NXTcomm08

Is Microsoft Dating New Mediaroom System Integration Partners?

| Jun 18, 2008 | Digital Media Infrastructure | Show Update

| Analyst: Yoav Schreiber

Current Perspective: Positive/Neutral Vendor Importance: High Market Impact: Moderate/High

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Event Summary

June 16, 2008 -- At NXTcomm 2008, Microsoft announced the addition of six new Mediaroom technology ecosystem partners, including IPTV system integrators HP, Tech Mahindra, and 180Squared; video encoding solutions provider Harris Corp.; and video quality assurance providers Agilent and IneoQuest. The expanded ecosystem provides new and existing Microsoft Mediaroom customers with the flexibility to choose partners that best meet their specific cost and performance objectives.

Analytical Summary

• Current Perspective: Slightly positive on Microsoft’s NXTcomm 2008 announcement that it has expanded its Mediaroom ecosystem to include six new partners, because it provides new and existing Mediaroom customers with greater flexibility to choose partners for their IPTV deployments. Microsoft is now positioned to assist its operator customers further in scaling their IPTV services by adding partner capabilities to facilitate, for instance, back-office/OSS integration and video quality assurance.

• Vendor Importance: High to Microsoft, since the company’s Mediaroom platform now supports more than two million subscriber TV sets worldwide across its 14 operator deployments, requiring Microsoft to ensure that its operator customer base has the various solution options necessary to continue seamlessly increasing their IPTV subscriber adoption rates. By adding system integrators to complement the Alcatel-Lucent relationship, Microsoft has signaled that, outside of its largest Mediaroom deployments (for which Alcatel-Lucent provides end-to-end system integration support), Microsoft is tuned into operator needs for function-specific integration capabilities to enhance their IPTV deployments.

• Market Impact: Moderate to high on the digital media infrastructure (DMI) market, as Microsoft’s Mediaroom ecosystem already included roughly 20 partners across various video networking components; thus, the announcement does not significantly alter Microsoft’s competitive positioning or require specific responses from rivals. However, while Alcatel-Lucent undoubtedly retains deep IPTV deployment expertise, having partnered with Microsoft on the largest Mediaroom deployments, the lack of detail on the specific system integration capabilities of the new partners may contribute to the perception of solution overlap and confusion.

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