We’re getting ready to fly over to London for IPTV World Forum next week. We were asked to write a guest blog for the IPTV World Forum official Show Blog on VideoNet (@videonetnews). It got us thinking about what all the operators out there need to do to differentiate themselves. Below is the blog we wrote with our thoughts about it (also on the VideoNet Official IPTV World Forum blog.

Flexibility is essential for operators and the middleware they use has to coexist with the STB, video server, encoder and other solutions that the operator is using. The need for a flexible interface is a necessity. The ability to support rapid development and add new hot features for the subscriber is the biggest concern for IPTV operators.

Some middleware vendors didn’t come from an IPTV background and they had to adapt for IPTV, sometimes at the expense of operators’ flexibility. We’ve noticed a trend where operators who already have one of these types of middleware solutions needs more flexible front-end solutions to integrate with their middleware providers’ back-end. Operators having a first generation middleware solution or a customized solution are often lacking the flexibility of doing changes in the portal, adding new applications or even to customizing the User Interface. This becomes increasingly important when competition among operators is getting tougher.

IPTV operators are confronted increased competition from cable and satellite. They are discovering that they need to add differentiating factors to attract and keep customers. What is lacking in most solutions is an administration tool that addresses this task and allows the Operator to be in control of both the Look-and-Feel and also the contents of the Portal.

Dreampark sees this opportunity for IPTV middleware solutions to create the most flexible solution available in order to help operators offer the best service to subscribers. We’ve taken the system one step further by allowing the operator to see the changes take effect in real-time on the actual device that is used by the subscribers, which they have noted is very important to them. Once the verification is done the Operator may publish the new additions and/or changes to all subscribers. Dreampark calls this “What-you-see-is-what-you-get.” Operators need to be able to create a business portal and push revenue generating opportunities to customers without a lot of help from the middleware provider. And, it’s easiest for them to do this if they can see what things will look like as they are adding to the portal in real-time.

Author: Per Skyttvall, CEO of Dreampark

This blog was a blog we wrote for the IBC 2009 Official Blog

One of the tricky aspects for vendors providing TV portals in the digital TV industry is the fact that the technology that is developed and introduced to the market affects the various players in the chain, as well as the end customer, of course, who is portrayed in each and every one of us. Each time a new feature or service is contemplated for the TV middleware, numerous considerations are involved; technological feasibility, complexity and integration efforts, user demand for the specific service, and pricing strategies, just to name a few.

The technological hurdles are relatively easily resolved. Operator flexibility and performance are maximized by taking advantage of the powers of open standards, such as HTML and SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), to give operators full control of their TV portals for customization and regionalization. The same thing applies for integration when working with a leading vendor, whose TV middleware is pre-integrated with a wide range of set-top boxes, video servers and CA/DRM systems. The most challenging factor remains: how to increase user adoption of new interactive services and willingness to pay for these services. In order for the new service to be appealing to the customer, it has to bring an added value, or a new type of entertainment that has not yet been introduced. Another important element is the ease in which the user can experiment with the service and start using it. Complicated menus or unclear instructions are bound to deter viewers from adopting new services.

Current standard offering as far as TV middleware is concerned, have gone a long way since the inception of digital TV, yet a lot of services remain underdeveloped and untapped. These include gaming applications, mobile PVR and more. Consider being able to exercise PVR control with mobile devices, giving you the possibility to use a web page or a mobile device to remotely control a PVR Set Top Box in your home. Additional appealing features are personal channel lists, start over functionality and more.

Advanced television and broadband video services will flourish and influence the next generation of entertainment applications only if enough consideration is given to user demands. After all, increasing customer willingness to pay for advanced television features and for a personalized TV experience will further drive the evolution of digital TV, and the operators’ incentive to invest in introducing these services.

Post by: Per Skyttvall, CEO