Medianet Reference Guide - Cisco

Business Drivers for Media Applications
Chapter 1
Medianet Architecture Overview
Figure 1-1
Media Applications
Video
Collaboration
Digital Media
Systems
IP Video
Surveillance
TelePresence
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Business Drivers for Media Applications
There are several business drivers behind media application growth, including a globalized workforce,
the pressure to go green, the transition to high-definition media (both in consumer and corporate
markets), and social networking phenomena that are crossing over into the workplace. These and other
business drivers are discussed in additional detail below.
Global Workforce and the Need for Real-Time Collaboration
The first stage of productivity for most companies is acquiring and retaining the skilled and talented
individuals in a single or few geographic locations. More recently the focus has been on finding
technology solutions to enable a geographically-distributed workforce to collaborate together as a team,
enabling companies more flexibly to harness talent “where it lives.” While this approach has been
moderately successful, there is a new wave of productivity on the horizon: harnessing collective and
collaborative knowledge.
Future productivity gains will be achieved by creating collaborative teams that span corporate
boundaries, national boundaries, and geographies. Employees will collaborate with partners, research
and educational institutions, and customers to create a new level of collective knowledge.
To do so, real-time multimedia collaboration applications will be absolutely critical to the success of
these virtual teams. Video offers a unique medium which streamlines the effectiveness of
communications between members of such teams. For this reason, real-time interactive video will
become increasingly prevalent, as will media integrated with corporate communications systems.
Pressures to be “Green”
For many reasons, companies are seeking to reduce employee travel. Travel creates expenses to the
bottom-line, as well as significant productivity impacts while employees are in-transit and away from
their usual working environments. Many solutions have emerged to assist with productivity while
traveling, including Wireless LAN hotspots, remote access VPNs, and softphones, all attempting to keep
the employee connected while traveling.
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Medianet Reference Guide
OL-22201-01