Under the terms of the new cooperation, Visual Unity will work alongside Salam Media Cast (SMC), to provide its multiscreen expertise in managing content across the networks and solutions that SMC installs.
The need for broadcasters to integrate multiscreen IP solutions and mobile content delivery into their existing workflows has led to a partnership between Visual Unity and Salam Media Cast – two systems integration companies in the Middle East.
Under the terms of the new cooperation, broadcast and multiscreen system integrator Visual Unity will work alongside integrated broadcasting solutions provider, Salam Media Cast (SMC), to provide its multiscreen expertise in managing content across the networks and solutions that SMC installs.
This arrangement covering the Middle East and North Africa will reportedly allow SMC to enter new markets and develop its business in the burgeoning multiscreen environment. In return, Visual Unity, which recently established an office in the Middle East, will have the opportunity to leverage SMCs regional presence and facilities.
Under the direction of newly appointed CEO Paul Hennessy, the company is making a shift that reportedly reflects the dynamics of the industry with the aim of bringing innovation and the latest technology to the region.
Recently established PoPs in UAE, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia now enable Visual Unity to offer, the company claims, the benefits of its own Content Delivery Network (CDN) to Middle East customers, providing cost effective, secure and robust content distribution across the region.
Commenting on the new arrangement between the two companies, Paul Wallis, head of business development at SMC, says: Visual Unitys expertise in multiscreen systems integration, combined with its powerful vuMedia platform that allows broadcasters to manage and monetize multiscreen content, provides SMC with a complimentary addition to our existing business model. SMC is targeting growth across a number of new business areas and this collaboration with Visual Unity opens up exciting possibilities for us.
Tomas Petru, managing director of Visual Unity, says: Visual Unity will provide SMC with multiscreen IP solutions, software development and mobile delivery knowledge in a way that compliments SMCs existing offerings. From our perspective, this arrangement brings enormous benefits as it will enable us to extend our reach via one of the largest and well-funded integrators in the Middle East region.
Jamal Bnari, Visual Unitys head of sales and marketing for the Middle East and Asia, adds: “By working with SMC, we can engage in opportunities that require both traditional linear and multiscreen systems integration input. We are already collaborating on large tenders for IPTV, application development and digital signage tenders.
Both Wallis and Petru believe the synergy between the two companies will benefit broadcast customers as they move into the multiscreen broadcast market.
Over 100 clients across the Middle East are already using broadcast systems installed by SMC, Wallis adds. We are able to design and build full turnkey system solutions using our team of international and local talent. With Visual Unity by our side we can now extend modern thinking and expertise in managing content for multiscreen environments to our customer base. The way audiences view content is changing dramatically and fast. I hope that, together with Visual Unity, we can present new and exciting solutions that enable broadcasters to maximise content revenue.
