In Broadcast - April 2012 - 32

WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 7 - APRIL 2012

InMEDIA
Dynamic Fusion In Systems Integration
According to research on behalf of IABM, the body that speaks for suppliers in the broadcasting and media industry, Systems Integration (SI) was worth around $400 million globally in 2010. The research calls for annual growth rates around the four to ﬁve per cent mark. “I would say that the SI business continues to grow,” says Robert Stopford, VP Sales at Kit Digital. “We have seen an upsurge in business, particularly from outside Europe where broadcasters are transitioning their facilities to high deﬁnition and ﬁle-based workﬂows.” ATG Managing Director Graham Day says: “The systems integration business continues to develop in line with incremental advances in technology. The challenge for broadcasters is to keep up with new distribution platforms and increasing consumer expectations.” For Avid, Kevin Usher, Director of Solutions Development, sees “a huge growth rate, due to the increased emphasis in providing choice and best value for customers”. And Jonathan Lyth of UK-based C2S Systems underlined the fact that there are big differences geographically: “Even now, with a recovering industry in Europe, a large percentage of our turnover is from Africa and Asia-Paciﬁc.” The fundamental business
Dick Hobbs

Broadcast systems integration is a multi-million dollar business – Dick Hobbs examines some key aspects of this crucial business sector amid the radically shifting technological environment

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AP London’s HD master control room

for systems integrators is that broadcasters and media companies lack the engineering and design resources in house to do it themselves. Given that engineering teams are being cut to the bone, does this mean that more work is being outsourced today? Kevin Moore of Eurotek in Dublin conﬁrms that theory: “Most broadcasters have significantly downsized their own internal

Eurotek system

engineering resources, and so are outsourcing integration services.” Paul Wallis, Sales Director of Broadcast Networks, agrees that many clients simply do not have the time and resources to “investigate the best equipment for their needs”. The changing nature of the industry is also an issue. C2S’s Lyth made the important point that “We are seeing more and more projects for organisations starting from the ground up. These tend to be small, very commercially governed startups with little in-house technical representation, so they rely heavily on the SI to get them on air.” The shift to IT-based workﬂows, coming at the same time as the shrinking of in-house resources, certainly places great pressure on broadcasters. Mike Grieve of TSL, one of the best known names in traditional systems integration, added: “That is why TSL is retraining staff and continuously developing our expertise.” “Established broadcasters, as well as new-start enterprises, have an increasing focus on their strategic goals rather than speciﬁc product choices,” says Graham Day of

ATG. “They are more receptive than ever to new technology, provided it delivers economic advantages without creating a hidden cost in terms of reliability.” Kevin Moore echoed that message: “Customers are looking to companies like Eurotek to provide technical advice and recommendations. It is common for the design to be based on an architecture suggested by us. The client may make some choices based on their own experience, but largely will go with the overall solution recommended.” Paul Wallis of Broadcast Networks added: “Often, once projects are won the equipment choice can change drastically, when better and more cost-effective solutions are proposed in the design phase of a project.”

One-Stop Shop
Wallis’s comment suggests that there is now a strong middle ground between the one-stop shop and best of breed, where equipment choices are made on the basis
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