theibcdaily executive summary 23 The connected economy
Chris Dedicoat President, EMEAR,
Cisco Systems Region: Europe
Per Borgklint SVP & Head of Business
Unit Support Solutions Ericsson Region: Europe
Consumers are now
By Chris Forrester C
hris Dedicoat, who heads up Cisco’s European, Mid- East and Russian business, took an active part in the IBC Leaders’ Summit, and led the debate on the
wonderfully named session ‘The Geeks shall inherit the Earth’.
Asked whether he was himself a geek, Dedicoat admits, “Without question no, but I am geekish! I love technology and the impact that it can have on our lives and my business. Indeed, I am becoming more and more convinced that the changes we are seeing in business are more related to the rapid changes in technology than they have ever been before.” But broadcasting is an expensive business, so where can broadcasters find the cash to invest in new technologies? “To use an asset such as technology, together with the infrastructure that supports that technology, in a more agile fashion allows broadcasters to enhance reach, innovation and productivity,” he says. “The ‘best in class’ companies really do understand that this element is a differ- ence, and how they treat innovation with so many rapid changes will determine success or failure.”
Cisco made headlines earlier this year with its $5 billion purchase of payTV software maker NDS Group (49% owned by News Corp). Dedicoat explains that the purchase brings a wealth of assets to Cisco which it didn’t possess before. “NDS brings a huge understanding of digital media management and expert knowledge of middleware and the role that plays. It provides the human inter- face-making technology and its ease of use, which is so crucial in the home and it brings a thorough knowledge of security for all video content.
The move feeds into Cisco’s wider belief in the business impact of new technology. “There’s a shift from the West to the East and the consumer is more powerful than ever,” he says. “Even if you are a classic business-to-business com- pany, you nevertheless have to consider the final customer, perhaps in the high street. So much is interlinked.”
thinking in terms of their overall TV experience and controlling the way they access content, spurred on by new cloud-based on-demand services and a raft of in-home and mobile devices that are making discovery and connec- tion simpler. They will expect, and become reliant on, their devices being always connected to high-speed and universal broadband access to what interests them. Our research shows that consumers understand and are willing to pay for quality. However, the new benchmark for experience is this content quality intertwined with that of social recommendation, search, discovery, interaction and overall presentation. Consumer expectation is being raised in this area by so many influences. Many of these are outside of the traditional TV space: companies like Apple, Google and Amazon. Content owners will be
Best in class
Even if you are a classic B2B company, you have to consider the final customer in the high street. So much is interlinked
handling the transformation of every asset into hundreds of variants for differing network types, devices and affiliation deals. Their re-negotiation of rights and even direct marketing of huge archives of content to consumers will place new burdens of scale, complexity and technology understanding upon them. The required solutions involve high degrees of intelligence and automation, and an even greater amount of flexibility. Even the global processing of metadata surrounding content will need to be harmonised. CF