Erling Hedkvist, sales and business development, arkona technologies, discusses how the company is helping customers deal with the challenge of turning complicated into simple by bridging the gap between SDI and IP.
What impact has the pandemic and its continuing aftereffects had on the company’s approach to R&D and product development?
The biggest change we’ve seen relates to commissioning. Before the pandemic our customers insisted on on-site commissioning, now remote installations are more readily accepted which is much more efficient both in terms of manpower and cost. That aspect turned out to be a win-win for everyone.
What are the biggest challenges you are facing in R&D and product development/deployment in the current landscape?
As a company we’ve always been on the cutting-edge of new technologies. The biggest challenge we face at the moment is deploying high-end IP solutions into customers facilities who are accustomed to SDI technology. Everything new can seem difficult initially and our challenge is to turn complicated into simple by bridging the gap between the two technologies. This is primarily accomplished via the user interface and user experience.
Where do you see the most opportune areas for innovation in your area of the market, and what tech/solutions will drive that development?
There is still a lot of room and opportunity for innovation with IP in live broadcast productions. So far we’ve only really scratched the surface and completed the transition from SDI transport to IP transport. The real benefits of IP are yet to materialise and will likely draw inspiration from distributed computing and virtualisation in conjunction with open APIs that allow for easy integration of different products and will promote a best of breed approach.
What are you working on currently that excites you as a product team, and what can we expect to see at IBC 2023?
For IBC 2023 we’re launching an improved web UI for BLADE//runner which will enable users to easily make quick changes to the most commonly used parameters. That in combination with our partnership with manifold technologies is what we’re most excited about at the moment.
