Ensemble Video vs Kaltura

• Adapting to user needs. Ensemble Video seems to always be listening to their clients needs and suggestions by implementing effective features in every system update. Communication seems to always indicate that these features are driven by requests that their customers have made to improve the service.
• Client Support - I have an IT/support background and have had to deal with many vendors and external support. Ensemble is easily the most responsive and effective vendor when it comes to support. When needing certain solutions, they have sent code that was in development and not officially released so I could achieve my goals with project videos. Support is always personal, prompt and effective.
• Customization. New templates, video players, account management, and embed options have allowed us to use Ensemble Video in a much more personalized way. Early versions of the service had an "Ensemble feel" but color schemes and logos are now able to be changed for a better organization feel.

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• Very easy to use interface for uploading videos or capturing a screen recording. There are very few clicks required to get the media up and running. The video conversion process that happens on the back-end is fast and provides videos in device agnostic formats.
• Integrates well with other systems, such as our Moodle LMS. This extends the capabilities of the LMS and also allows us to keep video/multimedia content organized in a central location (the KMC).
• Kaltura can be connected to various processes within your organization. For example, we have a system in place that allows a video lecture in a classroom to be uploaded to Kaltura in a very easy manner.
• User/role management is very important as some people on campus have more privileges to publish content than do others. We have Kaltura connected to our Single Sign-On solution for authentication and we can assign roles to specific people within the Kaltura software.

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• User management. Some features are unique to the entire deployment (like authentication sources). It would be great if multiple authentication options could be used across different Ensemble institutions.
• Upgrade processes. Though new versions of Ensemble Video are always better, the installation process is very manual and Ensemble Video must be involved directly. Not a weakness, but it would be nice to be able to perform our own upgrades/patches when needed.

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• Admin interface is sometimes difficult to navigate.
• Videos ingested sometimes are delayed by hours or days before being available.
• Support services often have full-day delays before escalation.

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• Ease of user contributed content. The videos that users upload to the system can either be automatically published or they can be reviewed by staff before being added to websites and courses. Instead of all these videos living on different sites (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) we now have a centralized location that we have control over.
• LMS Integration - A year ago YouTube changed their policy to not allow direct recording from webcams. This essentially broke the Blackboard Video Everywhere tool that allowed our instructors to post quick comments in class discussions and content areas. While they need to be pre-recorded, the Ensemble Building Block allows our instructors and students to once again upload and post videos, all from directly within the Blackboard content editor.
• Flexibility - With the ease of creating user accounts and video libraries, Ensemble Video has become the go to option for Erikson courses, professional development content and project videos. Different departments can have their own account and have control over their libraries without the worry of them viewing or editing other institute content.

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• The ability to have such a robust solution for rich media content far outweighs the cost of service.
• We have new projects which will push the limits and abilities of Kaltura in the future.

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