Sustaining Competitive Advantage with

Enterprise Video

A whitepaper by Frost & Sullivan in collaboration with SingTel Corp.

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Introduction

NEW BUSINESS MODELS AND THE ERA OF COLLABORATIVE ENTERPRISES

Enterprises today are moving from a silo structure in the

way they operate their business to integrating their core

competencies with their communication infrastructure, to

focus on fulfilling customer need.

In order to do this, it is crucial to integrate all channels of

communications – both within and without the organization,

and in the process creating a better and more collaborative

work environment.

Market liberalization, social and political changes,

security threats, resource shortages and climate change

are the global trends affecting companies across the

world today. To cope with these changes, various

organizations have invested heavily in information and

communication technologies (ICT) over the years.

Businesses in Asia Pacific are expanding their

geographical reach and this has resulted in an increase

in remote locations and employees. There is a strong

need to empower these offices and users with the tools

they require to communicate and collaborate at a

reasonable cost.

The cloud computing business model has emerged as a

game changer and is affecting all aspects of the

enterprise. Enterprises see the move to cloud as a way

to create business efficiencies, lower overhead expenses

and streamline the workplace. Service Providers are

keenly participating in this market segment since they

have technology expertise and indebt knowledge which

would be invaluable to customers. Enterprise

communications has become richer, more collaborative

and increasingly moving towards the cloud.

EVOLVING AND UNIFYING COMMUNICATIONS

Most organizations use voice and email solutions as

the bedrock of their communication needs, and these

applications are expected to remain the primary form

of external and internal contact.

Over the past few years, technology has advanced

rapidly and communication applications have

continued to evolve. New and cost-effective

communications products and services have been

rolled out in the market place.

Source: Frost & Sullivan

Market Drivers

Consumer-ization of IT

Growing adoption of Cloud and Mobility

Collaboration apps,

including video

Centralization of IT

Infrastructure

Green/ Power Savings

Factors driving evolution of

enterprise communications

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Increasing complexity of IT infrastructure

Scalability

Lack of business agility

in a post-PC world

Rising upfront and

maintenance costs

Complex integration

Interoperability issues

Rise of Cloud and Managed Services

Increasing number of organizations are seriously considering hosted or managed

communications services. Key benefits include operational efficiencies, standardization

and faster implementation.

Source: Frost & Sullivan

Managed and hosted services enable a company’s

personnel and financial resources to focus on core

business concerns and allow the company to pay only

for those services it requires.

Managed or hosted service providers also assume

responsibility for setting up, monitoring and maintaining

the communication infrastructure, streamlining and

offering a wide variety of other advantages. The

managed service provider handles all technical aspects

relating to systems integration and interoperability of IT

assets. This provides organizations with greater options

for advancing strategic IT initiatives, by eliminating

many of the day-to-day operational tasks that often

consume available technology resources.

End user studies conducted by Frost & Sullivan show

the high adoption of visual communications products for

managed and cloud service. It is in this important aspect

of driving increased usage of visual communications

products that hosted and managed services have an

important role to play.

Challenges in a multi-vendor and

on-premise environment

The market for unified communications (UC) – as – service is expected to grow to $7.53 billion in 6 years, almost 3

times its current size of $2.78 billion in the Asia Pacific region, and this includes both discrete applications such as

hosted email or voice, as well as integrated solutions such as unified clients that combine voice, email, and rich

multimedia applications such as social media or video collaboration. It also includes professional services.

$2.38 Bn $2.78 Bn

$7.53 Bn

2010 2011 2017

APAC UC Services Market Projection, Source: Frost & Sullivan Compound Annual Growth Rate (2011-2017): 18.1%

Analysis

Both discrete and integrated communications

application services are relevant and useful, depending

on the unique business environment of each

organization. Smaller organizations may be better suited

to adopt a complete packaged unified communications

service that includes both basic and advanced

applications.

At the same time, mid to large organizations may find

both integrated and discrete applications such as

enterprise video very useful to their enterprise. Many

UC services typically also provide the option of either a

simple maintenance contract, or a turn-key end-to-end

managed service depending on customer need.

