YouTube: Is it a Help or a Hindrance for Enterprise VCM?

[Cara Daly (cara_daly)]

Video is simply a way of life for us in the connected economy. Today, 4 billion videos are watched on YouTube every day. Every 20 seconds, 20 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube. Why? Because it’s easy to use and universally accessible to anyone with a screen and an Internet connection.

YouTube is so pervasive and so easy to use, that some employees use it to share recorded how-to videos, training sessions, and presentations.   But most CIOs and managers agree – sharing content better suited for an internal audience on YouTube does not equal good corporate governance, risking competitive advantage, privacy, and security –  a major “con” no matter how fast and easy it is to use.

But overall, the positive impact of YouTube – and other consumer experiences like Vimeo, Facebook, Hulu and Netflix - are a much bigger help in driving demand for enterprise VCM solutions.  Here’s why the pros of outweigh the cons:

Creating video-savvy content producers – Abundant consumer experiences are demystifying the complexities of creating useful video content.  People are starting to “think in video clips” in a similar way that people started to think in bullets as PowerPoint became a ubiquitous for corporate communications.   They evolve their messages to make the most of the medium, resulting in more effective communications.  The more employees see video at the most efficient and effective means for communications, the more it will become part of standard business processes.

Creating more comfortable “on camera” presenters – Average people posting videos of themselves to social sites, making video seem more casual and approachable than it was even 5 years ago.  People are less likely to be critical and self-conscious about being recorded, as they get used to seeing more recordings of themselves, friends, and colleagues.  Comfort level is a key factor in wide-spread adoption. (Click here to read my colleague's blog post about getting ready to be on camera.)

Creating video-savvy viewership – The average person already has high expectations for ease of use, mobile support, and search functionality.  This presents unique challenges to IT managers, as anything less that consumer –like user experiences seem behind the times.  IT managers will likely face increasing pressure to support and deliver these seemingly commonplace experiences, and will look to enterprise VCM vendors to provide consumer-like user-interfaces and workflows.