April 27, 2021 - VITEC recently conducted a survey, with BizTechReports.com, that investigated streaming video usage at organizations in markets from technology and manufacturing to medical and transportation. Respondents such as network administrators and IT directors across a broad segment of North America, confirmed the growing trend – video consumption on enterprise networks is exploding.

Most market studies on video or data traffic assess overall internet traffic but don't consider the actual impact of video on data networks within an enterprise. Arguably, the Gold Standard for this type of study is Cisco's Annual Internet Report which looks at global internet adoption and network performance. The challenge with this study is that it pulls data from Cisco routers across the internet, but it does not have visibility into private networks. For VITEC, we wanted to understand how enterprise networks were handling video traffic on their networks.

VITEC developed this BizTechReports.com survey to query respondents responsible for mission-critical enterprise networks in a broad range of high-volume industries. We wanted to get their insight on how video is impacting their networks and what actions they are taking in response. Overall, the consensus is that video usage is increasing, and is being driven by end-user demand. Video applications include live linear channels, in-house video feeds, video conferencing and digital signage.

Some example findings include:

• 93% of enterprise technology executives surveyed report that video traffic in their organization is growing because of end-user demand and has required capacity upgrades to their networks.
• 89% of respondents say that COVID-19 has elevated the need to support IPTV traffic on corporate networks.
• 85% indicate that video traffic on enterprise networks contributes to the achievement of important organizational objectives.
• 85% of respondents invested more resources to manage enterprise video traffic in 2020 compared to 2019.
• 81% plan to invest more additional resources to support video traffic and applications on their enterprise networks in 2021 compared to 2020.
• 79% are allocating talent and personnel to managing video traffic and applications on their enterprise networks.
• 76% are using external providers (integrators, designers, etc.) to optimize the performance of video traffic and applications on enterprise networks.
• 71% of organizations are currently delivering digital signage content over their enterprise networks.

Two items stood out to us from this report that we found interesting:

Enterprise IT leaders are relying on integrators and 3rd party partners to develop IP streaming solutions to support their business workflows. Although many responded that they have personnel allocated to support video applications, they still bring in outside experts to help them maximize investments and ensure their IPTV platform will meet their long-term needs. VITEC works closely with many integrators across all market segments to deliver IP streaming solutions that are reliable, secure and scalable to support any type of deployment.

Organizations are beginning to leverage the power of their IPTV platforms to use digital signage to communicate with employees and visitors. As people begin returning to fixed offices or facilities in the wake of pandemic restrictions, organizations need a way to efficiently communicate changing requirements. From social distancing policies to emergency messaging, digital signage is being used across enterprise networks to get the right message to the right audience reliably and efficiently. VITEC's IPTV platform integrates digital signage into a centrally controlled system that works on any IT network.

At VITEC, our business is focused on IP streaming video and we create the technologies that businesses rely on to deliver video to their end-users. We have leading IP streaming devices for delivering video across any network with the lowest latency and highest quality video streaming products, we have an award-winning IPTV platform that delivers live and on-demand content securely across any network with the EZ TV Platform, as well as comprehensive digital signage that gives organizations an efficient way to expand communications.

The survey results are clear — video traffic is going to keep increasing

VITEC will continue innovating to meet the requirements of any IPTV application or workflow.

by Bryan Reksten, VP of Marketing, VITEC