Elemental Technologies, the leading supplier of software-defined video solutions for multiscreen content delivery, this week shared a recent forecast from the research and advisory company Gartner which says that the Software Defined Video (SDV) total addressable market for CSP/MSO-hosted and managed CDN services revenue will reach $10 billion by 2018.
The SDV is quite different from the Software Defined Networking (SDN), according to Sam Blackman, the CEO of Elemental who was cited by StreamingMedia.com on defining SDV as a "software code running on off-the-shelf hardware (CPU or GPU) that performs a video function that previously required specialized hardware (ASIC, FPGA, or DSP)."
In the forecast issued on April 24, 2015, Gartner says that "to escape the commoditization of traditional CSPs and cable, multiple services operators are exploring cloud-based solutions" and notes that "these offer customers a better video experience and reduce capital expenditure on newer roaming and timeshifting multiscreen services."
Software-defined, video-based solutions are in the early days of transforming core video operations, the report concluded, and will coexist with edge routers, mobile packet core solutions, and newer cloud radio access networks (RANs). CSPs and CDN providers are placing more focus on end-user quality of experience (QoE) for video due to the increased interest in on-demand services, and to reduce capital expenditure (capex), said the report further.
Akshay Sharma, Research Director, Gartner
Software-defined video provides a new way to engage customers using innovative services. Gartner's nexus and other new competencies are required by CSPs to stay ahead of rivals, and for survival in the fiercely competitive telco market. Newer technologies and processes, will enable the convergence and mutual reinforcement of IT and network trends.
Sam Blackman, CEO and Co-Founder, Elemental
Gartner is known to identify disruptive technologies that media enterprises need to confidently launch new services and successfully engage with the consumer viewing trends that are transforming the video industry as we've known it. We feel the Gartner CSP forecast confirms the end of the traditional hardware-based video processing era and that software-defined video's time has arrived.
