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Today, every organization is a media company whether they realize it or not. When it comes to video, all companies already produce and distribute a wide range of content via internal and external distribution channels. For each company that delivers this video through the web, by the way of a service provider or content distribution network, they expect to receive a certain level of quality. That quality, which can be defined by many factors including price, service level agreement etc., should all be discussed with the provider before you sign a contract. Since no two providers seem to name and sell their services the same, here is a list of the five most important questions you’ll want to ask when evaluating any provider, no matter your delivery requirements.
What exactly does the service provider support in the way of delivery?
The word “streaming” is very generic these days and means many things to many people. Some service providers use the word streaming to sell and promote their services when in fact, they don’t offer delivery from a media server, but rather deliver everything via progressive download from a web server. In many cases, this may work for your needs if you want progressive downloads, but if you will require actual streaming or a combination of the two, you’ll want to make sure the provider has support for this. One way to tell is to ask to see a sample clip of something live. If the stream you are watching is live, then you know it’s coming off of a media server that has been set up to stream. Also make sure to ask the protocol being used to stream. I see a lot of service providers say they offer “Flash streaming” when it is really Flash video via a download. If they are doing streaming from a Flash Media server, it has to be delivered via the rtmp protocol. If it isn’t, then it’s not streaming.
What formats does the service provider support?
When is comes to providers, many support some of the formats, all of the formats or only one of the formats. Rarely does any one-provider support streaming of content in the Windows Media, Flash, QuickTime and Real formats. While it may seem odd that they don’t support all of the formats, it may be for a good reason. If a provider is only going after a specific vertical or industry, for instance the webcasting space, chances are they don’t yet support Flash, since the Flash platform is not yet used for live streaming delivery. Or a provider may not support a particular format because the format provider will not allow them to unless they are certified to do so. So when talking to a service provider, ask right away what formats they do and don’t support. They should be up-front and honest about what they support today and what they may support down the road. On Microsoft and Adobe’s website you can see who is certified to provide delivery services in both of their formats. If they are on the website, rest assured they support it.
Microsoft’s certified partners list is located on two pages at:
If a service provider says they support the Windows Media or Flash streaming services and are not listed on their websites, chances are they can still be supporting it but they are using a third party to do so and are private labeling the service offering.
How are you compensated for network outages?
No matter what you are told, all networks have outages of one kind or another. While most networks offer a 99.9 percent uptime guarantee, streaming media service level agreements typically do not go into detail as to what exactly is guaranteed. They may only be guaranteeing that the server is up 99.9 percent of the time, not that the network will be. Typically service level agreements (SLAs) are very generic when it comes to streaming media delivery services. The only important question you need to ask is how are you compensated due to an outage of the network or any portion of its hardware that affects you. Most service providers will put down in writing how they will compensate you monetarily should they have an outage that lasts a certain length of time or happens within a certain frequency. You can also have the SLA amended to allow you to cancel your contract without any early termination fees should the service provider have a long outage or have outages frequently.
What cities are their streaming media servers located in?
When it comes to the service providers, nearly all of them always promote themselves as being global. However, while everyone has a different opinion on what global means, in the industry global is traditionally classified as a provider who has multiple servers, specific to streaming, located in North America, Europe and Asia. Many providers say they are global or have a network map on their website that shows a lot of pretty colors connecting a lot of cities, but many times those cities do not have a server in that region and those are just peering locations. While it is nearly impossible to get actual numbers from providers, and since many of the numbers they do provide are useless or not relevant depending on where you are looking to deliver your content, just ask what cities the servers are located in. Don’t rely on the generic numbers they always throw out there. I’ll use Akamai as an example since their sales pitch consists heavily of always telling customers they have 12,000 plus number of servers. While I do not doubt how many they may have, the number is useless unless you know what percentage of them are streaming servers versus web servers? Of that percentage, what percentage is just for the Windows Media format, and of that percentage, how many are for live streaming versus on-demand? That 12,000 number is a lot smaller at the end of the equation. Bottom line, ask what cities the servers are in and what formats those servers support. Also keep in mind that quantity does not always equal quality and bigger is not always better. It’s about choosing the right provider based on what type of content you have, where it needs to be delivered and what specific needs you have based on your business model.
What kind of detailed reporting statistics do you offer?
Reporting is one of the most important questions that you need to ask and also drill down on when the provider gives you an answer. If you have no way to accurately measure the delivery of your content, then how are you expected to show a return on investment, especially if you are delivering your content for marketing and promotion purposes? All providers tend to have their own reporting system, so comparing one to the other requires some effort and hands-on time with their solution. For starters, if they don’t offer a web-based system where you can go and see your reports at any time you choose, they are not interested in being a serious provider in this industry. Some providers will e-mail you a copy of a WebTrends report or raw logs if you ask but that is not very proactive or usually sufficient unless you specifically want to parse your own raw logs and generate your own reports. When evaluating reporting, get a login to the providers system and test it out. Do not base your decision on screen shots, a marketing document or what someone else may tell you. Get a demo account, make sure the demo account has all the functionality enabled and make your decision based on seeing what it can and can’t do firsthand. In addition to the above, there are many other questions to ask, all depending on the type of content you are delivering, who your end user is, what business model you have and any specific and custom requirements you need to be successful. Yes, of course, “what does it cost” is always a question you need to ask, but I cover that in detail in Chapter 6. The above mentioned questions are ones that were selected because they are relevant to all customers, no matter what their business and technology needs are and they are the fundamental building blocks for video delivery services.
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