10 e
M O S T
Innovative
CDN
DISRUPTORS
to Watch, 2022 Boon or Bane
Cloud Compu ng
What Lies Ahead? Implica ons of CDN
Tao Huo
Co-Founder
BaishanCloud Technology An Innovative Footprint in CloudTech
VOL-05 | ISSUE-07 | 2022
www.insightssuccess.com
Editor’s Desk Delivering Efficient, Fast, and Secure Content on the Internet
M
any websites on the internet struggle to meet their performance needs with traditional hosting services. A content delivery/distribution network (CDN) bridges this gap by improving the performance of the websites. Therefore, many businesses feel the need to have the services of the CDN companies to send their content on the internet efficiently, swiftly, and securely. The proxy servers and data centers of the content delivery network (CDN) improve the performance of the internet by providing service spatially to end-users. CDNs serve most of the content on the Internet, including graphics, scripts, text, media files, documents, software, ecommerce portals, live media, and social media sites. Thus, CDN is an important layer in the complete internet ecosystem. The nodes of CDN are placed in multiple locations over internet backbones. Its benefits include reducing bandwidth costs, increased worldwide availability of the content, improved connectivity, less server load, decreased redundancy, reduction in page loading time, and improved client response times. Innovative CDN disruptor companies prioritize having larger proxy servers, data centers, and node points in many locations for delivering or distributing valuable content globally. Most CDN companies provide their services over edge nodes based on the coverage they want to cover. They optimize content delivery by augmenting the end-to-end transport network and distributing content on various intelligent applications by using techniques for optimizing content delivery. An end-to-end transport network keeps the content distribution network relatively simple. It moves the intelligence at its maximum capacity to the network's endpoints, i.e., hosts and clients.
CDN services are in demand, and most of the web traffic is served with the help of CDNs, which also include traffic from major sites such as Amazon, Facebook, and Netflix. Efficient, fast, and secure content delivery to internet services and websites. Geographically distributed, all groups of servers in the CDN work together to provide swift delivery of the internet content. In this edition of “The 10 Most Innovative CDN Disruptors to Watch in 2022,” we present the most innovative CDN companies disrupting the industry with their innovative services for delivering content reliably and affordably on the internet. Delve in!
Sharad Chitalkar sharad@insightssuccess.com
Cover Story
BaishanCloud Technology An Innovative Footprint in CloudTech
08
CXO
20
Tech Evolution
How VideoAmp Evolved the Company Culture and Process to Increase the Number of Engineers Employed
16
Black Box Production Crafting Visually Engaging Stories
Contents 26
Cleverus Consulting A Fast Track to Success
Sizmek
32
Creating Impressions that Inspires
Vidyard
34
Creating Seamless Possibilities through Video
Articles
GHO Group
28
Where Technology Meets Opportunity
24
Editor’s Pick
Media Industry and its’ Digital Transformation
40
Viral In Nature
Simple, Straightforward,
Effective Social Media Management
36
Shutterstock
30
A Unique Global Creative Platform
Virtualizing Business
Providing a New Outlook to Traditional Businesses
YUDU
42
Reforming Digital Publishing and Crisis Management
Editor-in-Chief Hitesh Dhamani Managing Editor Anish Miller
Executive Editor Sharad Chitalkar
Assistant Editors Jenny Fernandes
Visualizer
Associate Designer
Co - Designer
David King
Shyam Sonawane
Sonia
Senior Sales Manager
Business Development Manager
Kshitij S
Peter Collins
Marketing Manager
Sales Executives
John Matthew
David, Martin, Irfan
Technical Head
Business Development Executives
Jacob Smile
Steve, Joe, Saurabh
Technical Specialist Aditya
Digital Marketing Manager Marry D'Souza
SME-SMO Executive Amol Wadekar
Research Analyst Frank Adams
Database Management Stella Andrew
Circulation Manager Robert Brown
Technology Consultant David Stokes
sales@insightssuccess.com May, 2022
Follow us on :
www.facebook.com/insightssuccess/
www.twitter.com/insightssuccess
We are also available on : Copyright © 2022 Insights Success, All rights reserved. The content and images used in this magazine should not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from Insights Success. Reprint rights remain solely with Insights Success.
10 Innovative The
CDN
Most
DISRUPTORS
to Watch, 2022
Company Name
Featured Person
Description
BaishanCloud baishancloud.com
Tao Huo Co-Founder
BaishanCloud is an innovative and independent edge cloud service provider in China with significant global reach.
Black Box Productions blackboxproductions.tv
Josh Usheroff Co-Founder
Black Box Productions provides creative production services in Montreal and Toront.
Cleverus Holdings cleverus.com
Lawmence Wong CEO
Cleverus is a team of digital marketing experts that elevate the presence of businesses through excellent marketing services.
GHO Group LLC ghogroup.com
Gary Olson CEO
The GHO Group, LLC is an independent consulting group that has the unique ability to understand the myriad of different and complex media technologies.
Sizmek sizmek.com
Mark Grether CEO
Sizmek Ad Suite is a global, multichannel ad server used to create, distribute, customize, measure, and optimize campaigns across a variety of screens.
Shutterstock shutterstock.com
Jon Oringer Founder and CEO
Shutterstock is a leading global creative platform offering fullservice solutions, high-quality content, and tools for brands, businesses and media companies.
Vidyard vidyard.com
Michael Litt CEO
Vidyard is The Video Platform for Marketing and Sales.
Viral In Nature viralinnature.com
Shawn Alain President
Viral In Nature is an award winning social media, reputation management and web development agency.
VideoAmp videoamp.com
Dave Gullo Founder and CTO
VideoAmp is a software and data company.
YUDU yudu.com
Richard Stephenson Founder and CEO
YUDU is a applications technology company specializing in digital publishing and crisis communications.
BaishanCloud Technology We are committed to addressing the arising application needs of global customers in their processes of digital transformation in the 5G and loT era while serving global internet and enterprise customers.
The 10 Most Innovative CDN Disruptors to Watch, 2022.
C
O V
E
R S
Tao Huo
Co-Founder
BaishanCloud
T
O R
Y
C
loud technology has penetrated every digital medium, from starting your morning with a social media feed to integrating office workflow. The capabilities that cloud technology offers by leveraging multiple solutions are unparalleled to match customer needs. Embracing the cloud technology to be a leading independent edge cloud service provider in China with strong global outreach capabilities, offering neutral infrastructure, cloud-native security, and developer services, Tao Huo co-founded BaishanCloud Technology in 2015. When China accelerated mass entrepreneurship and innovation strategy, Tao found the strategy a one-time opportunity, introducing BaishanCloud Technology as a cloud service provider with a focus on the management of the full life cycle of data.
