SEATTLE, Dec. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- thePlatform, the leading white-label video publishing company, today announced a suite of new "smart workflow" features to simplify video preparation and publishing across multiple formats and devices. The new smart workflow features enable customers to adopt highly-scalable technologies for transcoding, and other services, from best-in-class solutions providers as part of thePlatform's open mpx video publishing system.

Many media and entertainment companies remain reliant on inefficient or manual processes for creating the various types of video formats, aspect ratios, bitrates and encryption rules needed to reach a growing number of devices. Some use old transcoding technology that creates one file at a time, and others must still place phone calls to their vendors just to set up new device publishing profiles. With thePlatform's smart workflow capabilities, customers can now use the latest cloud, hardware and software transcoding technologies to create multiple files from one source file in real-time, easily set up new publishing profiles themselves online, and leverage the most modern innovations in fast file transfers, video ingest technology, and more. 

"Multiscreen video publishing has never been more complex, and coordinating the workflow is the key to success," said Marty Roberts, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for thePlatform. "Companies face divergent technical and business requirements, an ever-expanding number of devices, and new technology choices on a daily basis. Our smart workflow is designed to alleviate much of this complexity for customers, while providing the flexibility to take advantage of the latest innovations to improve efficiency and scale. Next-generation transcoding, fast file transfers, and smart ingest services are just some of the latest capabilities mpx now supports."

Partners and Features of Smart Workflow

thePlatform's open and flexible architecture enables customers to choose from a wide range of integrated partners in order to design a tailored video solution for their unique business needs. The new smart workflow capabilities are made possible by integrations with leading companies such as: Elemental and Harmonic for next-generation transcoding; Aspera for fast file transfer, and Akamai for its latest HTTP ingest technology supported as part of Akamai's new Sola Media Solutions. Benefits of mpx's smart workflow include:

·         Scale & Smart Delivery:
- Simultaneously create multiple transcoded files from one source file, increasing efficiency and speed;
- Provides smart multi-file transcoding, so if one file fails, only that file is transcoded again;
- Automatically analyze the number of files that have been, or need to be, generated for all formats or devices in order to eliminate duplications, and reduce the number of managed files.

·         Simpler Administrative Control:
- Encoding profiles can be configured quickly to reach new devices and outlets;
- Create new publishing profiles within the mpx console, without needing to contact thePlatform for support.

Continuous Product Innovation

In addition to smart workflow announced today, thePlatform made significant product enhancements in 2012 and received multiple industry honors for its product innovation. Most notably this year, thePlatform launched advanced video analytics; next-gen video commerce solutions; new TV Everywhere features including subscription packages and subscriber groups, and introduced mpx Essentials to serve mid-size businesses and organizations. thePlatform also received prestigious industry accolades this year including: the IMS Research TV Innovation Award, TelcoTV Vision Award for Best Innovation in Content Management Systems, Liberty Global Innovation Breakthrough Vendor Award, and thePlatform was named one of the 10 Best Large Companies to Work For in 2012 by Seattle Business Magazine.   

Additional information can be found at www.thePlatform.com.

About thePlatform

thePlatform™ is the leading white-label video management and publishing company. Media companies rely on thePlatform as their open, central hub for managing, monetizing, and syndicating billions of professionally produced video views annually. The company's services provide unmatched versatility for designing and supporting video businesses on PCs, mobile, and TV. Customers include: A+E Networks, Cablevision, CBC, Comcast, Cox Communications, E!, the Golf Channel, HIT Entertainment, Liberty Global, NBC Local Media, NBC Sports Regional Networks, Outdoor Channel, Oxygen, Rogers, Shaw Media, Style, Syfy, Time Warner Cable, Travel Channel Media, truTV, USA Network, and numerous others. With more than decade history of service, thePlatform is an independent subsidiary of Comcast based in Seattle, Wash. For more information: www.thePlatform.com.

SOURCE thePlatform