Irrespective of the size of the company and the quantum of the work they do, cloud computing has become a business imperative as it provides cost benefits, agility, and reliable IT resources. Instead of bothering about the maintenance of their own private data centers storing information, companies can depend upon the scalability of cloud storage provided by cloud service providers to build out storage as and when it is required thereby increasing their adaptability and reducing the total cost of ownership.
Once a customer enters a store, digital signage can be an apt substitute for marketing. This blog elaborates upon some of the ideas to show how digital signage can improve in-store marketing and be a value add to the overall marketing plan of a retail store or chain of retail stores.
The evolving technological age demanded a shift from the existing Learning Management Systems (LMS) in the marketplace, towards the concept of Learning-on-the-go. With ever-expanding businesses spreading the workforce across the globe and the need to scale up the employee’s skills, many industries realized the need to move from a traditional LMS towards more experiential and immersive learning systems “Learning Experience Platforms (LXP)”. The immersive nature of content delivery and the impact of the content on the learners have been the two prominent aspects that have driven the shift.
It is a common practice among companies to invest considerable time and money in the induction training of its freshly recruited workforce but what gets often overlooked is the process of continuous training and development during the employees’ stint with the companies. What follows is the failure of such organizations in maintaining their success and a surge in the churn rate. With professional growth being the most important factor in consideration for an employee, it becomes extremely important for organizations to devise a continuous learning system for their employees so that they have opportunities to grow holistically.
As cinema halls take a back seat, there is an unprecedented boom in the OTT Market across the globe due to the pandemic situation. Just like it is with the rest of the world, OTT viewership in India is at an all-time high now. While OTT platforms were making a mark for themselves in the Indian market, the COVID crisis accelerated the process. From just two OTT platform provider in 2012 to about 40 players now, the OTT revolution has come a long way in India
The rise in subscriber base due to COVID is not an advantage that will last for long. Life will get back to normalcy as conditions improve. As per the Research & Markets report, while the global OTT streaming market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 55% from $104.11 billion in 2019 to $161.37 billion in 2020, this growth is mainly attributed to the COVID-19 outbreak. The market is expected to stabilize and is estimated to reach $169.4 billion in 2023 growing at a CAGR of 14.0% from 2021.
The unexpected rise of the COVID 19 pandemic has been the harbinger of unprecedented growth in the global OTT market. Even before the lockdown started the OTT market had grown by 15% in 2019. With the pandemic on a rise and lockdowns being extended, people are afraid to venture out. Most of the cinema halls, malls, adventure parks have been shuttered for a good part of this year, and consumers are left with very few entertainment options. They invariably seek to find means to entertain themselves in the safe confines of their homes. And this is where OTT platforms have come to the rescue.
The ongoing pandemic has indeed accelerated the demand for certain technologies/trends that will either help various industries in maintaining the “new” standard operating procedures at the workplace or transforming the way business is done in order to generate new sources of revenues
Let us pick up some industries and evaluate how the pandemic has made way for certain technologies/trends:
The global COVID-19 pandemic has brought life and economic activity to a virtual standstill. Extensive lockdowns to stop the viral spread has shaken the way business used to be conducted, requiring changes in overall business operations, from how people commute to how people communicate. Anticipated as the new normal, the ongoing COVID-19 situation demands new business processes to reduce human touch-points and maintain social-distancing for business continuity. And that makes learning even more important to ensure employee awareness and knowledge transfers. Organizations, globally, are relying on technology solutions to transform their daily business operations. Similarly, in the space of learning, technology will be playing a very crucial role in making learning accessible to all within an organization.
The proliferation of smartphones and exponentially increasing internet penetration have enabled the world-wide democratization of education. As any information we seek is just a click away and truly at our fingertips, learning is not restricted to classrooms only. OTT VOD services will further revolutionize education by virtualizing the classroom where students can learn anytime, anyplace, on any device of their choice at their own pace of learning. OTT plays a vital part in the digital transformation of the education sector by shifting from the physicality of the classroom-based education delivery to a virtual environment that is augmented by immersive video lectures, interactive quizzes, real-time knowledge sharing in the form of webinars etc.
Today, with many service providers in the ecosystem delivering a high quality of user experience, streaming consistency & seamless delivery of content is critical. However, a wide range of OTT devices used to access the available content is becoming a challenge to the OTT service providers. It has, thus, become essential to test an OTT service before layout to ensure multi-platform support and other important OTT service parameters.
The testing of OTT media services applications with the associated network components is called OTT testing.
Would you still watch YouTube if you had to pay for every single video that you watched there? Do you think Netflix or Amazon Prime would offer the same amazing spread content if you could watch them all for free? In all probability, the answer is an emphatic NO.
