View from the Top: Wowza Media Systems

Since its inception in 2007, Wowza has embodied the spirit of adaptation that powers real innovation. Charlie Good, Wowza co-founder, and I knew we wanted to start a company, but we weren’t clear what shape it would take. Realizing that many successful companies start as offshoots of other businesses, we picked an idea and ran with it. We knew we were ready and willing to pivot and adapt as opportunity and inspiration demanded.

Believe it or not, Wowza first began as a video blogging platform. However, we soon realized that Adobe Flash Media Server, the industry standard at the time, couldn’t keep up, and Charlie built our own media server to support the platform. We noticed people seemed much more enamored with our media server than our products, and we realized that our true value was in the underlying technology that made so many other visions possible.

It’s that spirit of adaptation that makes us innovative. A common myth is that success begins with the right idea, but I’ve learned that success begins with a willingness to learn and adapt. This attitude is a core source of our innovation and the products and services we provide. We pride ourselves in being both a reliable and trusted mainstay for our customers while also constantly seeking new ways to better serve them.

Today’s streaming industry growth is being fueled by both increased demand for traditional OTT streaming as well as expansion into new corporate and creator use cases. These latter use cases in particular are driving providers like Wowza to adapt and make video streaming more accessible through easier, more affordable, and more flexible implementations.

Don’t take my word for it. Technavio states that the video streaming industry is projected to grow by over $300 billion by 2027. They attribute this primarily to an increase in cloud-based service usage and growing demand for effective and affordable content delivery networks (CDNs). Demand is also growing specifically for interactive media. Omdia predicts gaming industry revenue will surpass all pay TV revenue by 2027. Other corporate and creative interactive use cases, like shoppable video, virtual fitness, and eSports, are following suit.

Where does Wowza fit in? We are the man behind the curtain for some and the kick-starter for others – after all, we are nothing if not adaptable. Our own expansive CDN is not only reliable and highly scalable, but it also supports sub-second latency technologies like WebRTC for real-time delivery to up to a million people. Finally, we have both a highly flexible software solution and an easily implemented cloud-based platform that scales with your needs and your budget.

In short, our readiness to adapt has us already exploring and implementing new technology and services that companies five years from now will need – and after more than 15 years, I know we’re still just getting started.