Sky Italia has implemented Akamai and Aspera solutions, with the aim of improving and simplifying its workflow. With the combination of the leading high-speed file transfer solutions from Aspera, an IBM company, and Akamai’s NetStorage cloud-based storage platform, Sky has seen an increase in file upload speed by up to 650 per cent.
Since their launch in 2012, Sky needed to improve the upload speed of titles onto its storage systems for its Sky Go and Sky on Demand video content services, in order to grow the breadth and quality of its content offerings.
“With a 2,500-movie library, almost five million subscribers to our satellite channels and more than two million weekly downloads, it is important that we are able to offer new content in the fastest and most effective way without affecting quality,” explained Vincenzo Roggio, distribution platform design and development engineer, Sky Italia. “Since we added Akamai’s new Aspera high speed file upload service to our NetStorage platform, we have dramatically increased upload speed, resulting in an optimised content management workflow.”
Integrated directly into Akamai’s NetStorage cloud-based online storage platform, the Aspera upload acceleration option provides a means for Sky to upload content regardless of file size or geographic distance.
Sky has been a longtime user of Akamai’s Media Delivery solutions to help Sky ensure an uninterrupted stream of HD video optimised for both online and mobile viewing. The service has also enabled the company to ensure a quality viewing experience, even during high online traffic peaks such as major sporting events.
Doug Tilford, senior vice president and general manager, EMEA, Akamai, commented, “The close integration between Aspera and Akamai creates a complete system that makes it as easy as possible for Sky to turbo charge its upload capabilities, allowing subscribers to access a continuously updated video library featuring thousands of titles, which they can instantly download and view whenever they want, even from mobile devices.”
