SeaChange International
wants to give video-on-demand customers
a couple of shots of Adrenalin.
The vendor’s Adrenalin software,
to ship in early 2011, is an overhauled
video back-office system built around
its current Axiom On Demand platform
that incorporates Web-centric features
and supports thousands of devices.
“It takes a long, long time to make a
feature change [on current cable platforms],”
SeaChange president Yvette
Kanouff said. “We’ve taken what we
feel are the best components of the
Web in order to create a whole platform
that can still be managed in a
high-quality environment.”
Adrenalin is operationally efficient
and immensely scalable, according
to SeaChange, with support
for up to 100 million assets and 20
million subscribers. By comparison,
the current version of Axiom
can handle 150,000 assets and up to
10 million users per site.
The software, which uses a serviceoriented
architecture, incorporates
elements of the products from
SeaChange’s acquisitions in the last
two years of EventIS, a Dutch videosoftware
company, and U.K. mobilevideo
vendor Mobix Interactive.
“It’s pretty easy to put together a
demonstration,” Kanouff said. “We
have gone through all the work to make
sure this is a scalable environment, and
it has not always been easy.”
As proof points, Kanouff noted that
SeaChange powers “three-screen” video
services for Virgin Media in the U.K.
and StarHub in Singapore.
Other cable technology suppliers
also are looking to deliver Web-friendly
video-delivery products and systems,
including Motorola, Cisco Systems,
Concurrent, ActiveVideo Networks,
Clearleap and BNI Video, a startup
whose backers include Comcast, Time
Warner Cable and Cisco (see Platforms).
Adrenalin is the fourth generation of
SeaChange video back-office systems.
Its modular design is intended to let
customers gradually migrate their existing
Axiom VOD software. “You don’t
want to just forklift everything out every
six months,” Kanouff said.
Adrenalin’s first release for
SeaChange software subscription and
upgrade customers is scheduled for
early 2011. The system incorporates
business applications, such as an offer
manager, to execute multiscreen
promotions; content-management capabilities;
Web-based management
and monitoring; and client publishers
(which render user interfaces on different
devices) with support for thirdparty
search, recommendation and
t-commerce applications.
Adrenalin embodies SeaChange’s
strategy to shift toward software, as
hardware sales have dipped in recent
quarters. Last month the company
said it would restructure its Servers
and Storage unit, after turning down
several off ers for the hardware unit,
claiming they undervalued the business.
VIDEO REVAMP
Highlights of SeaChange’s Adrenalin:
Web architecture: Based on a service-oriented architecture and Web services to enable rapid deployment of applications
Multiple formats: MPEG-2 and MPEG-4/H.264 video, adaptive HTTP streaming, Adobe Flash, Microsoft Silverlight, Apple QuickTime
Large scale: Supports up to 100 million assets and 20 million subscribers
SOURCE: SeaChange International