Propelling the Space in China Entering the seventh year of its business, BaishanCloud has evolved from a CDN-centric provider to an edge cloud service provider in China with strong global outreach capabilities, offering neutral infrastructure, cloud-native security, and developer services. The Company is leveraging its globally distributed edge cloud platform and its software development capabilities; It provides a wide range of industry-agnostic application solutions for global internet and enterprise customers across different industry verticals. Staying Ahead With its global edge cloud network, the Baishan serverless edge cloud platform provides a secure and stable full suite
of global edge acceleration services, managing and processing customers’ application and solution needs at the edge. Adopting the concept of Zero Trust and SASE, the Baishan edge cloud platform facilitates enterprises’ simultaneous transformation of moving to the cloud and data security system. The platform provides unified security protection and management of enterprises’ networks, applications, and data. The CDN + security solution propelled many enterprise-level clients. Tao mentions that Baishan’s serverless edge cloud platform supports full lifecycle management of APIs. Using containers and heterogeneous application system orchestration on the edge nodes, the platform reduces solution development threshold, empowers agile development, and improves operational efficiency for enterprise customers to provide optimal application solutions for enterprise digital transformation! As an integral part of its global edge cloud services, Baishan’s CDN continues to become more competitive in China and the rest of Asia. It is widely recognized as one of the top regional cloud content distribution providers in terms of response time, availability, and throughout.
Business Traction BaishanCloud’s vast experience in network operation and understanding of the global CDN industry, along with its innovative service serving as business tractions. Tao shares, “We understand our clients’ service commitment to the global audience, and we have the resources and expertise needed in China and Asia to help navigate the network, regulatory, and security challenges.” Baishan’s CDN + Security + edge cloud product suite offers unmatched network presence and technical/compliance expertise. Its customers are covered by regional delivery deployment add-on anti-DDoS and WAF services. The Cloud Experts BaishanCloud aims to empower its employees with appropriate training with an inclusive culture. Ultimately, a happy employee creates a satisfied customer. The Company aims to be a globally respected technology company driven by technology and service innovations. With the global edge cloud services, Tao hopes to be of great assistance to global enterprises in their digital transformation process.
The Pandemic Effect Tao expresses that, on the one hand, the pandemic has raised expectations for the quality of content people consume and significantly increased network traffic with everything being pushed online. Static content and low-resolution content simply can’t meet the expectation anymore. On the other hand, the appetite also increases – people want to consume more and consume on-demand. Wait time or buffering is no longer acceptable. All these place challenges and opportunities on the network infrastructure and the computing system - strategic planning and regional emphasis would be crucial for the sustainability of cloud service infrastructure development. Tao states that during the most challenging coronavirus outbreak in China, Baishan provided free network services for online course distribution/acceleration for many elementary and high schools in China. More recently, for the entire duration of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games Baishan provided full network services and support for mainstream media and live streaming platforms in China to ensure seamless viewing experience for audience across the globe. He mentions, “Our team worked 24/7 to deliver uninterrupted viewing experiences for millions of our global online viewers.” Moving Ahead with Cloud BaishanCloud is committed to addressing the arising application needs of global customers in their digital transformation processes while serving global internet and enterprise customers. The Company has experienced rapid growth since its inception, and its innovative edge cloud products have gained considerable traction in the marketplace, both at home and overseas. Let the Testimonials do the Talking! “It has been a great journey for BaishanCloud in the past six years of development. We could not be where we are without our reliable alliances.” - Wei Wang, Sr. Director of Operations at New Oriental Education & Technology Group
“Our society is facing great uncertainty, but I firmly believe technology provides certainty. Geekbang joins force with Baishan to bravely face those uncertainties.” - Taiwen Huo, Tech Partner at InfoQ China Geekbang “BaishanCloud works to provide technical solutions that meet clients’ needs and beyond. We have maintained close cooperation, jointly expanding the global market, providing secure and effective network services to every terminal.” - Joe Zhu, Founder and CEO at Zenlayer
The 10 Most Innovative CDN Disruptors to Watch, 2022.
May 2022 | 16 | www.insightssuccess.com
May 2022 | 17 | www.insightssuccess.com
May 2022 | 19 | www.insightssuccess.com
Tech Evolution
Dave Gullo
Co-founder & CTO VideoAmp
May 2022 | 20 | www.insightssuccess.com
V
ideoAmp turns 4 years old this month. So many memories, and so much growth. Let’s reflect on some of the worst decisions and associated learnings that have been fundamental to our growth. Why the worst you say? Because when you accelerate your learning rate in a fail-fast environment, it then allows you to make fast decisions vs the analysis paralysis predicament. Ref lection One of my favorite wildcard interview questions for managers is: “Describe the failure you’re most proud of.” This sometimes catches people off guard, so I’ll share mine first to get the conversation going. Inevitably it comes down to choosing because there are so many. You can’t talk about growth and success without talking about these failures. Unless you’re some kind of hybrid AIrobot-space-alien who’s absolutely perfect, there’s going to be mistakes. What’s important is that as a leader you own your mistakes and be transparent about them. Hiring Finding the right people is the single most important aspect of growing a startup. The biggest mistakes in hiring have been: Ÿ
“Hiring out of hand” or short cutting the normal processes because the candidate is well known by other engineers in the group.
Ÿ
“Promoting out of hand” is another variation of this where you don’t put someone through the normal due diligence because they already present. In our case, individual contributor (IC) engineers don’t go through the rigorous reference checks that new managers do.
Ÿ
“Hiring under duress” or lowering your bar simply to meet headcount goals. I strongly advise to hire fewer “full-full stack” senior engineers vs a bunch of junior or mid-level career developers who require more time, nurturing and precious attention units from your senior staff.
Process This is a moving target, and one which has definitely been an ongoing series of blogs. In the early stage, we “over prescribed scrum.” Something that a very early stage company can do, along with too much agile processes too soon. For example, prototypes and proof of concepts should not have a rigorous definition of done, with endless unit, functional, and end-to-end tests because the product’s requirements will probably zig-zag wildly. Conversely, having too little process when you are supporting enterprise customers can also be a problem. I spent my prior days as an IC and
May 2022 | 21 | www.insightssuccess.com
contractor retrofitting and scaling CI/CD pipelines and training engineers how to write better tests. The challenge is right-sizing this all along the way, and the trigger points on when to change may not be obvious. I say this because we grew headcount by 22 engineers from Oct 2017 to Feb 2018, and in the process we did not modify our simplified Kanban approach to a prescribed Scrum process quickly enough. Growing pains emerged, to say the least. Now we’re in a spot where we can withstand a magnitude scale of growth with roughly the same squad and tribe-level process.
When doing initial contact with a candidate, I often ask “why are you in market?” I have seen countless folks who are looking because their current management does not have their growth and career pathing in mind. In extreme cases, they can do a day’s work in four hours, feel like they are under-challenged, and have not learned anything in years. They work in an environment like the movie Office Space. Taking an opposite approach is to engage in the growth and pathing of every individual. We do this by:
Riffing off rapid growth of Brains in engineering, we didn’t scale management fast enough. Almost all startup engineering orgs start very flat, with all ICs and no management. You have “tech leads” who may split their time doing light managerial functions, but they all write code and dive into the operations.
Aligning the growth of the individual with the company’s growth. Ÿ Having management check in frequently on the success of this, and Ÿ Setting up formal quarterly check-ins on measuring these goals. Google adopted this early on from John Doerr in the form of OKRs, and there are great platforms out there which can formally measure and track these objectives.
