ABSTRACT
As you have read in previous chapters, the successful implementation of a streaming or digital media infrastructure can and should have a positive direct impact on the rest of your business. If it didn’t do this, then what would
its value be? For companies whose core focus is content or delivering entertainment, the digital media life cycle gives them the means and opportunity for creating new revenue-generating business models from their content. Streaming and digital media technologies allow industrial, financial, governmental, and traditional Fortune 500 enterprise non-media companies to empower, educate, and inform customers, employees, and shareholders. The use of streaming in most cases is not a replacement for other technology or applications, but rather complementary to them. The fax machine did not replace the phone as a business communication tool in the same way video streaming isn’t replacing point-to-point video conferencing. They all work with one another and now we are finally beginning to see the different technologies work with one another. In the past, buying a product on the Internet was accomplished with a static click with no real interactive call to purchase. Today, for example, you can look at a video clip of a Black & Decker tool in action on their Web site before you buy. After purchase, you can receive training clips on how to use the tool, what attachments are made for it, and how to take care of it. Streaming media technology is now applied in real-world cases, in every industry and every vertical with great success.
