The complexity of OTT video delivery is translating into surging growth for video managed services, according to a new report from Frost & Sullivan.
Video managed services, where entire portions of a content company's workflow are outsourced to an external company, is a long-established market with global revenue over $1 billion. But a new spurt of growth is underway from content companies seeking to reduce their exposure to the risk and expense of maintaining high-quality workflows and customer experiences despite increasing OTT content consumption, the fragmented device landscape, and changing streaming and compression standards.
Managed services offer technology vendors a way to maintain profit margins amid the plummeting product prices and rampant commoditization. As value shifts towards software and cloud computing, technical expertise is difficult to obtain and managed services help fill a critical gap for vendors and customers alike.
Content companies are frustrated by the lack of products and solutions to meet current workflow needs in an agile fashion. As a result, such companies are building their own infrastructure and then reselling it as a service offering.
Frost & Sullivan says it sees a continuum of outsourcing, ranging from simplistic Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) through Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) all the way to managed services.
F&S adds that managed services are distinct from professional services or consulting services in that managed services are a round-the-clock outsourcing while other services are one-time engagements with the option of ongoing maintenance. They are also distinct from cloud-based outsourcing, which involves the entire operation rather than just the computation being outsourced. Analog-to-digital conversion services for archives are not included in this market sizing.