The biggest fail here in scaling the ICs was not scaling the org and management structure to follow. At ~44 engineers and data scientists, we have a duty to deliver on our mission to provide an environment where they have the opportunity to do the best work of their lives and be worth more in the marketplace.
Career pathing is a longer-term concern. I ask candidates from the start “so what’s the next job after VideoAmp?” This often catches them off guard, then after careful thought most reply with a role 1-2 levels beyond where they’re at now. It’s our goal to help steer them in whatever path they currently see.
Without this vital management structure, there is a vacuum. Do not bolt this on later, build it as you go. We took inspiration from Spotify’s model of engineering organizational scaling.
Many earlier-career engineers think management is their ultimate path, but I have found that many will stay on a tract of engineering excellence. Whether it’s a Principal Engineer or a VP of Engineering, the goal is to orient the new challenges in a manner which grows them in that direction, even if we can’t fully realize their ultimate pathing goal while at the company.
Management
Growth & Career Pathing We’ve talked about all of these fails, how about something that has worked well for us?
Ÿ
By paying careful attention to these details, we have found our annual retention rate in the high 90%.
Editor’s Pick
O
nce there was a time when the question was “Will the media industry get digitally transformed?”, but the scenario has changed now. The question today is “How will the transformation take place?” and “How will the media companies respond to this change?” Seeing these opportunities presented by the digital video systems, new players are joining the market, hence, capturing consumer’s mind with new initiatives and grabbing their wallets. These changes are bringing in aggressive modification in the industry along with new business models, partnerships and also acquisitions. Whether one is a movie freak or a mad TV watcher, it is quite known to them that the technology today is not what they have seen few years back. The media and entertainment industry has seen rapid changes and modification in the recent years. The most observing changes that the world of technology has witnessed are as follows: Multi-tasking and Multi-Channel Experiences Time has changed now. Those days are gone when people used to see the advertisement of a film on the road-side billboard or on their newspaper and then go to a movie hall to watch the movie. Today, people are multitasking and they are more into multi-channel experiencing. People now are not just into watching a movie or Television show with all their concentration. They are watching a movie, uploading status on their Facebook wall and tweeting about the movie, all at the same time. They are sharing their views and opinions about whatever they are watching on their social media platforms. It clearly indicates that marketing is no more a one-media thing; rather it’s an event of all channels. An extensive research clearly proved that most people watch clips and user-generated content on their phones and simultaneously they prefer watching movies on a device with larger screen like computer or television set. This is something of which entertainment companies must take
advantage of by prompting the viewers to use hashtag (#) and share using branded content to bring more traffic to their content. Those days are no more when the writers and marketers used to be focused about only the writing of the content, rather they are now focusing a lot on how their promotional content on social media platforms should look like and how they can gain more attraction. Curated Content is more in demand The audience has changed a lot and so is their demand. People are now demanding more curated content. And the trend is already growing at a very successful pace. It has been observed that media giants like Netflix and Amazon have already been effectively using the curated content for about four years. It is a procedure where the platform suggests what the audience would like to watch or subscribe. When these are used effectively, it can create new audiences instantly for the provider’s new shows and products. This is a better way to advertise products than other means of advertisements. Getting more creative with Artificial Intelligence It sounds crazy to hear that the projected amount of spending for AI (Artificial Intelligence) for 2025 is $30 billion which was earlier observed to be $300-350 million in the year 2015. But the main reason behind such a huge projection is that AI is changing the way completely in which creativity was expressed earlier. There are already various companies which are using the AI technology to create interesting movie plot points based on the performance of box office results. Recent reports informed that McCann Erickson in Japan owns an AI creative director which can actually analyze briefings from clients before pitching a story. From image recognition and language processing to speech recognition and deep learning, AI is analyzing everything to create new levels of impactful pitches through creative process in the entertainment and media industry.
May 2022 | 24 | www.insightssuccess.com
Wireless media is the new upcoming trend Gone are those days when people had to pay for all 300 channels which their satellite or cable TV channel providers used to give though the viewer actually watches only four to five channels. Now the definition of the entire media and entertainment industry has changed. The companies like Netflix and Hulu has brought in the new generation of wireless entertainment. The new users are going online. From YouTube, Netflix, Hulu to Amazon and even the cable companies are going to wireless and replacing traditional offerings with special and customized packages to attract more consumers. Smarter Advertisements is the future The present day technological advancements have brought an analytical approach in machine learning and have opened doors to combine AI and reality. This is which is making advertisements much smarter. The pundits say traditional product placement will be soon replaced by the just a click on the dress of one’s favorite actor or actress, that too just when it appears. Experts mentioned that marketing agencies with the help of big data, will be soon able to switch out specific product placement to the one the viewer will most likely buy. The advertisement is soon going to be another mode of entertainment. After the new digital transformations taking place, certain changes are observed in the media and entertainment industry. Traditional revenue models are decreasing in their growth as the new models are emerging. Digital enterprises are gaining much prominence as their ability to deliver multi-channel experience and individual business models are replaced by the modern day complex ecosystem of the new comers including new startups and super-platforms. The concept of generalization is fading away and the personalized content is taking stand.
May 2022 | 25 | www.insightssuccess.com
Cleverus Consulting: A Fast Track to Success
D
igital transformations are driving every sector with an unmatched speed. Social media has been one of the greatest evolutions of the century. It has revolutionized our way of communication, advertising and the entire market landscape.
Lawnmence Wong CEO
Owing to this booming rise, regional businesses are now able to launch and advertise their products on a global scale with notable efficiency at minimal cost. Various companies around the globe are transforming the way they connect with their customers. They are choosing contemporary methods of communication like web chat, website or web page based feedbacks. These free of cost methods have also enabled the customers to convey their query and get the feedback in real-time. However, there is an endless flow of data on the internet. Thousands of global companies with similar products are directly competing with each other; all in the hope of making a mark. Needless to mention, if a company wishes its website to be at the top of every relevant search list, then it must employ an adept SEO team. Either in-house or specially hired, it is prerequisite for organizations to have a precise SEO solution to stay ahead of the competition. Malaysian-based company, Cleverus Consulting, boasting a wide-range of SEO experts, is the perfect solution for global businesses. Founded in 2013, Cleverus has gone on to become one of the best companies in Malaysia, all the while bestowing its clients in having their online presence proliferated. Being one of the most established Google partner, it has developed a proven framework to help its clients rise quickly to the top of major search engines around the world.
May 2022 | 26 | www.insightssuccess.com
The 10 Most Innovative CDN Disruptors to Watch, 2022.
