software. In our 2021 digital asset management survey, for example, 28% of UK respondents said they experienced difficulties working with large files like video. While 45% weren’t confident that their current processes can handle the increasing demands of video content.
Enterprise video management challenges
According to Hubspot, video remains a key priority for marketers with overall usage and spend both increasing in 2021, and on course to increase again in the next 12 months. Across the board, people are watching more video online than ever – the amount of online video they watch has almost doubled since 2018.
The upshot of this trend is that scalable enterprise video management has never been more challenging. New content is being created at a vastly accelerated rate, from this morning’s board meeting on Zoom to tomorrow’s social media marketing posts. Here’s an example:
At Cimpress (the parent company of Vistaprint), the content they create ranges from CEO messages and business presentations to product demonstrations, company successes and achievements, even ‘telepresence’ meetings where confidential information is sometimes shared. This breadth of content needs to be rapidly and seamlessly accessible to a global workforce in 40 offices around the world.
Video management and how to improve yours
Effective video management helps to drive success and multiply your ROI.
The benefits of an enterprise video platform
The demand for fast, accurate and integrated video management solutions for multiple users has increased exponentially. Freemium cloud storage services such as Dropbox and Google Drive just won’t cut it, lacking secure sharing options, analytics and the ability to scale. A fit-for-purpose enterprise video platform must do all these things and more, delivering the functionality demanded by the biggest enterprises. This should include:
- Fast video content uploads/ingestion
- Secure storage and permission-based edit access
- Powerful search and file retrieval
- Easy video distribution to internal and external stakeholders
- Live streaming support
- Integrations with existing systems and software
- Content analysis and usage tools
- Monetisation options for enterprise video archives
When it comes to EVPs, one size does not fit all. But the more research you undertake into the options for enterprise video management software, the more commonalities you’ll find. Being able to ingest video files in all the recognised formats and from multiple sources (e.g. web pages, hot folders, REST, XML, Dropbox, OneDrive) is essential, as is the creation of a robust and intelligent tagging and metadata structure around those files so they can be quickly and easily found later.
Creating an accessible and shareable video archive
The ability to locate historical files via semantic search is important from a user perspective, while accurate metadata and tagging is core to enabling seamless discovery (and rediscovery) of assets. Of course, the ability to seamlessly edit footage, create new clips and compile new segments in-platform is a welcome feature. A good EVP will include this as standard or integrate with popular video editing software to provide the functionality.
Speed up your production workflows
Imagen’s Adobe Premiere Pro Panel Extension enables users to connect straight to their Imagen content library from their editing suite and enjoy incredible choice from one resource. This removes the need to flip between applications to download and upload media, so users can stay in the creative zone and speed up their production workflows. Find out more about how this works here.
The next critical factor for enterprise users is distribution. The use of role-based templates can help this significantly, as well as ensure that rights and any privacy concerns are managed appropriately. While most enterprise video platforms will leverage the cloud to some extent, it’s essential this is done in a secure manner. Insist on video streaming and file downloads via secure HTTPS, while functions such as watermarking, geo-IP address blocking and expiring media links are useful extra options to protect video data.
Social media options can be a welcome addition here too, smoothing content sharing processes. The best EVPs will enable organisations to extract extra value from their media by clipping video, posting images or adding audio via a dedicated social media publishing workflow. Again, if watermarking and the ability to add logos or contact information is supported as part of this functionality, so much the better.
Integration requirements can often be overlooked in favour of more immediately exciting new functionality. But good enterprise video management software will be designed to integrate with existing APIs and systems, as well as make it easy to migrate assets from an old storage platform. Needless to say, this is a process that needs to be managed effectively and with a strong eye to future requirements too, otherwise both current performance and future scalability may be compromised.
Using analytics to guide future content creation
‘Content analysis and usage tools’ were mentioned on the list above and a good enterprise video platform will have analytics support baked in. The ability to track popular search terms and archive download figures can give powerful insights into usage patterns. It can also shape future content creation, giving creative teams insights into the content that users are watching/engaging with most.
For example, insurance and pension giant Aon uses its enterprise video platform to track a variety of metrics, including content usage, growth and different video trends. With the analytics support provided by Imagen Pro, Mike Melcher, Technical Director and Producer at Aon can see what videos are being watched, how many times they are watched, plus their drop-off rates. “I’ve used [analytics] extensively to show that seven-minute talking head videos just don’t work,” he says.
Being able to mine your asset archive for this information can not only create a detailed picture of historical and everyday usage, but ensure that future monetisation opportunities are spotted well in advance and fully exploited. From fast content ingestion to secure sharing and analytics, an enterprise video platform helps you to manage your assets, streamline operations, and enable people to find the content they need, when they need it.
Need more information on choosing an enterprise video platform for your business? Imagen stores over two million videos for leading brands. Find out more about its Imagen Pro EVP or contact us to book a demo.
