Online video management provider Ooyala formed a "strategic relationship" with Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) that combines its software as a service (SaaS) products with Microsoft's Azure Media Services. The two companies will also partner on global sales and marketing efforts.
The collaboration, according to an Ooyala release, is intended to "drive standardization of new personalized TV services for broadcasters and operators around the world." That standard, of course, being Azure Media workflow technologies for IP-based video.
"The opportunity is with Tier 1 broadcasters and publishers to deploy Ooyala's and Microsoft's best-of-breed technology for multi-screen video services backed with Ooyala's analytics and monetization technology," a spokesperson for Ooyala told FierceOnlineVideo.
Microsoft Azure Media Services is deployed globally and recently supported online viewership of the Sochi Games to 22 countries on four continents. Ooyala said its video delivery and analytics technology is deployed in more than 130 countries by broadcasters, operators and publishers.
"Microsoft has invested heavily in building a broad backend technology stack to support broadcast/enterprise grade video distribution across its network of customers," the spokesperson said. "Ooyala's technology brings in its proven global distribution capabilities for Tier 1, premium content, as well as its leading analytics and monetization technology for Microsoft Azure."
Ooyala last week released its 2014 Global Video Index. While the Index's finding had no influence on the creation of its partnership with Microsoft, according to the spokesperson, it does show online viewership "growing exponentially across all devices."
Mobile phones and tablets combined accounted for 18 percent of the time spent streaming videos in October 2013, according to the report. By December 2013, that percentage jumped to more than 26 percent, a 43 percent increase in just a single quarter.
For more:
- see the release
- and this Global Video Index release
- StreamingMedia.com has this story
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