Cleverus initially started offering some prominent SEO services that empowered its customers to outrank their competitors and dominate the search engine with better results. With the increasing client demands and fast paced progression, the company began offering new services such as web design, online reputation management, influencer marketing, and app development. Cleverus then utilized its specialized SEO framework to incept and enhance the online reputation management service, which further helped major companies remove negative press online and successfully restored the brand name of those companies. Cleverus firmly believes in offering complete customer satisfaction and charges its clients based on results and delivers optimal level of performance. This proven credibility has given both the company and its clients a win-win situation. Cleverus is currently ranked as the number one SEO Specialist in Malaysia on Google for providing some of the most competitive keywords in the industry. Today, as a market leader, the company is getting Request for Proposals (RFP) from major global companies and is delivering some impeccable services to them. However, its journey has not been a cake-walk. During the early phase of Cleverus, it faced plenty of rejections. But over the years it has managed to overcome the challenges by continuously delivering high-quality work to its trusted clients. The productive, efficient and cost effective services provided by Cleverus were admired by many of its clients. As a result, the company gained plenty of referrals from its existing clients which helped ameliorate its growth
rate. While explaining about the reasons behind Cleverus’s fast-paced success its CEO, Lawmence Wong, recalls, “We were confident in our ability and have persisted to source leads daily and approach clients to showcase our service.” With the company continuing to develop its solid reputation in the online marketing industry, it now envisions on being the largest online marketing agency in Asia within the next six years. Passionately Leading the Group of Young and Experienced Professionals Cleverus Consulting has a strong team of 21 people at present, with offices scattered across Malaysia, Philippines, and the United States. Lawmence Wong’s astute leadership has been a vital part behind this surging growth. Wong believes that having the right talent is the key behind growing a company. Thus in Cleverus, every single hiring is personally approved by both Lawmence and the Head of HR to maintain the quality of its services. Lawmence has astutely led the group of young and experienced professionals in the company to greater heights. Their expertise has allowed the company to gain more and more pleasing and loyal clients. Throughout his leadership, Lawmence has emphasized on futuristic integrations and bold expansion plans, and is now planning to expand to several cities in Asia within the next few years. Leveraging the Trends of the Digital Space Nowadays, every other company is employing digital ways of marketing, and digital transformation is gaining a worldwide attention for all the right reason. Marketing and Advertising via
May 2022 | 27 | www.insightssuccess.com
“
Dominate Google and take over your competition with our proven Search Engine Optimization strategies.
“
Journey from a Regional SEO Framework Provider to a Leading Online Marketing Agency
digital platforms have allowed organizations to connect with a wider pool of global audience, in real-time.
Cleverus is leveraging this trend, and instead of the usual traditional advertising on newspaper and magazines, it has shifted its focus towards online advertising and marketing platforms such as Facebook, Google, and Instagram. This year alone, Cleverus has hired 3 new staff to accommodate the demands for online advertising and foresee hiring even more employees in Q2 as the demand gets higher. It is also hiring overseas employees to facilitate the groundwork to penetrate these new markets. Cleverus envisions one being the largest online marketing agency in Asia in the near future. The company has been meticulously raising funds to push its vision further into reality and expects its name to be the primal choice amongst clients.
The 10 Most Innovative CDN Disruptors to Watch, 2022.
GHO Group: Where Technology Meets Opportunity
A
‘‘
Gary Olson Founder & President
As a strategic adviser we
‘‘
identify the clients
requirements to achieve
their goals and recommend the technologies and
resources that will bring the vision to reality.
lmost every business sector including entertainment, education, training, communication and security is revolutionizing due to the emergence of multimedia platforms. These new technology platforms showcase the demand for an expert media solution provider. The broadcast and media industry is constantly evolving. It has become a prerequisite for media planning and designing companies to anticipate new trends and industrial changes to provide the best guidance and advice to clients. Whether it is a new facility or upgrading an existing one, there are several methods to deliver programming and content in a better way to every business. But very few companies have the notable ability to identify clients this way and provide them with future-proof media solutions. GHO Group is one of them. GHO Group is an independent consulting firm, specializing in planning and designing media production facilities for broadcast and
May 2022 | 28 | www.insightssuccess.com
cable companies, corporations, educational institutions, and cultural organizations. GHO has a substantial portfolio of success providing unique, practical and cost-effective solutions to the challenges faced in building new facilities or implementing new technology strategies. Advisory Services and Strategic Planning that Converts Vision into Reality GHO provides advisory services and strategic planning in the development phase of an engagement, designing a technology solution and creating a project plan with milestones and deliverables that are achievable, to insure a successful project. GHO functions as the senior project administrator coordinating the implementation process and strategy. As a strategic adviser, GHO identifies its clients requirements and helps them achieve their goals by recommending the technologies and resources that will bring their vision to reality. The company executives work closely with the associated organization, and makes the most of their internal resources, preferred service providers and approved contractors. GHO utilizes its broad experience base to benefit its clients. And by sharing best practices in design, addressing budgets and schedules with special attention to crafting the process it assures best results for its clients. In addition to this, the company is one of the recognized leaders in technology implementation. GHO’s design philosophy is based on sustainability and a principal that the provided media solutions must be future proof. A Dynamic Tech Individual Leading from the Front Gary Olson is the Founder and President of GHO Group. He provides direction to the company as a thought leader in digital media and broadcast technology as well as in cognitive computing. Olson’s book, Planning and Designing the IP Broadcast Facility - A New Puzzle to Solve, is considered as a top reference book to the broadcast industry. This dynamic individual has a considerable following of his articles on The Broadcast Bridge, assisting the industry with knowledge and guidance during the transition to computer and IP network-based technologies for media production and distribution.
creation and distribution coupled with disruptive changes in the technologies that support these industry sectors. The size of the screen does not determine the platform that content is delivered to or how it’s delivered. There are different production considerations for each digital platform and new monetization opportunities. GHO is uniquely positioned to serve as an advisor on the transition to these new technologies, provide guidance and strategy to optimize the investment of organizations and assist the technical support staff in adopting the new technology systems. Enticing Potential Clients with Comprehensive Strategies In today’s connected world, communication is one of the key requirements to keep in contact with an audience. GHO is known and respected for its objective perspectives on technology trends. Understanding clients’ needs and budgets is critical to the success of a project. GHO spends a considerable amount of time researching across many different industries. GHO publishes articles on technology regularly on LinkedIn to educate and inform the industry about the novel evolutions. Through these truthful efforts, the company envisions educating the users and aims to attract its potential customer by creating such comprehensive strategies. Forthcoming Opportunities The media and entertainment industry is becoming less segregated and evolving to include Digital out of Home. Mobile services and OTT have become integral members of the community. GHO Group is developing some impeccable strategies for its customers by focusing on these advancements. Additionally, the company looks at Deep Learning and Artificial Intelligence as the new trends. Currently there is more confusion than clarity about this technology and its futuristic benefits. Client’s need independent and trustworthy advisors and strategists to help navigate through these changes. Hence, the company is spreading better understanding regarding futuristic technologies and aims to implement these opportunities in these fields.
Advising the Market in the Adoption of the New Technology Systems The expression ‘digital transformation’ covers a broad spectrum within the media and entertainment industries. This transformation has had significant impact on content
May 2022 | 29 | www.insightssuccess.com
The 10 Most Innovative CDN Disruptors to Watch, 2022.
