Heads-up: Research Paper on WebRTC for Business People

October 31, 2013

Consider this an advance “warning” of sorts.

WebRTC for Business People

I have been working this past month on summing up a lot of my thoughts and experiences from writing this blog and looking at WebRTC. It is the first part in my shift to work part time and use the rest of the time as a consultant in the domain of VoIP and WebRTC.

The research paper isn’t complete yet, but is getting there nicely – it is more than I thought I could achieve. Sometimes, the things we need to do is to take the leap of faith and this is mine. Enough about me though – let’s focus on the research paper itself.

People come and ask me a lot about WebRTC. Some of the questions revolve around technology while others are about the business aspects of it: where is the money, what others are doing, etc.

So I decided to write down my answers in a single, long-form, coherent way – all in a research paper called “WebRTC for Business People”

Who is it for?

Those who wish to understand the WebRTC ecosystem and ask themselves where is the money – what business models are vendors trying out with WebRTC, who is paying and for what service, etc.

What does it include?

  • A lot of information about WebRTC. I tried to touch the technical parts in a way that will be agreeable to those who don’t want to delve deep into it. I think it is a necessary component, as with WebRTC, many of the business aspects rely it are based on knowing intimately what it can and can’t do
  • I tried to give place to the gaps that exist in WebRTC. The reasoning behind it is that gaps lead to challenges, but more so – it leads to opportunity
  • There is a chapter about how WebRTC compares to the rest of the VoIP world – where it fits in and how
  • I threw in smy findings about the existence or nonexistence of hype around WebRTC. I see this as an important checkmark when planning on if and when to introduce a WebRTC based service
  • Trends I see in the WebRTC ecosystems – the broad types of businesses that are evolving around WebRTC
  • A large number of use cases – how companies have been adopting WebRTC to start new businesses and leverage existing businesses. I took real world examples from over 10 domains – consider this the collective mind of over 30 vendors and their approach to yielding the power that WebRTC brings

When, Where and How?

This is a notice, so the actual research paper isn’t yet available. I have decided to write about it beforehand for several reasons:

  1. It puts a commitment on my end to finish it on time
  2. It allows me to receive feedback and modify it just before I close it and publish it
  3. It spreads the word

On the pricing side:

  • The research paper is priced at $499 USD for a single user and $1,499 USD for a corporate license
  • As I still need time to set things up, I will open it officially for purchase on the 14th of November
  • There is a discount price until 13th of December: $399 USD

Anything Else?

I am including for those who purchase the research paper online access for 3 months to a new section that will be added shortly to this blog. This section will be subscription only and include some insights of data that I am now collecting both manually and automatically.

Things you will be able to find there?

  • Distribution of WebRTC vendors across the globe
  • Vendor types and target customers distribution

The access to this area is going to be provided exclusively to those who purchase the research paper. I plan on enhancing that in the future based on the feedback I will receive.

Your Turn

I need your assistance here:

  • Please ask questions about it. The more you ask, the better informed you will be about what is on it, the better I understand if the stuff I’ve written has value to you
  • I will use the questions I receive to do some last minute changes in the content to better fit the needs of those asking
  • You can subscribe by email to receive notices and further information on this new initiative of mine – the list of emails I collect will not be used for spamming (I hate when it is done to me, so I don’t plan on doing it to others)
  • Spread the word

Two last notes:

  1. The fact that I am now putting something here with a price doesn’t mean that I will be writing here less or hold back on my thoughts – expect to see here better free content
  2. If it wasn’t apparent, I am also happy to take consulting work

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  1. First, congrats on your new endeavors. The research you describe sounds like a very useful tool to more broadly socialize this disruptive new technology amongst the broader market of non-technical adopters.

    One thing that I think would be useful either as an inclusion in your current research, or as stand-alone companion research done as a follow-up would be to turn the equation on its head. WebRTC for Technical People. While this may be counter-intuitive to a lot of engineers whose knowledge of the standards and underlying protocols is extensive, I always start with a simple assumption about all new technologies. Solutions are created by the people who use
    (purchase) them.

    The IIT RTC Conference earlier this month included a number of well received presentations designed to focus developers attention on structures to assist in systematically identifying potential roadmaps for monetizing their innovations. The notion is that cool new technologies gain traction as they solve real-world problems for which users are willing to pay. And that the payment part can involve a number of different business models which may or may not involve a direct fee for service.

    Early in the adoption life cycle of new technologies, this area invariably lags the technical developments being achieved, and could be of great benefit accelerating market adoption.

  2. Does your paper include the various OS that WebRTC supports, and how they have the most opportunity, ranging from working out of box, toward a system that has little to no support (and its solution if any)?

    For example, do you discuss how WebRTC needs to run on certain browsers on Mac OSX, Win X, and the mobiles. Then Windows Surface/RT, and finally Chrome OS.

    I think this is an useful spectacle because of the emerging Win RT/Surface and Chrome OS (Chromebooks and Chromeboxes). Chromebooks for one has 100% success rate getting WebRTC running, unless the hardware performance prevents a decent call to take place. How can businesses make the right decision when choosing RT/Surface and Chromebooks.

    This also begs for a minimum hardware specs needed to run a call adequately and what one would consider adequate. For me, I’d need at least 15 FPS, lag no more than 1 second. Audio needs to be sync’d as close as possible with the video.

    1. Nicholas,

      These are all good suggestions. I do cover browser support along with the various solutions employed today to overcome the missing coverage. Didn’t touch the Windows Surface/RT part at all.

      As for performance and the likes – not in this one. Will see if and how it fits in there.

      Thanks!

  3. Excellent and congrats.

    Will this also (besides outlining end user specs – Per Nicholas) detail the back-end scenarios for multi -participants (above 4 users)?

    Thanks,

    -Chris

    1. Chris,

      It will shed some light around the gaps that exist in WebRTC. This includes for me multipoint support, recording and interoperability.

      The main body of the research paper itself is actually in the use cases and the ecosystem – what types of vendors are adopting WebRTC, in what ways, and how they are disrupting or entering their respective market niches.

  4. AH I was not aware. I too am trying to find out more on that part of the tech. I will pass along that I found a this site: http://ngmsvid.com/ngvx.php
    I am digging in more on how this could fit that gap. At least for what I am trying to do with it.

    Thanks again Tsahi

    -Chris

  5. Tshai – CONGRATS on this undertaking. Quite timely and sure to be seminal. Perhaps one day, it might become required reading for business types.

    The use cases that will continue to emerge from WebRTC and its inherent capabilities will be fascinating, too. No doubt, It will have a profound effect on the unified communications and collaboration space among others. The “squabble” over H.264/H.265 vs. VP8/9 while significant (“free” vs. royalties…) – especially where interop, legacy issues and mobile devices are concerned are not trivial and will be resolved. HOWEVER, the excitement comes with the future represented by WebRTC’s browser based, user interface which will open up a lot of options. Perhaps this could lead to a sort of “communication democratization” as new players emerge – ultimately expanding the market, while lowering the price/increasing the options for B2B and B2C communications. Good Luck & All the Best !

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