OPPORTUNITYThe rise in the use and popularity of YouTube and other similar channels in people’s personal lives has had an equally big impact in the corporate world. For a company like Accenture, with a global workforce of approximately 425,000 people, the recording and viewing of video has gone from being largely the domain of corporate training to widely expected as a way of communicating by all levels of employees.

The increase in storage requirements, however, presented its challenges. Accenture’s in-house solutions were reaching their limits. They were neither scalable nor cost-effective enough to meet the storage, management and maintenance demands of a fast-growing video repository. Moreover, the only place employees had sufficient bandwidth and computing power to watch video was the office. They wanted to be able to watch video outside the office, on the go and on their mobile devices. Accenture had reached the point where it needed a new solution.

ACCENTUREMEDIA EXCHANGEBRINGING VIDEO TO THE ENTERPRISE AT SCALE

SOLUTION Accenture made the strategic decision to not rebuild the Accenture Media Exchange, its existing internal video repository. Accenture also did not want to invest in in-house resources to maintain video streaming applications in the fast-changing mobile device environment. Instead, Accenture performed a market analysis of third-party solutions, focusing on those vendors that offered enterprise capability and that could operate as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) via the cloud.

Accenture ultimately selected the video platform of a leading vendor that offered a software solution that would enable video to stream across any device as an out-of-the-box feature. The vendor solution offered video-creation tools, enterprise-grade scalability and competitive pricing. The cost of hosting was lower than if hosted in Accenture’s own data center.

Over six months, Accenture’s internal IT organization managed the transition from an in-house solution to a hosted one. Since the vendor solution was originally developed for the Web environment rather than an enterprise one, adjustments needed to be made— enabling integration with authentication/corporate sign-on, establishing the access controls and reporting that enterprises must have, and enabling integration with common enterprise software products.

Internal IT had to deploy the video solution in two main phases while bringing the vendor’s enterprise capabilities in line with Accenture’s requirements. Internal IT started by using the vendor’s transcoding, hosting and streaming capabilities, but with Accenture’s own front end. Accenture subsequently deployed the vendor’s full solution a year later.

More than 10,000 videos were seamlessly migrated onto the new platform, creating a new central channel to promote video and audio content. Since then, internal IT has evolved the Media Exchange as new functional capabilities develop and employee expectations rise. Accenture developed and released a new Media Exchange mobile app that gives employees the ability to stream videos or download media for later, offline viewing.

Internal IT also used an out-of-the box solution to refresh the Media Exchange interface. The site now reflects the latest trends in design and layout and updates versions automatically.

Several robust features have also been implemented:

• Automated video captioning that makes content viewable without sound and more accessible, supporting Accenture’s inclusion and diversity goals.

• Recording through a media creation capability that allows an individual to capture webcam, audio, screen and presentations in parallel.

• A “chapters” feature that helps viewers navigate video content more easily.

• Ability to create “personal” channels, a self-provisioned option that provides the opportunity to define the way an individual wants to organize, manage, publish and share video content.

RESULTS A hosted video solution with a centralized video platform allows Accenture and its employees to unleash innovative ways of communicating and learning. Today, the Media Exchange is an engaging way to consume content, and is now one of Accenture’s most popular communication channels. Videos are everywhere across Accenture: on the Accenture Portal, embedded on hundreds of internal sites, and, more recently, automatically posted to the Accenture Stream, Accenture’s internal social and collaboration network. Accenture people can inexpensively produce videos without professional production costs and quickly view them on-demand—making it easier to share information, provide project updates and train others.

Increase in usage and adoption in one year

Additionally, total cost of ownership has been reduced by moving entirely to a cloud-based, SaaS solution. The hosted SaaS model not only lowers costs long term, but also allows Accenture to receive product updates in a more controlled, scheduled manner.

Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business functions—underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network—Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their stakeholders. With approximately 425,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

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30% increase in media uploads (61K)

32% increase in hours watched (900K)

29% increase in media plays (12M)