T
he evolution of digital content across all industries from health care and finance to publishing and education has increased market competition and prompted companies to modernize communication systems and processes. Most businesses understand the importance of a creative platform with the tools that can help them advertise their products and services effectively and efficiently. Shutterstock is a leading technology company with such a platform, and it is known for its rich features, and highquality assets, tools and services. The company licenses images, videos, music, and other editorial assets. It also offers a variety of plans for individuals, teams, and enterprise customers as well as the creative editing teams of various companies. A Serial Entrepreneur and Trailblazer Jon Oringer, Founder and CEO of Shutterstock founded the unique platform in 2003. He recognized the need for licensable images at an affordable cost and created the world’s first subscription image marketplace, starting with thousands of his own digital photographs. The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2012, just nine short years after its inception. Since then, it has continued to expand and evolve. Shutterstock now owns a
portfolio of brands serving businesses, marketing agencies, and media organizations around the world with a comprehensive range of creative and editorial assets. Jon believes that the company’s growth into a successful and sustainable business is underpinned by its ability to provide customers with compelling content, innovative tools, and premium services to fuel their creativity. Determined to Bestow Customers with High-quality Digital Assets, Tools and Services The digital transformation over the last decade has left Shutterstock customers, especially those in advertising, film, and media, with an ever-increasing need for more visual content. Working with its growing community of over 400,000 contributors, Shutterstock adds hundreds of thousands of images each week, and currently has more than 190 million images and more than 10 million video clips available. When the company’s image archive crossed the 100 million images mark, Shutterstock turned its attention to helping its clients find exactly what they needed, as quickly as possible. The company also owns Bigstock, a value-oriented stock media agency; Shutterstock Custom, a custom content creation platform; Offset, a high-end image collection; PremiumBeat a curated royalty-free music library; and May 2022 | 30 | www.insightssuccess.com
Rex Features, a premier source of editorial images for international media houses. Shutterstock recently announced the release of Composition Aware Search, its revolutionary new search feature. This amazing tool allows users to specify one or more keywords, or to search for copy space, and arrange them spatially on a canvas to reflect the specific layout of the image they are seeking. Additionally, the platform offers customers the freshest content and valuable insights to facilitate their creative process. Shutterstock’s team of experienced creative professionals is determined to give its customers bestin-class digital assets, tools and services. The Driving Factors Shutterstock has always distinguished itself by providing the highest quality of content and the best search experience, which adds up to superior value for the customer. The company is continuing to build industry-leading technology to improve its offerings by leveraging computer vision and AI technology. The role of marketers and social media managers today increasingly includes the creation of visual content, but they have little time to create compelling visual content that accurately represents their brand and engages their target audience. Shutterstock recognizes that one of the most
This is just another example of Shutterstock’s ability to identify customer needs and to quickly develop a simple and effective solution, which has been the major driving factor behind its success. Strive to Reach at the Every Corner of the World Jon started Shutterstock in 2003 by bootstrapping it himself with $10,000 as he set out to introduce the subscription model to the stock photography industry. To kick-start the idea, Jon shot more than 30,000 images and made them available for license on the platform. He then opened the marketplace up to other photographers. Today, the community has grown to more than 300,000 photographers, artists, videographers, and musicians from all corners of the world.
common pain points for these individuals is the lack of simple but powerful editing tools. For these busy hybrid creative marketers and small business owners, Shutterstock introduced Editor, a simple online editing tool that allows users to quickly and easily create high-quality visual content. Shutterstock Editor is a web-based application that leverages Shutterstock’s innovative search technology to help users find the imagery they need. The tool features professionally designed templates, the ability to upload visual assets such as a logo, save designs, and the power to publish finished designs to social networks directly from the application.
As Shutterstock continues to expand its platform and range of products, the company also strives to ensure that its content is available wherever the customer needs it. It achieves this through the development of tools that integrate media search with the customer’s workflow. Through strategic API Integrations, Shutterstock is now available in products like Google Slides and Adobe Creative Cloud, improving content creators’ workflows by giving them access to premium, professional imagery from within a platform they are already using. In addition to this, Shutterstock’s recent partnership with Microsoft PowerPoint gives users integrated access to its collection of photos and illustrations, a full integration directly into Facebook’s ad creation tool. Shutterstock strives to provide world-class digital content and has continued to invest in making its images, video, and music content available in business applications. It also envisions enabling businesses to build their own applications through a new developer portal.
May 2022 | 31 | www.insightssuccess.com
The 10 Most Innovative CDN Disruptors to Watch, 2022.
plans are augmented by pricing and showcase a level of transparency unprecedented in the advertising industry.
Sizmek: Creating Impressions that Inspire
A
n incredible amount of research, planning, and resources go into every ad that we see. Teams of advertising professionals, assisted by immensely powerful computers equipped with Artificial Intelligence (AI) contribute to its creation, then decide on timing and delivery. This is a massive investment and every advertiser wants to see results that justify their outlay. However, advertising management firms have traditionally been reluctant to share true insights into the ROI. Now, one company is revolutionizing the industry with its unique brand of service delivery which combines excellent advertising exposure with unparalleled transparency. That company is Sizmek.
Experienced Guidance Leading this trailblazing company through its slew of recent successes is CEO, Mark Grether. He has been with Sizmek since 2017. Mark is no stranger to the marketing arena; he has performed virtually every role in the industry in the many years that he has been a part of it. His journey began in academia as a professor of marketing before the appeal of real-world marketing technology pulled him onto his current path. Immediately prior to joining Sizmek, Mark was the global Chief Operating Officer of WPP’s Xaxis, a platform that he co-founded. Before Xaxis, Mark worked at GroupM, the world’s largest media investment group. As its Global Development Director, he helped set up their digital trading desk across 10 countries. Mark’s tenure at Sizmek has been marked by transformative change. He revamped the firm’s structure to give regional GMs - who understand their local markets best - the power to make more decisions while armed with the confidence that comes from being part of a major global enterprise. Another of his major initiatives has been to give actionable data the attention and priority it deserves. Many of Sizmek’s competitors are only just wading into these waters at a time when the company has already made it a prime focus, and includes its clients and partners in the implementation process.
Sizmek is the world’s largest independent buy-side advertising platform. It caters to agencies and brands in more than 70 countries throughout the Americas, EMEA, and APAC, and connects more than 20,000 advertisers and 3,600 agencies to audiences around the world.
Anticipating and Leveraging Change When Mark joined Sizmek, he quickly determined that two industry-critical challenges needed to be overcome. The first was transparency and the second, the European Union’s upcoming GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) which has since been implemented.
The company’s powerful integrated solutions enable data, creative, and media to work seamlessly together. Their AI-driven decision engine then identifies insights across the five key data dimensions - campaigns, consumers, context, creative, and cost.
The advertising industry is, unfortunately, a hotbed of players who intentionally conceal how dollars are spent and where investment has the largest or least impact. By contrast, Mark named 2018 the company’s ‘Year of Total Transparency’.
The result is award-winning service that transcends industry, geographical location, target demographics, and medium of delivery. Sizmek’s incisive, targeted media
Under Mark’s leadership, Sizmek offers full transparency across its entire AI-enabled platform, including media, creative, data, technology, and service-related costs.
