WebRTC Expert Feature

December 11, 2013

WebRTC Maturing Rapidly, Setting the Stage for 2014 Growth


I thought I would let a few weeks go by and then reflect on the WebRTC Conference & Expo in Santa Clara. This way I could reflect on the event and all of the news with a bit longer view.

The first thing that impressed me was that both WebRTC and the entire ecosystem are maturing rapidly.  While 2012 and much of 2013 were spent talking about the potential of WebRTC, in Santa Clara the real beginnings of transformation were apparent. Across the event we saw real applications and integrations to existing applications that showed that the WebRTC promise is coming to fruition. In the Big Build comparison, the Minerva Project talked about how it is using WebRTC to change education, and in the process stretching the limits of shat we thought WebRTC could do. The Temasys team announced adding WebRTC to a major social site with more than 35 million users. And throughout the event I heard teams talk about real apps and real customers. This transition will only accelerate in 2014 as we really begin to see markets adopt WebRTC.

Another key sign are real capabilities in the market from major telecom vendors. GENBAND showed its SIP to WebRTC integration, while Oracle demonstrated its platform for WebRTC. And almost all of the telecom vendors were talking about products to come out in 2014, while often demonstrating them privately. Based on what I saw, I think 2014 will be a year of many announcements and new product offers.

The content at WebRTC Conference & Expo continues to get even better.  Across the WebRTC eco-system, many stepped forward to do workshops and sessions that were not product oriented, but focused to helping the community understand how WebRTC can change the market, applications and industries. This diversity and intensity of content, when combined with the variety of attendees, makes the conference unique. The conference had attendees from virtually every major vertical, telecom and Web player, and ranging from entry developers to C-title individuals.

Finally, in the waning hours of the event, the IETF Rtcweb leadership team announced a strategy for resolving the codec impasse.  Hopefully this, combined with Cisco's efforts to make H.264 available, can close this final issue and we can move rapidly to WebRTC 1.0 and get Apple and Microsoft on board.  While this issue is not resolved, it is clear that all of the eco-system wants it resolved so we can move forward.  On the other hand, when asked if the lack of a codec standard was holding back deployments, no one indicated this was an overwhelming issue.

In conclusion, the event was great, in no small part to the sponsors, speakers, moderators and attendees that make this event unique in today's communications-oriented conferences.  With all of the changes that are happening, I am truly excited about what the Atlanta event will show in six months.  This is truly a marketplace moving at Web speed.


Edited by Rachel Ramsey
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