Chances are you’re using some form of streaming video to keep employees informed, educated and engaged. In fact, a survey of companies with 500 or more employees conducted by Wainhouse Research in the fourth quarter of 2019 found 39% of respondents are producing live webcasts on a weekly basis. That’s up from 35% of organizations with more than 500 employees producing live weekly webcasts as recently as 2016.

Whether you’re streaming company-wide meetings for your CEO or providing online training, demand for video is growing at an exponential pace. Are you ready to make video work better in your workplace?

In a
report commissioned by Ramp, Wainhouse Research’s Steve Vonder Haar explores five
basic truths to consider when building your live and on-demand video strategy.

Consider this your definitive checklist to building a successful and scalable streaming video strategy. With smart investments in the right technologies, you can leverage the power of video in a way that delivers real business impact.

About Ramp

Ramp solves network congestion created by streaming video. Our enterprise content delivery network (eCDN), AltitudeCDN, deploys entirely behind your firewall on existing infrastructure. It scales easily as demand for video grows, and maintains enterprise security policies.

With centralized management, monitoring and insightful analytics, you get unprecedented visibility and control over network performance and an uninterrupted, high-quality viewer experience.

Our suite of eCDN software solutions include:

• Multicast+ : A bandwidth-saving, one-to-many network protocol that reduces traffic by distributing a single video stream all viewers can access. Simply put, you send only one stream during a live webcast versus sending multiple streams to viewers. The result: You save a ton of bandwidth.
• OmniCache : OmniCache software is installed on servers in strategic locations around your network, close to concentrations of viewers. When the first viewer requests the video, the cache retrieves it from your video source and stores a local copy. When another viewer in the same location requests the video, they receive it from the local cache—saving the distance and number of times the video needs to travel across your network.
• Altimeter : Centralized management system for Ramp’s solutions. Allows you to deploy, configure, manage and visually monitor your entire eCDN deployment from a single, web-based interface.

The post Wainhouse: Building a Scalable Strategy for Enterprise Streaming appeared first on Ramp .

To view our Partner blog, click here

It’s #ThrowbackThursday,
so we’re throwing it “way back” to last week at Microsoft Ignite.

First
off, round of applause for our friends at Microsoft. Kudos for putting on a
stellar Microsoft Ignite filled with intense learning, networking and fun (photo
evidence below!).

Network
Congestion—Solved

Business first… after all, that’s why we’re here. Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. With Microsoft Stream, they fulfill that mission by making it easier than ever to engage and educate employees using streaming video.

Whether
you’re using Microsoft Stream to host live events or build libraries of
on-demand videos, sending video across your corporate network uses a massive
amount of bandwidth, which can put business-critical operations at
risk.

During Microsoft Ignite, we demonstrated how Ramp’s eCDN software drastically reduces the bandwidth required to stream video from Microsoft 365, including Microsoft Stream, Microsoft Teams, Yammer and Skype Meeting Broadcast.

Speed
Cube—Solved

We’ve got network congestion solved, so we thought it’d be fun for visitors of our booth to solve a smart cube. It’s been said, “A little healthy competition never hurts anyone!”

The competition was intense and included cubing experts showcasing their skills as well as beginners solving a cube for the very first time. Believe me when I say, everyone had a great time.

Some
of the fastest times on the Ramp cube:

• Chris: 00:21
• Sam: 00:29
• Matt: 00:52
• Artem: 00:56
• Noel: 00:57

Congrats to Chris, who won a GoCube of his own, and everyone who gave our speed cube a spin!

Resources

Visit our Microsoft Partner Page

Read
our Ramp/Microsoft Solutions Brief

Learn how Ramp works with Microsoft 365 Streaming Video

Free Trial

Don’t forget to take advantage of our Microsoft Ignite free trial. Ramp is integrated with Microsoft 365 video solutions, and now is your chance to experience first-hand how our eCDN software efficiently, reliably and securely delivers video to everyone on your network. 

For Fun’s Sake

The best part of Microsoft Ignite was all the fun we had meeting new people and working as a team. Want evidence? Here’s a few photos from the show floor and our trip to Universal courtesy of Microsoft Ignite.

The post Microsoft Ignite Rewind appeared first on Ramp .

To view our Partner blog, click here

With
Microsoft Ignite right around the corner, we realize you might want a little
deeper dive into how Ramp eCDN software works with Microsoft 365 video, which
includes, Microsoft Stream, Microsoft Teams, Yammer and Skype Meeting
Broadcast.