May 2022 | 32 | www.insightssuccess.com
Meanwhile, the EU’s GDPR has shaken the advertising industry. Non-compliance can be devastating – the EU imposes fines of 4% of global revenue or 20 million Euros, whichever is higher. Sizmek initiated preparations to counter its effects as soon as plans for the legislation were announced years ago, making sure their AI-powered fusion of creative, media, and data was ready. The company allows its clients to deploy targeted campaigns without resorting to the use of personal data. This is achieved through their Peer39 contextual targeting solution that applies artificial intelligence to analyze words and phrases, and the relationship between them to fully understand the context and category of any page. They can also stay safe from fines with fully managed service, from account management to DCO to audience development to performance reporting and beyond. Instead of suffering a GDPR-induced downturn, Sizmek’s clients are now better positioned than their competitors to navigate this changed marketing landscape.
“Our AI-driven
decisioning engine can identify robust insights within data across the ve key dimensions of predictive marketing—campaigns, consumers, context, creative, and cost.” — Mark Grether CEO Agencies and advertisers get increased visibility and control over their media planning and buying; they can identify how every element works and then hone their strategies for the best results.
Molding the Future Because Sizmek employs AI extensively, it is fully aware of how the technology is constantly improving and becoming more accurate. It is already able to decide which person a specific ad should be delivered to out of millions of bid requests per second. As AI continuously learns, and will only improve in the upcoming years, Sizmek is working to better place ads at scale in real-time, helping brands improve conversions and attract their most valuable consumers. Sizmek is also investing in learning when individuals are most receptive to marketing messages. Factors like the period before and after a related purchase, time of the day, and day of the week all form a complex data relationship that holds enormous marketing potential if it can be unraveled—which Sizmek is already able to evaluate. As it makes advances by leaps and bounds in terms of technology, Sizmek has maintained its emphasis on transparency. Their industry-first consumer/business model update at the beginning of 2018 marks the company’s vision for how AdTech should be moving towards full data accessibility and pricing transparency. This leadership in technology adoption and self-regulation have placed Sizmek in the driving seat of the marketing world, a position in which it seems very comfortable.
May 2022 | 33 | www.insightssuccess.com
The 10 Most Innovative CDN Disruptors to Watch, 2022.
turn powerful audience insights into action. Vidyard also helps businesses transform internal communications with secure video messaging, private content sharing, internal live streaming, custom-built video applications, and more. These features can integrate seamlessly with existing business workflows and corporate security models. Global leaders and industry pioneers, including Microsoft, Honeywell, Lenovo, and LinkedIn rely on Vidyard to power their video strategies for both external customer engagement and internal employee communications. Visionary Leadership Michael Litt is the Co-founder and CEO of Vidyard and an avid entrepreneur with a passion for building SaaS companies. Michael leads the development of Vidyard’s innovative video technology, is a respected authority on entrepreneurship and startup culture, and is a master of connecting with audiences.
Michael Litt
Co-founder & CEO
Vidyard:
Creating Seamless Possibilities through Video
V
idyard is a next generation video platform that is helping businesses drive more revenue, boost employee engagement, and create new areas of competitive advantage through the strategic use of online video. Designed to go beyond traditional video hosting and management, the platform helps businesses quickly create and share new video content, connect with more viewers through interactive and personalized video experiences, and
Michael contributes to the growth of the media industry by sharing his insightful perspectives with broad audiences as a regular contributor to Fast Company, an American business magazine. He has been quoted in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, TechCrunch and other leading publications. He has shared his engaging and inspiring public speaking style with global audiences of all sizes through TEDx, The Digital Collective, Dreamforce and Y Combinator’s AdInnovation Conference. These efforts have led to many recognitions and awards, including the Peter Brojde Award for Canada’s Next Generation Executive Leadership, Marketing Magazine’s Top 30 Under 30, and Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year. Quality Services Vidyard’s range of services encompass cloud-based video hosting and management, video analytics, video content personalization, interactive video, and live streaming. They are supported by tools that simplify video creation and sharing by employees. Vidyard’s free personal-video messaging app, Vidyard GoVideo allows sales reps, support reps, and individual
May 2022 | 34 | www.insightssuccess.com
employees to easily record and share personal video messages while tracking engagement levels for that content.
Sales for Life, which are training students on how to use video to improve their sales process. Evolving with the Journey Vidyard is expanding its footprint in different markets and geographies. The company is accelerating its growth in financial services, manufacturing and education while rapidly growing its customer bases in EMEA and the AsiaPacific.
These insights can be leveraged to help businesses understand which material is resonating with customers, partners, and their own employees. Outshining the Competition When Vidyard was first launched, its biggest barrier to success were prominent video-hosting and playback solution platforms that were available for free. The challenge was getting businesses to understand that these platforms offered limited analytics, security, scalability, and integration into existing technologies. Due to these limitations, video viewer data could not be mapped into a Marketing Automation Platform (MAP) or Customer Relationship Platform (CRM). “Competing with “free” is never easy unless you can demonstrate a clear and quantifiable return-on-investment that aligns with their business goals,” states Michael. Once businesses realized these shortcomings, Vidyard was immediately more appealing. The company has secured its dominance by demonstrating clear value and ROI, coupled with the ability to help organizations more rapidly adopt video across different teams as a strategic business advantage. Global Impact With Vidyard’s personalized video solution, brands have the ability to create unique video content that seamlessly weaves in an individual viewer’s name, company name, title and other unique information. These videos are driving conversion rates higher than that of traditional
Much of this expansion will be fueled by its product innovation in areas such as video personalization, video sales, interactive video, and video for customer support.
content. Whether it is a telco sending a personalized video message to explain a bill, a university sharing a custommade video to recruit new students, or a B2B company using bespoke videos to promote a new product or event, this is a powerful way to stand out and to engage audiences in a memorable and compelling content experience. A Flawless Game Plan While Vidyard continues to grow its own marketing and sales teams, a key part of its strategy is to invest further in partnerships. Last year, it launched a series of new partner programs to work with resellers, agencies, systems integrators, and technology partners to broaden its market reach. In addition to leveraging new channels, the company recently launched its Vidyard GoVideo partner program that enables any technology provider to embed aspects of Vidyard’s platform within its own offerings, free of charge. Vidyard is also partnering with training and education organizations such as Always Hired, Sales Bootcamp and May 2022 | 35 | www.insightssuccess.com
Vidyard is leading the charge in delivering a comprehensive video platform to host, analyze, and operationalize video in a way that exposes key flaws in most executives’ assumptions. It is on a mission to help everyone leverage the power of this medium to build better relationships, communicate more clearly, and humanize the way we do business. The Rewards of Perseverance In December 2017, Vidyard was recognized for its rapid revenue growth, bold innovation and entrepreneurial spirit with a Deloitte Technology Fast 50 program award, ranking 16th with a growth rate of 21.4 % over the previous four years. The company was also selected as a finalist for the 2017 MIT Sloan CIO Symposium’s Innovation Showcase based on the strategic value and innovation it brings to digital enterprise now and in the future. Vidyard has also been named one of the ‘Top Rated Enterprise Video Platforms’ by TrustRadius and ‘Leader for Online Video Platforms for Sales and Marketing’ by Forrester.
