This article has been taken from IABM Journal Issue 109.
Scott Puopolo
CEO, Telestream
Within the broadcast and media industries, mergers and acquisitions are commonplace: they happen for various reasons and are driven by a range of factors. Last month saw Telestream acquire Tektronix Video in a very specific combination: it brings together two like-minded companies and seeks to build on their strong bases. In this article, Telestream’s CEO, Scott Puopolo, explains what this integration means to the new expanded company and its customers.
“The combination of these two companies is another sign of Telestream’s commitment to leading the quality management space,” comments Scott Puopolo. “It solidifies our position within the monitoring portion of that industry which is an essential and differentiating component of the live video streaming challenge, as well as giving us immediate leadership in waveform monitoring, thus extending the Telestream quality management story.
“We are combining two strong product lines that are complementary. By bringing together the best of what each product line has to offer in stream monitoring or QC, we can create better products that more completely address the needs of our customers.
“Regarding Tektronix’s waveform monitoring offering, we have acquired a business that is migrating over time from traditional SDI into IP protocols. Tektronix is a pioneer of waveform monitors in both the SDI and IP space, which is highly complementary to the Telestream business in terms of our core customer base which has traditionally bought both product groups,” Scott Puopolo explains. “We have significant product synergies – a real 1+1=3 scenario – in a way that will enable us to accelerate innovation. Our plan is to integrate the intellectual property and skillsets of both companies so that we can accelerate innovation in certain key focus areas. The new integrated Telestream will be better for the industry than the two separate businesses.”
How is Telestream’s global footprint affected by this integration?
With Tektronix Video comes a strong global sales team and network of resellers. “Telestream is strong in North and Latin America, along with EMEA. Tek Video has a strong presence in Asia which is a market in which we see great potential. These combined footprints strengthen our global reach,” says Puopolo.
“Tektronix has the infrastructure and customer contacts throughout APAC that will drive our business forward in that region. In addition, Tektronix Video has been really successful at leveraging value-added resellers. These relationships are critical in their go-to-market strategy and this is something that the new integrated company will benefit from,” Scott explains. “It’s all about market reach. A key element of our M&A strategy is to identify company combinations that extend our reach into new geographies, new customer types and leverage new distribution approaches. I’m excited to say that Tek Video ticks the box on all three.”
Tektronix Video: renowned for world beating R&D capabilities
“Tektronix has developed world class R&D processes, hiring and developing really substantial system architecture and engineering talent – both within the US and also in Bangalore, India,” Scott Puopolo explains. “At Telestream, we have done something very similar. We have already started to explore how to use the collective engineering talent across our entire portfolio. We have a great appreciation for the technology innovation that Tek has achieved: now we’re looking at ways to combine our technology bases to fuel our on-going product development operations.
“By cross-fertilizing our capabilities where Tek engineers work on the Telestream portfolio and vice versa, we will be able to innovate faster and better since we’re leveraging some unique talents in ways that we wouldn’t be able to do if we remained separate companies,” he observes.
“At Telestream, we have made it a priority to embrace new media consumption models within the industry. The cost structures and capital requirements that our customers and potential new customers face today make the cloud a very attractive proposition. Both Telestream and Tektronix Video have made cloud-based solutions a key development focus. We are integrating aspects from both sides in terms of virtualization and cloudification of our product portfolios. Both companies have vast expertise in cloud solutions and architectures and by leveraging the combined virtualized portfolios in the cloud, will be able to offer the ideal solutions for scale and/or feature function needs of the wide range of serviced customers (e.g., Service Providers to Broadcasters).
“By doing this, we are succeeding in meeting our customers’ needs faster than if we were two separate companies,” Scott Puopolo states. “Our customers will start to feel the benefits of this integration very quickly. For example, some of the existing Tek Video technology will enable us to accelerate our implementation plans for products around file quality control. It will enable us to get innovations on these products into the market faster.”
Tektronix Video was the latest in a series of Telestream mergers and acquisitions. Puopolo reports that each of these have been strategic with a clear long-term goal in sight.
“This acquisition gives us reach and combined technology power that clearly differentiates us within a crowded marketplace.
“After this integration, Telestream has a scale and a scope of technology solution that is unique in our marketplace. Also, we have the financial resources to move aggressively as this live and file-based video market space continues to evolve,” affirms Scott Puopolo.
“In the future, we will look back at this company combination as a watershed moment, moving Telestream more aggressively into the live video streaming market. Also, it will be regarded as a pivot point in transitioning Telestream to become a world class end to end quality management player. We live in exciting times,” Scott Puopolo concludes.
