Sonic Foundry Is Included in Six Leading Analyst Firm Hype Cycles for 2011

MADISON, Wis., Nov. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Sonic Foundry, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOFO), the trusted market leader for enterprise webcasting and lecture capture today announced that Gartner, the world's leading information technology research and advisory company, has included Sonic Foundry as a sample vendor in six Gartner Hype Cycles for 2011.

Sonic Foundry is included in the Hype Cycles* for Education, CRM Customer Service and Support, Content Management, Broadcasting and Entertainment, Business Use of Social Media and Networking and Communication.

Every year Gartner publishes the Hype Cycle reports that assess technologies on their maturity, business benefit and future direction. Gartner's 2011 Hype Cycle Special Report* provides strategists and planners with an assessment of the maturity, business benefit and future direction of over 1,900 technologies, grouped into 89 distinct Hype Cycles, each of which gives a snapshot perspective of a key area of IT or business. Each Hype Cycle report contains an introduction that highlights key trends, such as advances in technological capabilities and changes in the provider marketplace.

Sonic Foundry has been named a sample vendor for lecture capture and retrieval tools in education. "Lecture capture and retrieval tools have been shown to have some positive effect on student grades and retention, and they promise to be important pedagogical tools," reported Marti Harris, Gartner research analyst, in the Hype Cycle for Education, July 2011.  "The ability to index lectures and the ability to offer playback of selected passages have proven key to these positive results."

The company was also named as a sample vendor for video content management and delivery  in the areas of customer service, content management, broadcasting and entertainment, business use of social media and networking and communication.

"Gartner client interest is swelling from organizations seeking to unify their video strategies for live and on-demand to one-to-any capabilities," reported Whit Andrews, Gartner research analyst, in the Hype Cycle for Content Management, July 2011. "Video has value in its ability to transcend language and skills, and it narrows the gap between novice and expert for visually complex tasks. Videos will be extremely important for customer service (and self-service) in visually complex task communication, and will prove increasingly valuable in providing a channel for emotional, impactful conversation."

"We believe being recognized by Gartner in hype cycles is a testament to the importance of our Mediasite webcasting platform across all sectors of enterprise technology. In a world where technology is changing at an ever increasing rate, Sonic Foundry has kept pace with the trends to provide tangible value for our customers," said Gary Weis, chief executive officer of Sonic Foundry.

Mediasite is the most trusted enterprise webcasting, lecture capture and hybrid event platform in the world. Trusted by educational institutions, corporations and government, the award-winning Mediasite webcasting technology completely automates the recording, distribution, management and analytics of high-quality video and multimedia presentations.

*Gartner, Inc., Hype Cycle for Education, 2011, Jan-Martin Lowendahl, 29 July 2011; Hype Cycle for CRM Customer Service and Support, 2011, Michael Maoz, Johan Jacobs, 18 July 2011; Hype Cycle for Content Management, 2011, Kenneth Chin, Gavin Tay, 28 July 2011; Hype Cycle for Broadcasting and Entertainment, 2011, Mike McGuire, 29 July 2011; Hype Cycle for Business Use of Social Technologies, 2011, Jeffrey Mann, 25 August 2011; Hype Cycle for Networking and Communications, 2011, David A. Willis, 24 August 2011; Gartner's Hype Cycle Special Report for 2011, Jackie Fenn, 2 August 2011.

About the Gartner Hype Cycle

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in our research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Sonic Foundry®, Inc.

Sonic Foundry (NASDAQ: SOFO, www.sonicfoundry.com) is the trusted market leader for enterprise webcasting and lecture capture, providing video communication solutions for education, business and government. Powered by the patented Mediasite webcasting platform and Mediasite Events team, the company empowers people to transform the way they communicate online, using video webcasts to bridge time and distance, accelerate research and improve performance. Product and service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of Sonic Foundry, Inc. or their respective owners.

SOURCE Sonic Foundry, Inc.