Signiant's latest release of the Content Distribution Management software includes new features for B2B peering, end user workflow integration and portal publishing. These significant new features enable B2B ecosystems to take full advantage of Signiant technology for project collaboration. With V8.2 end users can upload or download content and interact with pre-packaged or customized workflows. These file-based workflows can now span multiple Media Managers, organizations or geographically dispersed locations. Multiple managers can share control of the Media Agents and the workflows giving collaboration partners more control of their content while maintaining system and file level security.
Signiant Product Overview
Central Media Manager: Provides a centralized web based User Interface for operators and administrators to build workflows, schedule jobs, monitor progress and report on media assets as they move through the Signiant network. The Central Media Manager includes a Certificate Authority (CA) which issues digital certificates that contain a public key and the identity of the owner.
Media Server Agents: Application software designed to run on enterprise class servers that execute Signiant jobs including WAN accelerated file transport and other business policies set up by the CMM.
Media Exchange (MX): Java based web application for ad-hoc WAN accelerated file transfers. Utilizing the acceleration features and transport technology in Signiant's Agents, MX is effective for quickly moving user or field generated media content to and from any location with a broadband connection.
Content Peering Module
Powerful B2B management functionality for system operators
Signiant Media Managers control all the workflows and Media Agents in an organization. Often these organizations utilize business partners for services like dubbing, transcoding, playout, post production, special effects, color correction etc. Content sharing is becoming increasingly file-based because shipping digital tapes is costly, time consuming and difficult to automate. When the partner ecosystem is Signiant-enabled, the file-based collaboration is very powerful. With the optional Peering Module available in V8.2, the security certificates on the Media Agents can be used with the Central Media Manager but also imported into other Managers enabling simultaneous Agent and Job control from more than one manager.
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Using a graphical user interface, setting up a cross trust relationship between more than one Manager is very simple. Administrators go into the section of the Manager which lists the trusted Agent and Managers; the root certificate authorities; and information about local certificates that have been issued by the manager. The administrator exports a file containing the local Agents from one Manager and then imports them to a second Manager.
Administrators can go into the Manager and change the level of authorization by selecting an Agent and seeing what they are currently given access to on a per user basis. Often the "foreign manager" authorization can be as basic as simple job monitoring. However, with the enhanced security grants the authorization levels are very flexible and can include restrictions on job controls (pause, stop, throttle or restart); file or directory access; username restrictions; job and workflow restrictions; script execution restrictions; or numerous other tasks needed for system operators.
Media Exchange including Media Publish Point
Content sharing made easier with integrated workflow and web portal features
Media Exchange includes numerous new features in version 8.2. The Media Exchange browser based plug-in supports a secure and fast mechanism for users to interact. There's a simple e-mail like interface where users can submit or receive new packages in the system. The Media Publish Point add on module provides a web portal experience giving users access to content in a set of categories where they can browse through the content and select different packages for download. Administrators can define the users that only have the right to browse content categories; only have the right to create packages; or only have the right to receive packages.
Media Exchange packages are a collection of files and descriptive metadata. By using the workflow modeling interface from the Central Media Manager administrators can create flexible workflows that deal with content in numerous ways. For instance, some packages can be uploaded directly to a category or to a user. Other packages may need to take a different path, which could include a transcode and a watermark before publishing. End users have the ability to specify package options like availability window and whether or not this package is allowed to be forwarded by other users. Transfer profiles can be created within Media Exchange, which applies a transfer limit to a pre-assigned set of users. System wide default profiles can also be set.
In addition to delivering content to categories with Media Publish Point, users can send content directly to systems users or to users that are not registered with the system. End Users can see the packages they have sent in the system and can drill in and look at the details of those including the download. Administrators can also report on package actions from the Central Media Manager.
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