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Blog

An Inside Look at IBC 2018

September 28, 2018

  • 2018 FIFA World Cup
  • BBC
  • churn
  • content producers
  • cybersecurity
  • Erin Curtis
  • GDPR
  • IBC
  • IBC Daily
  • IBM
  • OTT
  • pay TV
  • video service providers

Every September, thousands of attendees gather in Amsterdam for the IBC Conference, a world-renowned event in the broadcast and media industry. Big players in the space convene to present their newest technological innovations and to network with potential clients or partners. The conference provides a key opportunity for those in the industry to come together, share knowledge, and discuss the future.

The Evergent team had a busy week at the event, including joint activities and presentations with our partners, three show-floor exhibits, a video interview with IBM, and three dinner events with clients, potential clients, and partners. Our CEO was also interviewed in IBC Daily.

In addition to our own presence on the show floor, we had a presence in partners' booths, including Brightcove, Google, and MediaKind (Ericsson's media spinoff group). And ahead of the conference, we released news about two exciting recent projects — our work with Sony to give millions of viewers in India access to the 2018 FIFA World Cup and our partnership with Brightcove and BBC Studios to make it easier for providers to add the BBC Player to their offerings.

We've also been working with IBM to create an internal buzz about our partnership. Here, we recorded a video showcasing how IBM's artificial intelligence solutions and our Evergent platform work together to collect, collate, and analyze customer data to improve churn and predict other elements that affect revenue. We hope the video will create the buzz the IBM team is looking for.

Building Toward Success

The world of media creation and delivery is changing rapidly, and this event showcased the latest developments, challenges, and opportunities. One clear trend for both content creators and service providers noted at the conference was the need to be both “big and small,” or both global and local in scope.

Several speakers and vendors at the event expressed a need to provide content across multiple geographies, each with unique tax requirements and payment concerns, and to support a wide variety of subscription models (direct subscriptions, carrier billing, microtransactions, etc). This highlighted the need for flexibility and adaptability in BSS/OSS functions. This is exactly where Evergent excels and why we increased our presence at the conference this year.

Our aim at IBC 2018 was to show potential customers and partners that our global, cloud-based platform can help companies expand their offerings, get a head start on traditional and emerging competitors, and optimize their digital content monetization strategies.

What We Learned

When we began attending IBC conferences five years ago, we were chasing companies. We wanted to get partners and customers on board, but we were still small, with maybe 50 employees. This time, it's different: We've grown to nearly 250 employees, and the number of global deployments we've overseen and accounts we manage has helped us get there.

We pride ourselves on our execution, our blocking and tackling, and our focus on the customer. Taken together, those things make our customers successful, and that makes us successful as well.

Now, companies seek us out as both prospects and potential partners. They've seen what we can do, and they want in. This year, one partner commented, "I looked at you guys three years ago. You've improved a lot." That's not due to just one thing, like product improvements or the number of employees. It's due to the hard work we've put in over the years and the intense focus on customers' needs today and tomorrow.

Every September, thousands of attendees gather in Amsterdam for the IBC Conference, a world-renowned event in the broadcast and media industry. Big players in the space convene to present their newest technological innovations and to network with potential clients or partners. The conference provides a key opportunity for industry professionals to come together, share knowledge, and discuss the future.

The Evergent team had a busy week at the event, including joint activities and presentations with our partners, three show-floor exhibits, a video interview with IBM, and three dinner events with clients, potential clients, and partners. Our CEO was also interviewed in IBC Daily.

In addition to our presence on the show floor, we had a presence in partners' booths, including Brightcove, Google, and MediaKind (Ericsson's media spinoff group). And ahead of the conference, we released news about two exciting recent projects — our work with Sony to give millions of viewers in India access to the 2018 FIFA World Cup and our partnership with Brightcove and BBC Studios to make it easier for providers to add the BBC Player to their offerings.

We've also worked with IBM to create internal buzz about our partnership. Here, we recorded a video showcasing how IBM's artificial intelligence solutions and our Evergent platform work together to collect, collate, and analyze customer data to improve churn and predict other elements that affect revenue. We hope the video will create the buzz the IBM team is looking for.

Building Toward Success

The world of media creation and delivery is changing rapidly, and this event showcased the latest developments, challenges, and opportunities. One clear trend for both content creators and service providers noted at the conference was the need to be both “big and small” or both global and local in scope.

Several speakers and vendors at the event expressed a need to provide content across multiple geographies, each with unique tax requirements and payment concerns, and to support a wide variety of subscription models (direct subscriptions, carrier billing, microtransactions, etc.). This highlighted the need for flexibility and adaptability in BSS/OSS functions. This is exactly where Evergent excels and why we increased our presence at the conference this year.

Our aim at IBC 2018 was to show potential customers and partners that our global, cloud-based platform can help companies expand their offerings, get a head start on traditional and emerging competitors, and optimize their digital content monetization strategies.

What We Learned

When we began attending IBC conferences five years ago, we were chasing companies. We wanted to get partners and customers on board, but we were still small, with maybe 50 employees. This time, it's different: We've grown to nearly 250 employees, and the number of global deployments we've overseen and accounts we manage has helped us get there.

We pride ourselves on our execution, our blocking, and tackling, and our focus on the customer. Taken together, those things make our customers successful, and that makes us successful as well.

Now, companies seek us out as both prospects and potential partners. They've seen what we can do, and they want in. This year, one partner commented, "I looked at you guys three years ago. You've improved a lot." That's not due to just one thing, like product improvements or the number of employees. It's due to the hard work we've put in over the years and the intense focus on customers' needs both today and tomorrow.