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Video Collaboration Comes of Age

• Proprietary codecs

• Analog networks

• Technically oriented

• Standard definition

• Difficult to use

Video solutions 5 years ago

• Fully interoperable

• IP based

• Easy to use interface

• High Definition

• Immersive experience

Video solutions available today

important, collaboration across networks, across different platforms, in a seamless and secure manner is where the

true value is. It is the ability to not only bring employees together but bring external customers and partners within an

organization’s ecosystem together as well, that is becoming a competitive advantage for enterprises.

Video collaboration solutions have witnessed a newfound resurgence in popularity in the last three to four years that

has set the growth level at 15 to 30 per cent year-on-year in the region, depending on the country and type of

solutions deployed. This is partly due to the large variety of endpoints available, but also due to their maturity.

Ability of enterprises to interact

with their partners and customers,

outside of their own network, in a

secure and reliable way leads to

better business results by

speeding time-to-market,

improving product and service

quality and opening new business

opportunities.

While having employees within an

organization connect with each

other, regardless of location, is

Software Solutions For mobile and

desktop connectivity

Executive Systems

Hardware based solutions for executives

Room Solutions For daily project

meetings for groups

Immersive Telepresence Virtual & immersive meeting experience

Spectrum of Video Solutions Available

Source: Frost & Sullivan

Source: Frost & Sullivan

New video solutions available today are witnessing booming demand; the Asia Pacific

market for Video Collaboration was worth $568 Million, with a growth of 25% year over year.

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Vertical Specific Applications of Video

Besides cross industry benefits such as cost benefits and improved collaboration, video

is increasingly being used in vertical specific applications to improve return on

investment.

Banking

•Video banking

•Insurance claims

•Customer care

•Trading & investment

Healthcare

•Tele-consultation

•Social care

•Patient movement

•Tele- diagnosis

Education

•Distance learning

•Exeucitve eduation

•Virtual field trips

•Disabled education services

After deploying video solutions either as an on-premise solution or a hosted/ managed service, the most common

applications are general in nature – such as general meetings, sales discussions, training and others. Now

vendors and service providers have introduced video collaboration solutions that are specific to a particular

industry, such as in healthcare or manufacturing.

For example, high-definition (HD) videoconferencing can help healthcare providers increase their level of patient

care, control costs, address staffing shortages, and serve rural patients. Technologies like videoconferencing and

immersive telepresence are used by educational institutions for countless applications - alumni enrolment,

interactive distance learning classes, music and art performances, remote access to subject matter expertise, and

research and professional development.

Examples of video application by industry

Source: Frost & Sullivan

The usage of video in vertical specific applications is expected to accelerate in the next 3-5 years as more

organizations realize the tremendous value video can bring by being integrated into the business processes of a

company. This combined with the integrated nature of video to other unified communications applications

signifies a major paradigm change in how success businesses of the future will communicate and collaborate.

Video communications can help Banks to improve their customer’s service experience. Today video

conferencing can be tailored to the Banking industry through the provision of video kiosks in branches where

physical staff may not always be available. Expert staff can be located at a central point whether they are in Mumbai or Atlanta, and customers can have access to face-to-face consultation via video from their local

branches as and when they need it. This way customer can still gain access to local consultation anytime and in

local language.

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Key Factors to Evaluate End to End Managed

Service

Hosted or Cloud Based

Service

Self Managed

Simple, Flexible and Scalable (Ease of Use & High

Quality Experience) Medium High Low

Performance High High Medium

Reliability High High Medium

Maintenance and Support High Low Medium

Integration with Customers Existing Infrastructure Medium Medium High

Control & Ownership Medium Low High

Cost-Effectiveness Medium High Medium

Deployment options

Enterprises have a variety of deployment options for video applications.

Many enterprises are looking at deploying a part or the whole of their infrastructure in a utility model to take

advantages of features such as scalability and operational cost control as discussed previously. To this end, there

are three major options for organizations:

• End to End Managed Service: This service engages a professional IT company with expertise and

domain knowledge. (The solution may reside on-premise, which is at the customer location but

equipment is either owned or leased). Service involves end to end management, covering design,

consulting, implementation, maintenance and support.

• Hosted or Cloud Based Service: A third-party service provider, which could be a telecom operator,

would offer hosted cloud based service on a utility-based model.

• Self Managed: This refers to a company both buying and managing its own infrastructure. The

company’s IT team is also responsible for the implementation and day-to-day management.

Deployment Options

Source: Frost & Sullivan

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Choosing the right service provider

Choosing the right service provider can be critical for organizations as they look to grow

their business through investment in new business models.

