Best Practices in Video Delivery:   

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This page is a reference to help determine how your organization compares to the rest of the industry.  We've applied various approaches to a version of the Technology Adoption Curve as a guideline.
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Please comment on the related blog if you have any questions about the techniques I'm referencing below, general comments, or if you'd like to offer recommendations.   
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Laggards​    
 
    Production Workflow  
  • Encoding:  = Single Bit Rate
  • QA/Testing:  = Manual checks to ensure files acquired, processed and available.   No check on video or audio quality
   
    Delivery Operations
  • Delivery:  = Hosted Web Server
  • Monitoring:  = Network & Server Monitoring 
  • Ops Testing:  = None


Majority

    Production Workflow
  • Encoding = ABR, H.264, Recommended Bit Rate Ladder
  • QA/Testing = Automated checks to ensure files are also complete.   Occasional manual checks on video quality

    Delivery Operations
  • Delivery = OVP Hosted, HSP + CDN
  • Monitoring + APM Monitoring
  • Ops Testing = Functional Testing


Early Adopters 
    Production Workflow
  • Encoding + Optimized Bit Rate Ladder
  • QA/Testing = + Automated checks for compliance.   Routine manual sample checks on video quality. 

    Delivery Operations
  • Delivery = Static Multi-CDN, Bit Rate Limit Mapped to Screen Size
  • Monitoring =  + RUM and/or Synthetic Monitoring
  • Ops Testing = Occasional Manual Stress Testing 


Innovators
    Production Workflow
  • Encoding = + Encoding Optimized for Perceptual Quality, 
  • QA/Testing = +  Routine automated sample checks on video & Audio quality. 

   Delivery Operations 
  • Delivery = + Dynamic Multi-CDN, More than 2 CDNs
  • Monitoring = + Correlating all collected data into feedback for actionable traffic management, Monitoring Ad Audio Levels consistent with Content
  • Ops Testing = + Routine Stress Testing with Correlated Performance Monitoring for popular content


Bleeding Edge
    Production Workflow
  • Encoding = Non-std. Codec that improves performance over H.264
  • QA/Testing = + Automated Checks are augmented by Manual Sample checks of Video and Audio Quality.  

Delivery Operations 
  • Delivery = + DiY CDN, More than 2 CDNs, potentially including CDN Federation, employ one or more Experimental Technologies such as P2P CDN,  Dynamic Manifest Generation Correlated to Performance Feedback, Mobile Site optimized HTTP for high latency network, Network Optimizations (window sizing, connection bonding, transport protocol modifications [TCP, UDP, RUDP, ]etc… 
  • Monitoring = + Both RUM and Synthetic Monitoring for all critical functional components, Correlating all collected data into feedback for actionable traffic management, Monitoring Ad Audio Levels consistent with Content, Perceptual Quality comparison of delivered asset to Mezzanine
  • Ops Testing = Routine Stress Testing with Correlated Performance Monitoring for all functional aspects



​Updated  6-26-18