Ensemble Video Acquired by Panopto: Gains, Losses & Alternative

Ensemble Video, a video content management system, had humble beginnings as it was launched by a small team of employees from Syracuse University in 2005. The solution hence catered best to educational institutes, be it universities or K-12 schools. The platform has grown so much so that now the company has been acquired by Panopto, another education-focused enterprise video platform.

How Does This Effect the Current Users of Ensemble Video?

Ensemble Video has notified that it will halt new development after releasing its minor updates in version 5.7 in June 2021. The platform will slowly wind down after this version’s release. Panopto is then planning on continuing this platform till September 2022, and both companies are encouraging Ensemble Video’s customers to migrate onto Panopto’s platform.

However, this is a drastic change for the existing customers of Ensemble Video and definitely not an easy decision to make! If a migration is to occur ultimately, it is definitely best for these organizations to weigh in all their options and see if there is a more flexible and suitable alternative out there.

The Gains and Losses from Panopto

To say that a particular solution is completely perfect or faulty amounts to nothing as every video platform has some benefits and drawbacks. Every organization needs to carefully understand their particular needs and choose a solution wisely based on a thorough analysis of potential platforms that fit that criterion.

Gains

There is no denying that Panopto is a well-known education-focused enterprise video platform. It is best known for its freemium model with its free lecture recording tool. The platform is highly focused on promoting content creation alongside management of video targeted for the internal audience. You will have access to several AI capabilities like smart search and automatic transcription. It is an easy-to-use application for organizations with basic video needs.

Losses

If you are considering an alternative for Ensemble Video and Panopto, it is of utmost importance for you to understand where does Panopto falls behind in terms of its video management solution? Let us explore here:

• No desktop application for offline viewing without the need of a browser
• Limited branding Options with next to no customizations for the video portal and player to highlight your brand identity
• Lack of flexibility in terms of pricing options for organizations with unique needs that do not fit standard packages
• Panopto’s on-premise solution has several additional shortfalls:
  • No Video Conferencing integration (like Zoom): a major drawback as most educational institutes are utilizing Zoom for live or recorded lectures alongside LMS integration
  • No transcriptions possible
  • No smart in-video search
  • No high availability servers
• Not possible to make video notes or annotations, so students cannot make notes on the videos on particular time stamps, which can hinder learning and collaboration
• No Frame-by-Frame analysis functionality
• The user interface cannot be customized to improve the experience for your end-users
• No SCIM support for swift user mapping and group synchronization from your company’s existing ID directory
• No backup live stream option in case if in case of disruption is your main live stream
• Not possible to password-protect videos
• Obtaining an audit trail is time-consuming as you would need to contact the Panopto support team for them as they are not accessible directly on the obligation
• No Digital rights management (DRM) Support
• No limited sharing available with options for restricting views and time availability
• No out-of-the-box integrations with critical marketing tools like CMS, CRM systems except for Salesforce
• Not possible to bulk edit users
• Cannot stop viewers from actions like downloading, sharing, etc.

With all the above setbacks, it is always better to try out an alternative to test out an enterprise video platform that fits your needs.

VIDIZMO: An Efficient Alternative to Ensemble Video

VIDIZMO EnterpriseTube is a YouTube-like secure video content management system that supports streaming and management of live and on-demand videos for both internal and external audiences with utmost care for security and privacy. This enterprise video platform supports streaming and management of videos linked to:

• Virtual training and learning
• Corporate Communication
• Marketing and Sales
• And much more

VIDIZMO has a vast range of flexible capabilities and pricing that allows it to be an efficient, budget-friendly alternative to Ensemble Video. Here is a list of the most valuable capabilities of VIDIZMO:

• White-label video platform with extensive in-built and custom branding capabilities like logo placement, incorporating a brand color theme, adding a background image, creating customized video player templates, and much more.
• Easy-to-use customizable user interface
• Space-efficient desktop application for easy offline video streaming anytime, anywhere
• Secure SEO-friendly embedding possible through SSO on any webpage or LMS
• LMS integration to embed separate videos, playlists or entire VIDIZMO application onto your LMS for holistic video-based learning
• VIDIZMO’s on-premise supports the following essential capabilities:
  • Zoom and BlueJeans video conferencing integration available for automatic recording ingestion and management
  • Transcription possible (accuracy might be lower than transcription capabilities in the cloud)
  • In-video search for swift and relevant content discoverability
  • Highly available (24/7) servers to handle different loads and failures without any downtime
• Trim videos easily to your liking for bite-sized learning videos
• Limited sharing with external or anonymous viewers possible through password-protection with a restricted number of views and time limit
  
• Highly efficient role-based access controls to bulk restrict action particular types of users
• Swiftly segregate content and bulk manage permissions through the creation of user groups
  
• Flexible deployment models: on-premise, in the cloud (self-managed or VIDIZMO-managed), in a hybrid infrastructure or as SaaS ready-to-deploy version
• Automatic transcription, translation of the transcriptions and closed captions
• Collaborative learning through annotations placed on different videos
• SSO integration for swift user authentication with multiple SSO providers, including directory services, identity access management services, and 3^rd party login services
• SCIM support present to automate user and group synchronization and management according to your company’s ID directory
• Interactive learning possible through the placement of quizzes, handouts and forms within your live and on-demand videos
• Detailed analytics and quality of experience dashboards for separate and bulk videos

All the above capabilities ensure that VIDIZMO provides your end-users and viewers the best possible experience while being user-friendly, flexible, secure and time-saving. On top of it, our approachable and ever-present customer support is always there to help you choose and swiftly adopt a package the best fits your needs while filling in the gap left by Ensemble Video!