While cloud technology holds immense potential for media companies, many remain hesitant to fully embrace it, clinging to familiar on-premises infrastructure and business models. However, those who’ve leaped stand as shining examples, demonstrating the power of cloud-based innovation. Their journey has paved the way for a wealth of tried-and-true media-specific tools and services now readily available in the cloud.
Recognizing this crucial juncture, the Digital Production Partnership (DPP) released its “The Cloud for Media” report, exploring the practical benefits of cloud adoption for both media companies and software vendors. It serves as a comprehensive guide, navigating companies through cloud technology, strategy, migration, economics, and the essential skills and governance needed to ensure a successful transformation.
But is migrating media workflows to the cloud truly advantageous? What changes must be anticipated? And what are the key takeaways from this insightful report? Let’s explore these questions with a specific focus on how 2B Innovations can be your trusted partner in this exciting journey.
Benefits of the cloud
To leverage the full potential of cloud technology, media companies will need to commit to a new business strategy. That’s because migration changes existing business practices and relationships. To carry these changes through, your finance, technology, and operational teams need to be fully behind them.
In theory, this shouldn’t be controversial. The cloud will enable them to simplify processes, cut costs, and be more productive through being able to automate tedious tasks. Meanwhile, it can also free the wider business to adapt, experiment, and innovate.
Let’s look at five more industry-specific benefits:
Collaborative production
The cloud enables more collaborative workflows, especially in content production. Many producers have successfully adopted Software as a Service (SaaS) tools such as collaborative document editing, file storage, and resource planning. With very little training, they can quickly benefit from excellent user experience.
Secure remote work
The cloud’s role in enabling remote and mobile working – supported by premium collaboration tools – is well known. Powerful cloud security solutions will also help protect your employees’ applications, data, and devices. For example, single sign-on and multi-factor authentication (MFA) free staff to securely access their tools and resources whenever they need them. From anywhere.
Agile content delivery
With cloud-based workflows, you can speed up the supply chain. That’s because, once content is in the cloud, both software and people can access it directly, without a series of distributions. This can be especially useful for news broadcasting and live sports, in which breaking news, or a winning goal can be shared with all distribution channels in near-real time. Better still, you could even look to automate the process.
Global distribution
A lot of large OTT platforms are run in the cloud, serving video to viewers using content delivery networks (CDNs). If you’re dealing with multiple regions, demand can be unpredictable. But the cloud allows you to scale delivery, without over-provisioning, to match changing demand. You can also use it to deliver live, broadcast-grade content and channels online (as several providers do for major sports).
Broadcast
Cloud-based channel playout and linear channel origination are finally on the rise. Protocols like RIST, SRT, and Zixi, combined with gradually improving connectivity and bandwidth, have enabled live streams to be transported into, around, and out of the cloud. A note of caution: connectivity remains an area for attention.
Three Key Considerations for a Seamless Cloud Migration
Every organization’s cloud migration journey is unique and driven by specific business and customer needs. However, some key points apply to all media companies embarking on this transformation.
Cultivate Organizational Buy-in
- Secure Leadership Support: Partner with your CFO to understand the OpEx model of the cloud and its financial benefits. 2 B innovations can provide financial modeling and cost optimization strategies tailored to your cloud transformation.
- Rethink Workflows: Work with 2 B innovations’ consultants to analyze your current workflows and identify opportunities for process optimization and automation. Don’t just lift and shift – leverage the cloud’s potential for improved efficiency and agility.
- Invest in Training & Communication: Keep your teams informed throughout the migration process. 2 B Innovations offers comprehensive training programs to equip your workforce with the skills needed to thrive in the cloud environment.
Embrace a “Cloud-Native” Approach
- Unlock Cloud Capabilities: 2 B innovations can help you design and build cloud-native solutions that fully exploit the cloud’s scalability, resilience, performance, and cost benefits. Our experts can ensure your solutions are secure by design, considering identity, access management, and encryption from the outset.
- Experiment & Iterate: 2 B innovations can guide you through low-cost proof-of-concept projects, allowing you to experiment with fine-tune components that leverage specific cloud capabilities. Start small, learn, and continuously optimize your cloud solutions.
Commit to the Journey & Break it Down
- Develop a Strategic Plan: 2 B innovations can assist you in crafting a comprehensive cloud migration strategy and roadmap, considering your unique business objectives and challenges. We can help you prioritize workloads and break down the process into manageable phases.
- Migrate by Workflows: Avoid the inefficiency of migrating content repeatedly. 2 B Innovations recommends migrating entire workflows at once to ensure smooth and optimized cloud operations.
- Embrace Hands-on Learning: 2 B innovations can provide sandbox environments for your teams to experiment with cloud technologies and gain practical experience. Learn by doing, and confidently move forward in your cloud transformation journey.
Remember, a successful cloud migration requires a strategic approach, collaboration, and ongoing optimization. 2 B Innovations is here to guide you every step of the way, ensuring a smooth and successful transition to the cloud.
