Streaming media specialist Digital Pipe secured a high-profile partnership
with Microsoft Corp. Monday when it agreed to integrate Windows Media
Technologies into its nCORE video solution.
Financials of the deal were not made public.
Digital Pipe, which streams video content for intranets, hopes to improve
the quality of its content with Microsoft’s multimedia solutions, courtesy
of the giant’s Windows Media Service Provider program.
Both firms believe streaming media is vital to the corporate environment,
where employees need quality training and communications skills. In fact,
multimedia content analyst Perey Research & Consulting estimates that more
than 30 percent of Fortune 1000 firms are piloting or rolling out streaming
media solutions.
The research firm said it boils down to getting information as fast as
possible, which ultimately leads to a domino effect — global reach,
increased sales, faster time-to-market and distribution cost savings. It
also equals training when someone needs it.
Perey interviewed five Fortune 1000 execs. Four of them agreed that interest
in video communications would be greater if they had access to a TV-like
solution over the Internet — minus the bottlenecks associated with
traditional bandwidth-laden downloads. The picture is also nearly crystal
clear compared to small, snowy and grainy video displays.
Jonathan Usher, group product manager for Microsoft’s Digital Media Division
concurred, noting that firms are quickly coming around to embrace streaming
video to empower their employees.
Digital Pipe President and Chief Executive Officer Chris Wallace said
choosing Microsoft was a no-brainer.
“Windows Media is superior to anything else on the market,” Wallace
asserted.