Why Not Build Your Own Video Technology?  (The Build Vs. Buy Question)

If you're building your own app or website that includes a video component, you're probably asking yourself whether it makes sense to build your own video technology or take an existing video API or SDK and integrate it into your app or platform.  It's the age-old build vs. buy question.

In making this decision, you'll need to consider the time it would take to develop your own video solution.  It's engineering time that could otherwise be dedicated to developing other parts of your intellectual property.  You'll also need to consider the expense in hiring experienced engineers to develop the video technology.  They'll need to ensure that videos are properly transcoded so they can be both recorded and played across all devices and browsers, that content delivery is optimized for performant playback around the world, and that videos are secure and hacker-proof.    And as new browsers and devices are released, you'll need to make sure your engineers update the technology so it continues to work across newly released ones.

Companies like Ziggeo that specialize in video API and video SDK technology may be your best bet. Given the complexity of video, and the amount of time involved in ensuring it remains state of art, you should consider leaving the heavy lifting to those that have dedicated their time to developing the best video technology out there.