Build vs. Buy: Online Video Platforms

Online video platforms (OVPs) deliver live and on-demand content to audiences worldwide. For system architects, video engineers, and developers, a key challenge is choosing a platform that strikes the right balance between robust, out-of-the-box functionality and the flexibility required for deep customization and control. This choice boils down to two distinct approaches:

• Option 1: Buy a managed, all-in-one platform
• Option 2: Build on a flexible, infrastructure-based platform

While white-labeled solutions promise a fast and easy setup, they may sacrifice the granular control needed for complex, large-scale, or specific use cases. On the other hand, a powerful video infrastructure provides building blocks to create a solution tailored to and deployed in any environment. That is, if you know how to properly take advantage of its toolsets.

This article will help you determine which type of video platform is the best fit for your unique streaming needs. Read on to see whether you should Build or Buy your OVP.

Two Options for Online Video Platforms (OVPs)

When choosing a video platform, organizations face a core decision between two distinct paths. As the market matures, more companies are weighing these options carefully and balancing the desire for quick time-to-market with more long-term flexibility. This is driving a shift from managed OVPs to more infrastructure-based solutions, both for entertainment and surveillance or security sectors.

Each option is architected differently, with a unique set of benefits and trade-offs.

Option 1: The Out-of-the-Box, All-in-One Solution

This approach provides a fully managed, white-label service that allows you to get a live stream up and running with minimal technical effort. These out-of-the-box (OOTB) platforms are designed to be user-friendly, with an intuitive interface. They typically include a suite of built-in features for things like content management, video players, and monetization.

They offer a fast and simple deployment, often at the expense of fine-tuned customizability. However, OOTB platforms are still powered by an underlying video infrastructure. That could be an open-source provider, or a dedicated media infrastructure partner running “under the hood.” The ease of use comes from abstracting away the underlying technology. By offering a packaged solution, these vendors also can easily lock users into their own proprietary ecosystem (and pricing).

Option 2: The Direct-to-Source Infrastructure Provider

This path is for organizations that require granular control and maximum flexibility. Instead of using a managed, all-in-one service, you can go directly to the dedicated video infrastructure provider. By doing so, you can build and tweak the system on your terms. You can also deploy it however it makes the most sense.

This approach gives you fine-tuned control over every aspect of your video workflow, from the ingest protocol to the delivery and playback. By choosing this option, developers and system architects can build a custom solution tailored to their exact needs. If you have the resources to build and maintain it, this unlocks greater flexibility and deeper customizability. Plus, you can also significantly save on long-term costs by avoiding vendor lock-in.

Should You Buy an Off-the-Shelf OVP or Build Your Own Custom Solution?

When choosing an online video platform, system architects and developers are faced with a fundamental choice: prioritize quick time-to-market or invest in a solution that offers fine-tuned control.

An all-in-one, out-of-the-box (OOTB) platform provides a fast path to launching a live stream. It’s an ideal option for teams with limited technical resources or for projects with standard use cases. The benefit of this approach is simplicity and speed, allowing you to get a live stream up and running in a matter of hours.

However, for organizations with unique or highly technical requirements, this convenience can be limiting. A custom-built, infrastructure-first approach may require more time and technical expertise upfront. However, it provides the granular control you need to optimize for specific performance, cost, and scalability goals. Enterprises with complex media workflows prefer this approach because they often need to operate outside of a standard cloud environment or require specialized functionality.

Ultimately, the right choice depends on a clear understanding of your team’s resources and your project’s long-term needs.

To help you make an informed decision, we will now explore these two approaches within the context of real-world use cases: Events & Entertainment, and Monitoring & Surveillance.

Use Case: Events & Entertainment

The live video streaming segment accounted for 62.5% of the market share in 2024. This highlights the importance of live content. They want to provide their viewers with a user-friendly platform that reliably delivers content quickly. They prioritize audience immersion by providing a seamless, high-quality stream. In this case, they may not require advanced customization. The OOTB platform approach offers a quick time-to-market by providing a built-in player, with some baked-in monetization tools and a content delivery network (CDN).

However, these platforms also often lock you into predefined workflows with tools that are limited in how much you can configure or tweak them to your specific use case. For organizations that require more granular control, there are significant limitations with an all-in-one platform. Teams that need specific control over monetization, delivery, or player experience often hit a wall.

Many all-in-one solutions offer high-quality delivery. However, they may not integrate with third-party systems for targeted advertising or personalizing viewing experiences. A customizable, infrastructure-based solution, on the other hand, can provide the precise control needed for these use cases. This includes the ability to use flexible APIs and SDKs to build custom player functionality. You also can integrate advanced monetization and analytics tools to maximize revenue and sponsor value.

The infrastructure-based approach allows entertainment companies to build a truly unique platform. The can then offer cutting-edge features like simultaneous multi-stream playback or bespoke interactivity layers that OOTB platforms simply cannot support. This control is vital for standing out in a crowded streaming landscape.

Use Case: Monitoring & Surveillance

In the world of monitoring and surveillance, the demands of video infrastructure are completely different. The emphasis shifts from audience immersion to unwavering reliability, instant visibility, and airtight security. This sector, which includes everything from public safety and healthcare monitoring to wildlife tracking and smart city initiatives. These groups require a deep level of flexibility that an out-of-the-box (OOTB) solution can rarely provide.

Here, managed cloud OVPs and the OOTB approach struggle in several key areas. First, being limited to a single cloud deployment makes it impossible to address the unique needs of Public Sector organizations that operate in hybrid, air-gapped, or on-prem networks. Instead, these organizations require a solution that gives them:

• Compliance: The ability to instantly adhere to strict regulatory policies (e.g. SOC2, GDPR, HIPAA) and ensure reliable capture in mission-critical environments.
• Visibility: Real-time, low-latency delivery of many-to-many feeds with secure permissions to ensure only authorized personnel can view the content.
• Actionability: The power to integrate automated and AI-enabled workflows for tasks like captioning, localization, object detection, alerting, and resource allocation.
• Flexibility: The freedom to deploy in any environment, including on-premises, distributed, or at the edge, and to integrate with other business tools using flexible APIs and SDKs.
• Support: A robust support system and extensive documentation to enable lean teams to manage these complex systems effectively.

For Urban Planning and Healthcare, where every second of video can be vital for public safety or patient care, a solution that “just works” is not enough. They require a platform built for a deep level of customizability that can support their unique workflows and provide long-term reliability that is not dependent on a third-party managed service. Ambulance and election monitoring teams often need reliable delivery across crowded, secure, or inconsistent networks, making a cloud-only model unrealistic. The standardized, all-in-one nature of these platforms also makes it difficult to provide the secure, non-branded player. This is a key requirement for secure monitoring and surveillance.

Build Your Monitoring & Surveillance Media Solution with Wowza

For organizations demanding control, flexibility, and reliability, a dedicated media server and video infrastructure partner is essential. Wowza provides the underlying infrastructure to power any video workflow, from immersive live events to mission-critical surveillance feeds. If your project demands unparalleled control, flexibility, and reliability in any environment (including on-premises, air-gapped, or edge/hybrid) a managed service won’t cut it.

Ready to solve the video platform paradox? Talk to your Wowza representative or request a demo today to learn how our solutions can provide the customizability you need to build the perfect streaming application.