The problem that is being solved with plug-ins is the ability to avoid either you as a developer of web video experiences or your software partner writing custom code to integrate your player with their back-end system. The video player needs to talk to multiple partner systems in order to satisfy all the requirements expected of web video today. As an example getting the video bits from the CDN to the player is just the beginning, the player also needs to get ads, report tracking data, provide recommendations for other content, and integrate with social networks.

The goal of the plug-in architecture is to enable full integration with a partner’s systems at the “flip of a switch”. For instance, Omniture could write a plug-in that is conformant to the OSMF plug-in API. The player then incorporates that plug-in with a single line of code. We’re working with a variety of partners across these verticals to help them deliver plug-ins at launch. You can then use these plug-in to “assemble” the services that are appropriate for your player.