Providing a New Outlook to Traditional Businesses May 2022 | 36 | www.insightssuccess.com
V
R is a way to escape the real world into something more fantastic. It has the potential to be the most social technology of all time. — Palmer Luckey Virtual reality (VR) has been around for many years now, in spite of this it is a very underdeveloped technology. It holds a vast potential outside of entertainment, it has taken over various aspects of our lives right from the way we shop, experience, converse and even ways to conduct business. With time this technology has gained popularity with many powerhouses, which has encouraged them to invest profoundly in VR technology. It has become more and more accessible for users, with manufacturers having already released household sets and are continuing to do so. The recent advancement in the VR technology has made it more accessible for the general public. Due to this, it has had a remarkable impact on the business world also. The sole aim of the technology is to change human perception using virtual systems. The adoption of VR by users is still in its nascent stages and has gained popularity, and more and more businesses are coming up with VR based solutions. The reducing prices of VR headsets have also posed to be an advantage for the consumers as well. It has also posed to be an advantage for the consumers as well, with the reducing prices of VR headsets. This has proved that VR is a tough and emergent market, with great scope for platforms which can allow businesses to leverage VR for process development and advanced marketing.
Businesses are Using VR to their Benefit VR has the potential to become the most important tool that businesses can leverage to add on to their success. Established businesses are taking the help of VR to train their new employees in a more cost-effective and efficient way. With the help of VR, one can have an employee in Los Angeles meeting with the one in London as if they were/ are in the same room. VR offers an added advantage when it comes to the outward focus of the businesses; it allows a novel way to connect with customers. The company can build up a more story driven way of marketing which draws people into the company's brand, in a tangible and relational way. Virtual reality has potentially transformed the world of media. It has opened doors for businesses; to advertise in a way they had never imagined before. Consumers are now equipped with the ability to test out and experience products, that they intend to purchase, in an entirely new way. It allows you to precisely visualize how a piece of furniture or painting would look in a particular room, or even test different makeup styles without leaving the room. A structured assessment, planning of the future of businesses, and with the right data VR can even give a valuable insight into the success of the business. VR is now being used to simplify and reduce the cost of the process of product prototyping. Since VR has made it very cost-effective for businesses to design a product or an intricate component of an outsized machine virtually than actually build
the prototype, the use of VR in this sector is likely to develop quickly. VR and AR have also advanced the area of Computer-Aided Design (CAD). Prototypes can now be shaped within the virtual space, allowing designers to accurately pin down its working way before the resources to build the product are acquired. This has eased the process of testing the product while saving both money and time. The major setback that the e-commerce industry faces is the sales; customers are reluctant to buy products that they haven’t tried. With the help of VR, the consumers can potentially try out and visualize demonstrations for various product categories. Allowing a more clear vision of how their post-purchase experience will look like. Novel business opportunities There are as many applications for VR as you can think of; it’s restricted by your imagination. — John Goddard. Virtual Reality has numerous businesses perspective; not just by providing innovative features to the business products, but also in helping innovators create novel businesses with these technologies at the core. Just like old-fashioned cafes, VR cafes would soon be a hit. These places will be a social gateway for people looking for augmented and virtually enhanced experiences. VR cafes would offer choices on diverse virtual reality equipment, comprising of games, videotapes, team-building exercises, social media practices, 3D books and content experiences, and virtually enriched meditation. In real estate markets, VR platforms
May 2022 | 38 | www.insightssuccess.com
permit house tours to people from anyplace around the globe. People can design and even paint their homes with this technology as they would in real life setting, to provide an outlook into the future look of their homes. Cars like Audi R8 offers a VR-powered “test drive” experience. Similarly, even Airbus has introduced aircraft tours for its airline executives, which allows them an enriched experience and tour of the aircraft without actually visiting it. The Future Looks Promising As VR and AR carry on development, more and more knowledge about how it can be efficiently incorporated into the businesses has come to light, this amalgamation of new with the old will potentially have a huge positive impact on every sector. New entrepreneurs, startups, and businesses should surely keep an eye out for this technology, as it has become an integral part of marketing and businesses processes in the near future. Bearing in mind how several industries and businesses are quickly validating and accepting virtual reality, the estimate is that it will take over the business scenario almost completely, isn’t bloated by any means.
The 10 Most Innovative CDN Disruptors to Watch, 2022.
Viral In Nature:
Simple, Straightforward, Effective Social Media Management
S
ocial media has completely changed the way we interact and share ideas, how we influence others, and how we allow ourselves to be influenced. It is the tool of choice for world leaders, governments, major corporations, celebrities, and anyone else who wants to connect directly with an audience of millions. This remarkable ability to be seen and heard - and to personally communicate with - such large swathes of the human race instantly is unprecedented both in scope and scale. It transcends barriers of race, religion, nationality, age, social status, and almost every other factor which we use to divide ourselves. It is true, instant democracy.
Nature devotes more time and energy to social media management and live event social media management than its rivals. And the results speak for themselves. Viral In Nature has become the most awarded social media agency in North America. Respected publications like Clutch.co and GoodFirms.co have consistently ranked it as one of the world’s top social media marketing agencies. CV Magazine named it the USA’s Best Social Media Agency for 2018. With accolades like that, it is no wonder that the firm is poised to become one of the most powerful social media hubs for business anywhere.
Wielding any powerful tool requires a level of skill, and social media is no exception. This is amply evident from the news stories we regularly hear of disastrous social media faux pas from stars, politicians and respected organizations. They could all have made the news for the right reasons had they chosen Viral In Nature.
Multi-Faceted Excellence Viral In Nature maintains a singular focus on its clients. While other companies may claim to be client-centric, Viral In Nature has proven consistently that it truly embodies that spirit. This is evident not just from the industry accolades that keep piling up, but from the testimonials of customers whom the firm considers its best ambassadors.
The Building Blocks of Success Viral In Nature was founded in 2010 as GoWowMedia, and rebranded to its current name in 2013. Besides Social Media Management, it also specializes in Reputation Management and Web Development.
The other area in which Viral In Nature invests considerable time and effort is technology. Social media is by its very nature a tech-driven field, and it is only by leveraging the vast potential it holds that truly spectacular results are possible.
The Canadian company focuses on helping small and medium enterprises utilize the power of social media. It helps them to bridge the gap between remaining a local presence and acquiring a global customer base. Their incredible success rate with smaller businesses has prompted global companies to seek out their services as well.
The company constantly seeks out, tests, develops, and implements the latest advances, applications and hardware such as new and unique camers. In this way, every client is assured a cutting-edge solution that keeps them ahead of the competition.
Hard work and commitment is in the firm’s DNA. 12 hours of each day, 7 days a week, and 365 days are the hours of coverage they do for their social media clients. Viral In
To foster an environment of constant learning and adaptability, the company holds regular meetings that focus primarily on emerging trends in social media. Conducted in an open discussion format, it allows team members to keep abreast of developments that may not relate to their
May 2022 | 40 | www.insightssuccess.com
“We commit ourselves to constantly improving our services, performance and push through our comfort barriers to improve value to our clients.”
