InBroadcast - March 2022 - 53

www.inbroadcast.com | Vol: 12 - Issue 3 | March 2022
53
InNABShow
All on-board: navigating
the route to the cloud
With Larissa Görner, Senior Director,
AMPP PLM at Grass Valley...
M
edia and
companies
considering why
need
entertainment
to fully
understand the depth and breadth
of the cloud's
potential
when
it's a step they
should take. When I talk to customers,
I always convey that it isn't just cloud
for cloud's sake. There must be a
tangible benefit to kickstarting a
cloud transformation. And there is
- the ability to create more content
assets with a model that makes real
economic sense, now and in the long
run.
Often, our conversation starts with
a single workflow, maybe focused
on lower-tier sports or less-critical
live events. Potentially we begin
even with just a single task, like
commentary, or graphics. Next, with
proven success, we can move onto
editing and signal switching. Any
move to the cloud is less of a 'big
bang' change and more of a set of
incremental shifts.
Piecing the jigsaw together
However, it's often hard to see
all the different pieces that make
moving to the cloud
These can include the ability
savings
by
compelling.
to
ramp up remote production, make
cost
reducing rack
space by up to 90% and, in areas
like cloud
playout, potentially
reducing spend by 50%-60%. Plus,
it
enables
media companies
to
easily re-version content for multiple
platforms - including over-the-top
(OTT) services - with little up-front
investment, boosting yield per asset.
Even for TV production through the
traditional studio, certain functions,
like commentary, graphics
regionalizing content
could
delivered via the cloud
and
be
not only
more cost-effectively but with greater
flexibility and scalability.
Uniting for a cloud-driven future
Moving
to
a
cloud-driven
technology foundation is an exciting
prospect, I promise you! Over the
last year, we've seen more cloud
transition
than
probably
in
the
three previous years put together
- although much of it came out of
necessity due to the pandemic. Still,
irrespective of these circumstances,
targeting the right people within
Many
assessing
organizations
stakeholders
just
top-line economic
the
look
payoff
potential
of
at
within
the
when
the
cloud. However, when it works
best, the cloud conversation is
part of a much more profound
business discussion. These
conversations are not just about
the external changes that the
media and entertainment market
is undergoing; they are also about
shifting organizational
enough - finance, to work out not just
short-term but longer-term costs and
savings.
Setting sail on the
cloud journey
Once an organization has
defined
the broad
direction and the
projects
to
role
gain
it
the
strategic
cloud
can play, it needs a series of
kick-off
thinking
around the role of the technologies
that
underpin media companies,
production houses, news providers
and other players in our market.
For example, does a media
organisation move away
from
Capital Expenditure (CapEx) heavy,
forklift-style upgrades
Operational
towards an
Expenditure (OpEx)
centric model that typically benefits
from having the latest
technology
and products because upgrades are
usually
included. Another reason
is budget savings on IT spend. A
study by KPMG found typical
IT
organizations spend roughly 30% of
their budget on equipment such as
servers, storage, firewalls, cables,
networking gear and related power
and cooling equipment. The study
also found that shifting workload
to the cloud can save companies
between 10-20% of their IT budget.
media organizations has been critical
to successful cloud adoption. What's
more, the crisis has given those
people eager to champion a clouddriven
future the chance to provide
concrete evidence of its advantages.
There is a simple takeaway here.
The shift to the cloud requires people
to adapt in tandem with the adoption
of the new technological foundation.
I'd even go one step further: the
people need to be ahead of the
technology curve.
Today, just
as
discussions
on
primary business objectives must
involve people from finance, R&D,
production, technology, and the
C-suite, so must
cloud
conversation.
of
the adjacent
There needs
to be a level of collaboration and
agreement about if, why and how
the deployment
technologies will align with the
overall business strategy.
Yet
even in organizations
cloud-based
that
achieve some degree of alignment,
there needs to be internal ownership
of the transition to the cloud. This
role is not easy to fill with one
single visionary individual. Instead,
ownership of the transition often
needs
to be collegiate.
it
evangelists
part
Indeed,
needs one or two
in each
of the business
taking ownership and
preparing the entire
organisation of
cloud
migration, including -
and I can't stress this
necessary operational skills and
understand the potential
can
unlock. Yes, there will be challenges
and obstacles, just as there were in
the shift from analog to SDI, or the
move to OTT. Yet, the successes -
and the hurdles overcome - during
each successive project will provide
benchmark data to validate and
inform the wider shift
to cloud
technologies, mapping a path that
moves the whole business forward.
It's important to note that this new
technology stack will evolve at a pace
beyond what we've come to expect.
GV AMPP (Agile Media Processing
Platform), for example, has added an
end to end live production offering,
regionalization enablement for any
platform, enhanced easy to spin up
playout, high-end
audio control, intercom, workflow
orchestration and
management,
live
switching, full
media asset
monitoring
and other discrete functions to its
portfolio in just a year and a half. In
the hardware world, updates would
typically be yearly; now, new cloud
developments are pushed out on a
weekly basis.
Media leaders and cloud advocates
are not only embracing change but
driving it forward by exploring new
opportunities, challenges, demands
and requirements.
Regardless of how far along your
organization is on its cloud voyage,
it's vital to remember that it's not
an overnight
journey.
Successful
cloud adoption starts with as much a
mindset shift as a technological shift
- that may well be a more gradual
change, but it's one that's driven by
people.
https://www.grassvalley.com

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