The cloud is clearly a central topic of conversation across the industry, with its use constantly evolving and expanding. In fact, the cycle of change across the broadcast business is continuing to accelerate in response to high demand and consumer-driven trends. The industry increasingly realises that the need to innovate has reached a point where moving to the cloud is a necessity to remain relevant and survive in the coming years.
This is backed up by research from Gartner, which predicts that the public cloud services market alone will grow by over 20 per cent this year to nearly $700 billion – more than twice the rate for the IT industry as a whole. As Gartner goes on to explain, “cloud has become essentially indispensable.”
Why has cloud computing become so compelling?
But what is it about cloud computing that has created such a compelling proposition across today’s digitally-centric Media and Entertainment (M&E) organisations?
Among its many advantages is the ability it gives organisations to outsource some or all of their IT infrastructure and service needs to specialist third parties. Whether they choose an ‘all in’ approach with one partner or a hybrid strategy where some functions are migrated to the cloud and others remain on-premises, it is this inherent flexibility that gives businesses more scope to manage IT provision and expenditure.
Looking more closely at cost, cloud enables organisations to refocus their IT investment away from capex spending to opex, with many cloud services charged based on a monthly subscription. Not only does this remove the need for large, upfront investment in IT infrastructure, but it also allows users to spread payments much more efficiently.
Outsourcing to the cloud also means that in-house IT staff can focus on more strategic technology objectives, as opposed to building and running their own data centres, with all the associated complexity and overheads that brings. Every requirement is different, so many organisations end up integrating services from cloud providers with their own infrastructure to deliver a strategy that works for their specific needs.
The list of potential advantages does not end there. Take cybersecurity and data protection, for example, which represent increasingly complex and expensive requirements across M&E businesses of all sizes. Cloud providers invest heavily in building highly resilient infrastructure that meets a range of important standards, from GDPR to ISO27001. In doing so, they also exceed the levels of protection individual organisations can implement on their own.
Cloud is also ideally suited for businesses that need to scale their technology infrastructure – either up or down – to meet variations in demand or for specific projects. This is achievable without the need for additional hardware investment and the associated implementation time. This list goes on but suffice it to say that the adoption of cloud infrastructure and services has become a go-to option for organisations across the industry.
The Globecast perspective
Globecast views cloud as a transformative option for broadcast and M&E businesses looking to make a strategic shift in their technology implementation or as a solution for specific niche requirements.
This includes providing both hybrid and full-cloud options that deliver the on-demand and pay-per-use options that have become so important for businesses worldwide. From unified satellite & IP Connect, remote production, cloud playout, multi-platform delivery to OTT video and a range of additional options, customers can opt to use public clouds such as Azure, AWS and GCP, as well as Globecast’s own private cloud infrastructure.
For example, Euronews, a leading European live-streamed news provider, is collaborating with Globecast to transform its content production, playout and distribution capabilities by leveraging cloud infrastructure and automating key processes. This includes the provision of an end-to-end solution that integrates, orchestrates, and manages a wide range of key services across 14 linear channels, using technologies from various Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) partners, distributed to 270 affiliates.
Looking ahead
As the cloud industry continues to innovate, M&E businesses are likely to see their options for integrating the cloud increase even further. For example, cloud will drive the growth in personalised content experiences for consumers, particularly as service providers accelerate their adoption of AI.
For content producers and broadcasters, cloud will also bring greater collaboration capabilities across regional and global teams. As a result, we should expect to see an increase in the use of real-time production and editing capabilities, allowing for seamless and efficient content creation and distribution. For those organisations focused on delivering tech-led improvement, optimising their use of the cloud gives them a strong technology roadmap for future success.