— Shawn Alain President
specialty directly. This creates a rich tapestry of residual knowledge upon which they can draw in the future. A pro-active approach is critical to how Viral In Nature operates. The agency adopts a policy of creating a wide footprint for each client across a range of social media platforms. It adheres to this philosophy to mitigate the negative effects of policy changes at any one of those companies, and to insulate its clients from unforeseeable downturns like the one currently plaguing Facebook. The Man Behind the Brand Shawn Alain is the President of Viral In Nature and the owner of the company. Mr. Alain began his career in media with the publishing industry. He
recognized the massive potential of social media marketing before it had become the global phenomenon it is today. In 2010, after a decade in publishing, he set up GoWowMedia, the predecessor to Viral in Nature. A slew of success in Twitter and Facebook marketing gave Mr. Alain the groundwork and an intimate understanding of the industry. It was upon this foundation that Viral In Nature was born. The Journey Beyond Viral In Nature is undoubtedly one of the best social media management agencies in North America. However, Shawn is eager to take his brand to a truly international level, with plans for Europe, Australia and Latin America already on the cards. In
May 2022 | 41 | www.insightssuccess.com
fact, the firm has already hired staff fluent in French and Spanish as the first step to this expansion. In line with its policy of giving every client a wide social media presence, Viral In Nature has always managed them across five to seven platforms. With an increasingly business-centric focus and undaunted by change, the company is always on the lookout for newer, better options that will more thoroughly serve its clients’ needs. Technology is unbiased – it will favor the most effective solution. Viral In Nature does not only apply this philosophy, it has itself become the best example of its veracity.
The 10 Most Innovative CDN Disruptors to Watch, 2022.
YUDU:
T
he Media and Entertainment Industry has displayed evident growth globally, since its commencement. The advent of innovative technologies and their pioneers in this industry and subsequent disciplines has catapulted its development. YUDU is one such innovative pioneer of the digital publishing industry.
Founded in 2007, YUDU is an applications technology company specializing in digital publishing and crisis communications. It upholds a vision of harnessing cloud-based technology to meet growing market needs. It was one of the first companies to help publishers produce digital versions of their magazines and other publications. The organization holds simplicity and ease of access at the heart of its vision, both for its clients and customers, and produces solutions that have been widely liked by users. Exemplary Leadership YUDU’s Founder and CEO, Richard Stephenson, has been at the helm since the company’s inception in 2007. He holds a joint honors B.Sc. in Economics and Materials Science from Swansea University. He has driven the growth of the company as it has grown in its international clientele, adapted to changes in the publishing industry, and most recently, led the development of the company’s Crisis Management app named Sentinel.
Reforming Digital Publishing and Crisis Management
The online shift towards e-reading, ecommerce and apps has opened up new opportunities for YUDU, which Richard has been at the forefront of capitalizing on and helping clients adapt to changing consumer wants and needs. Over the past 10 years, Richard has overseen the growth of the company to become a global leader in cloud based document distribution and corporate communications. Richard has been running technology led international businesses for the past 30 years and completed his first private equity backed MBO in 2001. Richard past roles include being an Operating Partner with Duke Street Capital, Chairman of Xafinity Holdings Ltd, President of the Supervisory Board of Navimo S.A. and Chairman of Deloro Stellite Ltd. Redefining Innovation Although YUDU has developed over 1,000 apps over its ten years in tech, communication is at the heart of the company’s functionality. The organization’s core product is its digital publishing platform, Publisher. It allows anyone to turn a PDF into an intuitive, re-flowable, IOS, Android and Windows compatible digital version. Clients ranging from retailers like Screwfix to publications like National Geographic use Publisher to create high quality magazines, catalogues, May 2022 | 42 | www.insightssuccess.com
newsletters and more, all with full statistical analysis built-in and optional subscription control. YUDU’s most recently developed software Sentinel, combines mass alerting via SMS, email and in-app messaging, offline critical document handling and an HR database of contacts. All of this is hosted on a secure cloud server, so that if a cyberattack, power outage or an act of terror takes down servers and phone lines, incident managers can check that everyone is safe and instruct staff on what to do. Sentinel is used as a business continuity and communications tool by a range of industries including law firms, hotels, and theatres. Among publishers, the digital transformation has been embraced by some and feared by others. E-book readers like Kindle were hailed simultaneously as the end of the book industry and as a passing fad by its detractors, and more mobile forms of entertainment have broadened the options for magazines distribution and consumption. With Publisher, the organization was able to take publications into the digital arena. It could also enhance print magazines with video and interactivity, helping media companies and educational publishers reach a massively wider audience with their most innovative content.
Strategizing for Conquests When people began consuming more media via their mobile phones and tablets and less on desktops, YUDU faced the challenge of making content accessible. Consumers wanted a smooth reading experience without having to pinch and zoom, thus the company needed to rethink how it delivered its clients’ content. PhoneView is its solution to device-responsive document viewing. “The roadmap for YUDU’s development has always been user-centric. We listen to feedback from our clients and are continually adding new features to our apps based on our clients’ needs, and that is what keeps us ahead of our competitors,” states Richard. The company has a dedicated support team in the UK and is proud of its very high customer approval rating.
Embracing Opportunities The next step for YUDU is to enter into a new territory, of business continuity and crisis management. The company’s expertise in document management, communications and app development has set it up to fulfill the growing need for a reliable, simple software to help organizations keep their people safe and keep the information flowing during an emergency. Immediate access to business recovery plans on mobiles is vital for instant response. The organization’s publishing background enables it to use its document handling technology to offer features that other alerting systems fail to deliver. Its competitors can’t offer incident managers the ability to share business continuity documents, press statements, clients lists etc. offline and securely in a crisis. Beholding New Horizons of Achievements While YUDU continues to offer industry-leading technology for digital publishing, it is broadening its portfolio of apps all the time. The company is expanding its corporate communications offering by combining document handling and communications in its app for sales teams;
Richard Stephenson Founder & CEO
‘‘
YUDU helps publishers, corporations, educators and organizations engage with their audiences digitally.
‘‘
YUDU’s strategy is to deliver the best possible product and give the best possible client experience. Expressing his views on adapting to the changing trends in the industry, Richard asserts, “The consumer has migrated from desktop to mobile passing tablets on the way. We have anticipated this trend by developing the technology for displaying rich content on smaller screens.”
adding new features, like group specific push notifications, to its existing apps and continual refinement of its app technology in the face of changes to app stores and operating systems. In the near future, YUDU is growing its Sentinel product into a whole range of business continuity solutions. It has exciting work lined up with security and counter-terror specialists to create Sentinel Alaris and Sentinel Alert. With the Sentinel range of products it is building a strong portfolio of top clients and developing in a strongly growing market. “Knowing that our apps are going to be used to help organizations safeguard their staff and help save lives in an increasingly dangerous world makes it an incredibly worthwhile work,” states Richard.
May 2022 | 43 | www.insightssuccess.com