Switching to the cloud isn’t a new concept, however, for broadcast companies the process can be intimidating. In this article, Amagi co-founder, Srini KA breaks down how to scale operations in the cloud.
While switching to the cloud isn’t a new concept, many companies face challenges and setbacks keeping them from making the jump. A recent report showed 82% of respondents face challenges around managing cloud spend and 78% lack the resources and expertiseOpens a new window to confidently transition to the cloud. Switching to the cloud can be intimidating, however, the benefits and rewards gained from doing so gives companies back money, time and security especially during unpredictable times.Â
For broadcast operations in particular, the pandemic accelerated a digital transformation already taking place throughout the industry. Now that companies are looking at how to approach hybrid work settings, broadcasters should take some time to not only move operations to the cloud but better understand how to scale those operations.Â
Also read: Using Colocation to Reduce the Complexity of Hybrid Cloud Adoption
The Ever-Changing World of Broadcast
Whether you work in the broadcast industry or not, it’s not hard to see the changes the industry has experienced. Rather than rely on cable providers, viewers have flocked to streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Disney+. This shift opened the doors to content everywhere. Now, content distribution happens across formats, platforms and devices. Due to shifting contract obligations and consumer viewing habits, broadcasters are looking more and more at the near term rather than resorting to the traditional five-year business plan.Â
With so many services available, consumers’ expectations are rapidly changing. Consumers demand content, anytime, anywhere. They want fast, rich interactions and experiences. This change in viewing patterns requires technology to keep up to speed with consumer demands.Â
The traditional on-prem approach doesn’t meet the ever-growing changes and needs consumer demand, pushing broadcasters to quickly make the jump to the cloud.
Also read: Spring Cleaning: Tidying up Unauthorized Access in Multi-Cloud Configurations
Why Cloud for Broadcast Operations?
Similar to the on-demand approach consumers appreciate with content, broadcasters need to keep a similar on-demand mindset with their processes/workflows. The cloud infrastructure mirrors the dynamics of the broadcast industry, providing on-demand resources for changing market scenarios. When situations like a natural disaster or pandemic occur, the cloud infrastructure allows broadcasters to quickly react and change their processes.
On top of the cloud’s infrastructure being best suited for quick changes, the cloud also provides broadcasters with dynamic scaling needs. Broadcasters, viewers and advertisers all benefit from using the cloud. From the content side, broadcasters can easily display multiple live events without any interruption or impact on the viewer’s experience and advertisers can now take a programmatic approach with real-time bidding. Additionally, the cloud gives broadcasters valuable information on how to improve the viewer’s experience, allowing for extraction of analytics at scale.Â
Having consumer insights and analytics are crucial to improve and differentiate a broadcast company from the large variety of options consumers now have.Â
Lastly, cloud operations are quite secure. Cloud operations give users access to more control over the information stored. Most cloud service providers understand business data is typically mission-critical. This understanding requires cloud service providers to give its users full access to data at any time without jumping through any hurdles.Â
Also read: Why CIOs Shouldn’t Race to Move all Data to the Public Cloud
Cloud Options for Broadcast
Switching to the cloud doesn’t mean broadcasters must move their entire content library to the cloud immediately. Depending on the comfortability of the organization, broadcasters can take a variety of approaches to migrating to the cloud. Typically, there are four different strategies.Â
- Option 1: Move OTT workflows to the cloudÂ
Consider this as a baby step into migrating to the cloud. This approach serves the end customer by decreasing the opportunity for workflows to go down. If such a thing were to happen, the cloud can automatically bring up workflows with limited interruption to the viewer.Â
- Option 2: Move disaster recovery to cloudÂ
Moving disaster recovery to the cloud means confidence is building in the organization and stabilizes workflows now and in the future.Â
- Option 3: Hybrid deploymentsÂ
Taking a hybrid approach means shifting some things to the cloud like the control pane and scheduling migration of the video pane. This gives broadcasters the opportunity to see how the first switch goes, understand ways to improve and, ultimately, make the migration of the video pane easier.Â
- Option 4: All-inÂ
For those who want to make the switch with no baby steps or multiple approaches, they can go all-in, meaning primary distribution chains and OTT workflows are on the cloud.Â
No matter the approach, these approaches are all based on how confident broadcast providers feel with the cloud and the vendors they use. With these options in mind, companies can take advantage of the cloud whether they go all-in or take a step-by-step approach.Â
The cloud brings a variety of opportunities to broadcasters by easing workloads and workflows while improving the viewer experience. In addition, while costs can seem steep when switching to the cloud, we’ve seen many of our customers see massive returns, oftentimes covering their initial costs quickly. Rather than wait, broadcasters should take the time to understand the comfortability of the organization as a whole to the cloud and determine the next best steps. It’s not if broadcasters will switch to the cloud, it’s when.Â
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