Streaming media catches the wave in 2001

Expansion of streaming media programs in 2001 is a result of four factors coming into place:

1. The cost and availability of IP bandwidth has dropped and is expected to become a commodity, available in small and variable increments for minimal cost.

2. Bandwidth over the WAN is increasingly manageable, and can be used efficiently to distribute media via IP multicasting to network caches or reflectors. Plus, video-specific traffic-monitoring software (offered by BroadStream as a service and Inktomi as a product) is available to route application-level traffic without manual intervention. Therefore, the risk of bringing down mission-critical applications with bandwidth congestion is lower and the likelihood of all users experiencing satisfactory business-quality video at their desktops is greater.

3. The shortage of hours in the day for critical knowledge workers requires reducing the amount of time anyone spends "in transit." At PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Risk Management practice Jim Kelly says you never know where the next risk lies and you can't have your experts out of reach. "We're faced with the same problem as everyone else: time famine," he says. With streaming media, "we can conduct a lot of work without disrupting the flow of business by having to travel."

"We have our internal experts do programs about security, threat vulnerabilities, cybercrimes, risk management". We want our people doing everything they can to help companies to minimize their exposure and grow their organizations."

If a new computer virus strikes, within 24 hours PricewaterhouseCoopers sends an e-mail to invite field consultants to participate in a Webcast on the impact of the virus, recommending what companies should do to protect themselves. The Webcast is then archived for future reference and for viewing by those who can't attend the live event from their desks.

"We leverage our human capital," Kelly says. "We want our clients to think of us as their source of information for managing their exposure. We want them to think that we've thought of everything - we are in effect their infinite reservoir of knowledge."

4. Finally, early adopters, such as KPMG Consulting, Cisco and Microsoft, have proven that video works internally and have expanded their reach beyond the limits of their enterprise networks. By using streaming media to reach their external audiences, a community of business partners and customers are receiving compelling video and wondering why their company isn't using streaming media.

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Perey is president of Perey Research & Consulting in Placerville, Calif. The company provides business development consulting services and conducts market research on the use of video in enterprise. She can be reached at cperey@perey.com.

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Perey is also a member of the Network World Global Test Alliance, a cooperative of the premier reviewers in the network industry. For more Test Alliance information, including what it takes to become a member, go to www.nwfusion.com/alliance.