Enterprises are consistently looking to do more with less and as the economy continues to remain tepid, they are

finding themselves in a position to make tough decisions in their effort to cut costs without compromising on the

quality of service. This arrangement frees the company from having to hire staff with expertise in multiple

technologies and invest in ongoing training.

Telecom service providers are key market participants in offering both technology and services in video

conferencing (VC). Regional Service Providers (RSP), such as SingTel are actively addressing this market

segment. They have begun to focus in offering higher value added services, with Managed Video as a possible

option. SingTel is well positioned with the appropriate capabilities and strengths to be a crucial market player in

providing this solution due to the strength of its core network and Asia Pacific-wide presence.

Businesses are taking a serious look at managed IT solutions in particularly for Video and UC. This enables them

to focus on core business goals and removes the hassle of managing the technology. Customers also require the

solution to be scalable, flexible, offering maximum up-time, high quality and easy to use. SingTel Video Exchange

(SVE) is a managed video service which meets these requirements. Furthermore, the solution can be quickly

deployed across a company network with soft client that permits integration of HD Room base video and unified

communications.

SingTel strategy to offer both managed and hosted VC services is a right step forward as it offers customers the

choice in level of engagement for investing in the services model for communications. Organizations should

partner with experienced and well established service providers which have the knowledge and understanding of

customer challenges. SVE ability to proactively monitor video call quality and manage customers’ video

conferencing end-points including software upgrades are a couple of unique features that Singtel can provide.

Source: Frost & Sullivan

SINGTEL INITIATIVES

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Conclusion & Key Takeaways

Rising competition in the global economy, increasing mobile workforce, need for

collaboration across dispersed workplaces are strong drivers for implementing hosted

and managed video and unified communications.

With competition becoming

global, fast and efficient

communications are increasing

vital in ensuring business

competitiveness and reducing

response time to customers,

partners and potential business

opportunities.

To this end, enterprises need to consider the following points:

Enterprises will need to embed communications into business processes in order to unlock productivity

and efficiency.

Video conferencing solutions provide the opportunity to accomplish this and ensure that key business

processes are more stable and reliable.

Perhaps the most important reason for enterprises to be more collaborative: it provides for an enterprise

that is integrated both vertically and horizontally in order to focus intensely on a single goal – customer

service and satisfaction.

However, key challenges still remain. Interoperability still remains a hindrance to adoption in the case of on-

premise deployments. Costs of maintenance and repair are substantial and large portion of IT resources are

devoted to simply maintaining day-to-day operations. This is where solutions provided by services providers help

enterprises to bridge the gap between IT resource limits and every day demands of critical business processes.

Source: Frost & Sullivan

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ABOUT FROST & SULLIVAN

SingTel is Asia's leading communications group with operations and investments

around the world. Serving both the corporate and consumer markets, it is committed

to bringing the best global communications solutions to customers in the Asia Pacific

and beyond. With significant operations in Singapore and Australia (through wholly-

owned subsidiary SingTel Optus), the Group provides a comprehensive portfolio of

services that includes voice and data solutions over fixed, wireless and Internet

platforms, as well as infocomm technology and pay TV.

The Group has presence in Asia and Africa with 434 million mobile customers in 25

countries, including Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and

Thailand. To serve the needs of multi-national corporations, SingTel also has a

network of offices in 20 countries and territories throughout Asia Pacific, Europe and

the United States. These offices enable SingTel to deliver reliable and quality network

solutions to its customers, either on its own or jointly with local partners. SingTel

employs more than 23,000 people worldwide and had a turnover of S$18.07 billion

(US$13.60 billion) and net profit after tax of S$3.82 billion (US$2.88 billion) for the

year ended 31 March 2011. More information can be found @ http://www.singtel.com

and http://www.optus.com.au

ABOUT SINGTEL

Disclaimer: This market insight was sponsored by Singtel Corporation. All views expresses in

this market insight are the professional opinion of Frost & Sullivan and do not necessarily reflect

the views of Singtel. Whilst every reasonable effort has been taken to verify the accuracy of the

information by Frost & Sullivan, neither Frost & Sullivan nor Singtel can accept any responsibility

or liability for reliance by any person and/or company on this market insight or any information,

opinions or conclusions set out in this market insight.