New research from the DPP has found that the media industry’s move to cloud-based workflows is leading to a change in the relationships between media and technology companies.
According to the DPP’s The Cloud for Media series of reports, which are based on input from over 60 companies, an entirely new breed of post production facility is emerging in the cloud.
The reports also state that consumer hardware manufacturers are becoming TV platform operators, and startups are just as important to the automation revolution as global tech giants.
“The transition to the cloud is more advanced in some parts of the industry than others,” said DPP CTO and author of the reports, Rowan de Pomerai.“But the cloud creates new opportunities across the media supply chain, and they’re being seized by those who can move quickly – from established leaders to new entrants.”
“These reports offer guidance to help companies identify the right cloud strategies for each part of their workflow. They tell the stories of those who’ve been successful, and identify the industry challenges that remain.”
The rate of cloud adoption in these workflows, as revealed by the research, is summarised as follows:
- The quest for automation has been greatly aided by the move to the cloud. As media companies centralise their content and data, the power of automation at scale has become evident. The automation dividend is faster time to revenue.
- Post production is in a state of flux. Many companies have focused on remote access to on premise hardware. But for those that are willing to make the jump, the cloud is ready to handle a wide range of post production workflows.
- Major broadcasters have implemented full cloud playout at scale already. There are two predominant cloud architectures for playout: edge playout and full cloud. The former offers a useful stepping stone, but the future is fully cloud hosted.
- Streaming requires the cloud’s scalability, but also operational excellence. Streaming is now central to delivering all video: on demand, live, and linear TV. But even in the cloud, scaling isn’t instantaneous. So large peaks in demand, such as major events, require careful planning and operations.
“Moving to the cloud means being strategic and thoughtful about each individual workflow. We’ve moved some parts of our business wholly to the cloud, while others remain on premise, and some are hybrid” says David Klee, vice president, strategic media solutions at A+E Networks. “It’s really important to understand the capabilities and context for each part of the supply chain, which is why we’ve found it so useful to participate in the DPP’s Cloud for Media research for two years running.”
All four reports focusing on automating media, post production, playout and streaming at scale are available for DPP members to download here.