Welcome to the various OTT video monetization models. In this age of streaming wars, where incumbents like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon etc. are facing tough competition from new entrants (the most recent one being Disney+), customer stickiness is paramount to stay in business. And that means OTT video service providers should not just produce great content but also offer lucrative options to viewers to keep them subscribed to their services. In this article, we will put forth the various available options for OTT video monetization.
Technological advances have been instrumental in driving change in human lives and in steering the digital transformation journey of several industries. The hospitality industry is one such industry that has been reaping rich dividends by the application of technology. Right from enhancing the customer experience to streamlining front-end and back-end operations, technology is helping hospitality service providers conduct efficient resource utilization, optimize costs and improve customer experience. The introduction of over-the-top content has transformed the hospitality television landscape. Guests prefer the interactive and content-based OTT services to the linear content that was once the norm. Guestroom TVs have evolved from mere devices that help watch movies and shows to comprehensive interactive systems that entertain, inform and control guests thereby elevating the customer experience.
Digital Transformation is much more than a disruption or technology. A case in point is the retail giant Walmart. Amazon's epic takeover of the online retail market has compelled companies like Walmart to adjust or perish. Toys R Us is a good example. Toys R Us was one of the world’s most famous toy brands which buckled under due to growing online competition. They filed for bankruptcy last September and are now shutting down their stores. Walmart, however, is clearly trying to up the ante as it plans to add 500 more pick-up towers to its already existing network of brick and mortar stores and 200 pickup towers. It is trying to blur the line between online and offline sales by allowing the buyer to pick-up online ordered products from any of its pickup towers. In the process it gives buyers discounts for picking up their stuff, thereby, saving delivery cost. With an employee base of more than 2.3 Mn, retail giant Walmart has a good insight on purchasing habits of people. Recent retail industry reports suggest that they are now prioritizing the extraction of client data. With data being the new currency, they have realized that to continue succeeding in their game they will need to transform how and what they sell. Such a paradigm shift in their way of doing business has enabled them to maintain a thorough catalog, while providing significant value to their customers.
History continues to repeat itself, constantly affecting those who don’t want to make adjustments. Video killed the radio stars, CDs killed cassettes, and downloadable content somewhat put DVD sellers in jeopardy. TV service providers are fighting a hard battle against the advancing technology. They are in the same position where technological advancements are making their services obsolete, and unless they make quick adjustments to the changing trends, they are bound to end up losing this battle. The biggest challenge for cable and satellite services providers is OTT.
A 2010 study that compared the results of teaching using augmented reality vs. mouse and keyboard-based learning revealed that students who learned with the help of augmented reality showed considerably better academic performance than those who learned using the traditional methods. It is essential to learn the concept of augmented reality here before going into the details of how the modern education system can benefit from it. Simply put, augmented reality is when you introduce elements of the virtual world into the real world. Here is how augmented reality can help teachers and students in transforming the learning experience.
The advent of OTT services has been the answer to all the consumer's prayers who wanted to watch any content, anytime, anyplace and on any device of their choice. This has led to a major surge in the OTT services adoption rates (much to the dismay of satellite broadcast industry). There is no denying the fact that OTT is the new normal and is here to stay for quite some time now. So, what makes OTT irresistible for the millennials and where does dynamic ad insertion find its place in there?
The limitless combinations of device, network, content, and places suggest that the stream reaching you at a given point may be navigating through uncharted territory. This means that the QoE of your online video stream depends on a number of factors.
To overcome challenges in the OTT (Over-the-top content) environment, offering an outstanding quality of experience (QoE) is crucial. Viewers desire the same level of quality for online streaming as they get with the conventional cable or satellite services.
Over the Top TV has become a necessary Value-Add service, not only for the Telco / ISP giants but also as a “prime” focus for other distinguished players such as Direct-to-Home Service Providers, Cable Network Distributors, Content Owner Companies. … read more
With the proliferation of smart devices such as phones, TVs, tablets etc., media viewing is not restricted to the Television only and is being watched everywhere on every type of device that supports media viewing.
The audio-video content is delivered via OTT to these multi-screen devices over a communication service provider’s network. The availability of media ‘Anywhere’ has resulted in the peak bandwidth utilization of the CSP. Customer sensitivity is high because of comparison with regular HD broadcast.
OTT differs from the traditional way of viewing video in many ways. However, primarily it is the network bandwidth, access network, delivery network, compression and the capability of the video playing application that affects the user’s viewing experience. Identification and measurement of the metrics related to the QoS of streaming service is termed as QoE or Quality of Experience.
The statistical measurement of the QOE metrics, and subsequently acting on the analysis would enable service providers to find ways to improve subscriber engagement, enhance monetization opportunities and optimize viewing experience.
This technical article describes the essential components and features of a commercial OTT solution. While focusing on OTT Client, it shall also cover the challenges that are involved in designing, implementing and running a full featured client.The Television industry has so far been dominated … read more
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