We had a
chance to sit down with Ramp Solution Architect and Sales Engineer Gil Mayrand
to talk a little more about all things Ramp and Microsoft. Read this Q&A to
get his take on everything from why organizations using Microsoft should deploy
an eCDN like Ramp to what he’s planning after Microsoft Ignite. 

How
can Ramp help organizations using or thinking about using Microsoft 365 video
(Microsoft Stream, Microsoft Teams, Yammer and/or Skype Meeting Broadcast?

GIL: Microsoft 365 video
solutions are easy to use and scale, but they can really stress your network. Moving
video content to the cloud means every person in your organization has to go to
the cloud to get your videos. And if everyone on your network is going to the
cloud to get video, you’re going to have a network capacity problem.

Video—especially
the high-quality video we have come to expect—is high-bandwidth data. It uses
up a lot of internet pipe, especially for live events when everyone is “tuning
in” at the same time. But if you don’t have enough bandwidth or your network is
already stressed, all that traffic can push the network to its limit.

Ramp
specializes in solving this issue. Our eCDN software greatly reduces the number
of video streams you pull down from the cloud by bringing the video inside of
your network and making it available internally to your viewers. Although both
of our solutions are designed to solve network congestion at the infrastructure
level, they work in very different ways.

Basically, Multicast+ takes live video from Microsoft Stream or Skype Meeting Broadcast and distributes a single stream for all viewers to share. It’s one of the most effective ways to distribute video because regardless of the number of people watching the video, the amount of data traveling the network remains consistent. It’s much like your broadcast television. The video is there all the time, all you need to do is turn on the TV and tune in.

OmniCache works a little differently by bringing both live and on-demand videos closer to viewers. You deploy OmniCache software on servers that are close to groups of viewers. When the first person requests the video, it pulls it from the Microsoft cloud and stores a copy. The next time a person in the same location wants to watch that video, he/she gets it from the local cache.

To get
into the nitty gritty on each solution and how they work with Microsoft 365
video, you can read Ramp for Microsoft
Stream
or download our Ramp/Microsoft
Solution Brief .

How does Ramp work with Microsoft
365 video?

GIL: One of the greatest
benefits of how Ramp works with
Microsoft 365 video
is it is seamless. We are an integrated partner for Microsoft, and both
Multicast+ and OmniCache are fully integrated with Microsoft Stream.  

You don’t
have to involve people to reroute DNS or make any special network
configurations. Basically, you install the Ramp software, you configure the Microsoft
Stream environment to use Ramp—literally check a box—and it kind of just
happens magically in the background. It doesn’t affect the users in any way.
And there’s a lot less involvement from an architecture standpoint with your
networking team. The solution just goes in quite easily and elegantly.

How do
I know if I should use Multicast+ or OmniCache?

GIL: The decision of when to use Multicast+ or OmniCache really comes down to your network and how you use video within your organization. If you’re coming from a multicast solution, say an end-of-life solution like Windows Media Server, and you know that multicast is already enabled, it’s a very simple choice. Multicast+ is the most efficient way to deliver live video.

If you’re
not sure if you have a multicast-enabled network, you plan to do both live and
video on demand, or maybe you’re not sure if your network team is going to be
on board because it might take resources away from other projects, OmniCache is
probably the best bet for you. We can easily deploy on a network that isn’t
multicast enabled to deliver those unicast streams and move video as close to
the edge as possible for the user.

How you
configure your eCDN network is really on a case-by-case basis and depends on
the current configuration of your network…don’t worry, I can help you figure it
out.

We’ll
no doubt be busy in the booth at Microsoft Ignite. What’s your plan for rest
and relaxation after the event?

GIL: I’m Going to Disney World!

Literally I plan to spend Friday through Sunday at Disney and am really excited to see the new Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge area at Hollywood Studios. For a geek like me, it does not get any more exciting than an immersion into a galaxy far, far away.

Be sure
to stop by booth 2428 to meet Gil and the rest of the Ramp team during
Microsoft Ignite!

Schedule a meeting
>>

The post Mayrand on Microsoft, Multicast & Mickey appeared first on Ramp .

To view our Partner blog, click here

Employee
engagement is more than a buzz word, it’s an imperative. To strengthen employee
engagement, many companies have adopted enterprise video to keep employees informed
and educated.

I’ll let
you in on a little secret…video is one of the most efficient and
cost-effective ways to reach everyone—and it’s growing at an exponential pace. Wainhouse Research’s
2018 Enterprise Streaming End User Survey found 79% of respondents reported some
use of streaming business video on at least a weekly basis, up six points from
the previous year’s survey.

