Hive Streaming, an enterprise video distribution and analytics solution published to Microsoft AppSource and Azure Marketplace, uses excess network capacity enterprises already own to deliver high-quality live and on-demand video to every user in an organization. Integrated with Microsoft 365 (Microsoft Teams, Stream, and Yammer), Hive enables enterprises to scale internal delivery of video communications without affecting their network..
Azure Marketplace interviewed Stefan Huellenhuetter, Service and Integration Manager at Bayer, to learn what he had to say about the product.
What do you like best about Hive Streaming?
Thanks to Hive, we have been able to continue hosting Microsoft Teams live events over Teams without any content loss due to network congestion. We also benefited from the operations and analytics solutions, since it allowed us to identify if there were any problems with the network before going live with the event (by using Silent Testing) and to break down reporting post-event according to region, servers, and locations, as well as user points (thanks to Hive Video Analytics).
We use various virtual platforms, both for our internal town hall meetings as well as our external-facing events. At the moment we use only Teams with Hive. However, we are working on enabling other platforms as well. We use Teams live events for our company town halls and Teams meetings internally; this is part of the strategy for Bayer with Microsoft. However, we sometimes have different needs not only for streaming, but also generally for external interactions. Here, the fact that Hive has multiplatform integrations is a big advantage, since it means we get the same support and optimization regardless of which platform we use.
How has the platform helped your organization?
We were experiencing bandwidth issues and congestions. So, firstly, we were just looking for a solution to optimize content sharing in our network.
Without Hive, one example was that during COVID-19 we switched from our Qumu solutions to Teams live events (we had implemented multicast with Qumu, but not with Microsoft). In Switzerland we were planning for a big event with Teams live events at the time when most colleagues were returning to the office. We have a very big network in that campus, so we were looking for a solution to help us and found Hive.
How is customer service and support for Hive Streaming?
Customer service is very good, it works quickly and well. From a business strategy perspective, if I have any questions, I can get an answer on the same day or at latest the following day. If we have any technical problems, we also get a fast response.
Something we really appreciate is how customer-centric Hive are. For example, about a month ago, Google updated the Chrome browser, which led to an incompatibility with the Hive Agent. Technical issues can always happen, but Hive reached out to us two days prior to any issues occurring, so we were able to better prepare internally before communicating this. The point here is Hive are proactive in keeping us updated of any potential issues and sharing information to work on problems that can impact us, which is also great.
Any recommendations to other users considering this product?
On the subject of the eCDN solution, I can only recommend Hive. Also on the topic of the contract negotiations, here we have noticed that the company is truly flexible and puts customer needs first. In our specific case, for example, we had ordered the service with one million licenses for our Teams live events as well as on-demand (we use Hive for both solutions), and after three months we saw that those licenses were not enough. Hive was quick to react in this case and changed the model, so that we now have unlimited licenses for on-demand videos and one million clicks for our live events. My feeling is that if I ever have a question or problem, Hive is always open for a discussion and there’s a good relationship in place. They are very flexible, and my impression is that Hive looks forward and not backward, which is very helpful.
What is your overall rating for this product?
I would say 4, but only due to those issues with Google – that is the last point before I say 5. Once we get that solved, then it’s 5 completely for me. We are currently in the process of renewing our contract and are overall very happy with Hive.
Cloud marketplaces are transforming the way businesses find, try, and deploy applications such as Hive Streaming to help their digital transformation. Learn more about Azure Marketplace and find ways to discover the right application for your cloud needs on Azure.
