After three days of looking at multiple enterprise encoding systems, I decided that I couldn’t meaningfully tell them apart by a features and benefits approach. I had to look at the high level product philosophy. Fortunately, I was meeting with two companies that couldn’t have been further apart. Briefly, Anystream wants to be a soup to nuts provider, while Rhozet wants to provide the best darn encoding tool available, and that’s it.

Note that neither approach is right or wrong, just more or less well suited for what you’re looking for in an enterprise encoding system. Between the two companies, you’ll see the extremes of this type of product offering.

In this post, I’ll discuss Anystream, where I met with Russell Zack, Anystream’s VP of Product Management, and Ken Haren, a technical representative who helped me during a recent review of Anystream Agility. I started the conversation by asking Russell why a customer should choose Anystream over any other system. Check out Rhozet’s pitch

Why Anystream?

We provide production automation and encoding control in a highly scaleable suite that’s the most efficient way to deliver high quality content. Our special value add is that we integrate the products into a comprehensive system. We’re not just about the codecs, we’re about the system.

What are the key questions a company seeking an enterprise system should ask each company?

First, ask how the encoding system integrates with the company’s video production systems and workflows, their content management systems and digital rights management programs. It’s not just about file compatibility; it’s whether the integration is tight enough to create a truly automated workflow.

Then ask about the extent of the system’s content delivery. Any encoding tool can export a file to a folder or send it via FTP. But what types of metadata does the system support, and how does it integrate with affiliate distribution modules (ADM)?

Most of our clients don’t deliver a single file to a single location, they ship one file for broadcast use, another to iTunes, another to Hulu or Verizon. Each target has its own metadata for characteristics like how long the file stays up, who can watch it and what advertising to associate with it. Our system can include the metadata necessary to integrate with those systems, with most simple encoding tools don’t.

Finally, don’t just let the compression or video guy ask the questions. Get the operations person involved to discuss scheduling and planning. Talk to the business development and marketing teams to learn what they need to further distribute and monetize the content, and your advertising sales group. Then ask your top executives what statistics they need to get from the system to help them run the business.

The more departments and people you involve in the purchase decision, the more they’ll see how our comprehensive product offering is the best approach for most large content distributors.