An
easy-to-use video platform is a no brainer, but how do you protect
business-critical operations while fulfilling expectations for more frequent
and better-quality streaming video?

Video
uses a massive amount of bandwidth, and most networks aren’t sized to handle
hundreds or thousands of video streams at one time. The network becomes
congested, business-critical applications slow to a snail’s pace, and all of
sudden, quality of experience (QoE) is at risk. 

A little
buffering or latency, and employees will complain, or even worse, stop watching
altogether. So much for keeping employees engaged, informed and educated.

Multicast+
to the Rescue

One way to solve video-induced network
congestion is by using an enterprise content delivery network (eCDN). An eCDN
intelligently routes video traffic to optimize your network without sacrificing
user experience. The most common eCDNs are multicast, video caching and
peer-to-peer.

Because it’s Multicast Monday, let’s talk about
Ramp’s multicasting solution. AltitudeCDN Multicast+ is the most efficient
way to stream live video. Instead of sending countless video streams across
your network to reach your audience, it distributes a single stream every
viewer can access—whether you have 5,000 or 500,000 viewers.

Think of it like a TV station. You tune-in to
watch your favorite TV show, and let’s say your partner turns on the same show
in the bedroom, and your kids turn it on in the game room. It doesn’t matter
how many people in the house tune in, you’re all watching the same signal and
getting the same quality of experience (assuming the quality of your TVs is
about the same).

Simply put, multicast uses drastically less
bandwidth to save your network and deliver an uninterrupted, high-quality
viewing experience.

So how can you be sure everyone in your
enterprise is having the best possible viewing experience?

Your
Superhero Power: Multicast+ QoE Monitoring and Analytics

Unless
you’ve got superhero powers to be in multiple places at one time, you’ll need a
little help monitoring QoE. Multicast+ gathers and exposes advanced diagnostics
and insights from across your video network to give you a complete view into
key performance indicators and QoE for live events.

Our real-time
event analytics give you a jump on identifying issues, allowing you to quickly
respond to network issues before viewers can even report a problem. You can
view aggregated and detailed data for current and past events, including the
number of viewers, packet loss, missing segments, and the performance of
individual receivers.

By assessing
the end-to-end performance of your global Multicast+ environment, you gain real
insights about QoE and network performance.

Want
to learn more about Multicast+?

• Read our technical
  whitepaper
• Attend our Atlanta
  Lunch & Learn
• Attend our New York
  Lunch & Learn

The post Multicast Monday:
Quality of Experience appeared first on Ramp .

To view our Partner blog, click here

There’s an art to broadcasting a large-scale, live event. How do you make sure buffering, jitter and delays don’t get in the way of delivering your message? Join Ramp, Kaltura and other digital workplace leaders for a Lunch & Learn tanking place at Aureole in New York on October 30.

Featuring Melanie Crowsey, Digital Media Producer of Thomson Reuters, we will reveal tips for streaming a jitter-free live event and discuss ways video can help you solve digital workplace challenges. This is your chance to gain valuable insights, network with peers, and share your victories. You’ll learn:

• How to run a flawless live event 
• Choosing the right technology
• Streaming video trends, including VR and AR 
• Securing quick wins and ways to avoid streaming pitfalls 

The Details

Where:  Aureole, 135 W 42nd Street, New York

When:  October 30, 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Why:  To learn more about enterprise video trends! 

Cost:  Free (lunch on us!)

The post Lunch & Learn: Transforming the Workplace with Video appeared first on Ramp .

To view our Partner blog, click here

Video is rapidly becoming the go to channel for business communications and learning and development programs. But sending high-quality video streams across your corporate network can push it to its limit—impacting network performance and viewer experience.

It’s time to stop worrying about your network and focus 100% on your message.

Ramp can help you efficiently, reliably and securely deliver video to everyone on your network. Intrado’s streaming platforms are integrated with AltitudeCDN Multicast+ and OmniCache, simplifying the administration and management of internal video initiatives.

If you’re attending Intrado Digital Media’s Client Summit , come see us in the vendor showcase and join Ramp CEO Tom Racca for “Get Your Message Out Flawlessly, Every Time” at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 19.

Want to learn more? Meet with Ramp during Intrado Digital Media’s Telling Y/OUR Story.

The post Stream Video to Everyone on Your Corporate Network appeared first on Ramp .

To view our Partner blog, click here