Garrick here…  I added Google TV at home late last year and must admit that it’s a game-changer. I’ve been watching a lot of NetFlix content – much more than my cable delivered content. Question for traditional video operators is, what happens if your customers decide there’s more value in content delivered through OTT providers than from your traditional content channels? I think the key here is to find a way to integrate OTT services into your converged services platform. You’ll not only give your customer additional content but, if you package it correctly, you’ll make your offering more sticky.

GLDS has been working closely with a couple of vendors who provide IP-based content over the top (OTT) of existing content structures. The value here is that you have the opportunity to provide your clients with additional video content, using existing infrastructure, while leveraging technologies they’ve been hearing about, like Roku. Have you wanted to offer VOD, yet find the infrastructure cost-prohibitive? OTT providers claim their solutions are far more cost-effective and they require little to no expertise to operate.

We’re going to camp out on this subject for a while at this year’s Users’ Group Conference in May. We’ve invited a customer to participate in a panel discussion that will outline why they’ve chosen to offer VOD as an OTT service rather than deploy a traditional VOD platform. It’s likely I’ll update this subject again after that conference with what I learned.