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“ I think what the pandemic actually did was expected to happen over the next couple of years ,” says Elke Hungenaert , VP of product management , video network business Synamedia . “ It just had to happen during the course of this year . We really had to reinvent ourselves . For example , in the past we would go into customer labs … It was just not an option . Then there was no possibility to go there . Period . So , we invented things such as a lab in the Cloud .”
“ We ’ ve adapted our systems and our mindsets . So many companies had the mindset : ‘ No we can ’ t have remote workers ’. Right now , everyone has been remote working , so it ’ s really possible to do remote working , but there are also things that you really miss . Yes , we have virtual trade shows , but we don ’ t have the hallway conversations ; we don ’ t see everyone at once ; we don ’ t have a dinner where we can have an informal conversation … There ’ s a lot that ’ s technically possible , and social contact is really important , but what Covid brought us is that it has accelerated the technology , and when we get back to the new normal , we will have freedom of choice . I think it ’ s a positive , all in all .” CUSTOMER . Given the general acceptance that the Cloud was playing an increased role in broadcasting , could it replace on-prem along
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“ It is the future for production , playout , media management going forward .” - Jean-Louis Lods , Ateme
the entire supply chain ? What
considerations should be made
when evaluating Cloud vendors ’
strategies from a customer
point of view ?
“ I look at the Cloud as a couple of different
types of Cloud ,” responds Signiant ’ s Clarkson .
“ Public Cloud , which you would call the Big
Three : Amazon , Microsoft and Google , and
private Cloud , which some might call on-prem .
You could call it ‘ hosted Cloud ’. What people
are doing on the private side is they are using
all the same technology and mechanisms as the
Public Cloud . So , Cloud will replace the supply
chain , but I think it ’ s both public and private ’.”
But he does see some challenges : “ Like
the hybrid workforce . A lot of it is going to
be hybrid . We ’ re seeing it . This could mean
a combination of multiple public Clouds .
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Where that gets tricky is the dreaded egress . Who pays for the egress ? And there ’ s another layer of complexity there when you ’ re talking about partners and intercompany . So , I have a content company and a playout partner and I ’ m an aggregator and I ’ m pulling in content . If both of those organisations are using Cloud , somebody has to pay for that playout . So how do you structure the contracts ? How do you structure the SLAs ?” PARTNERSHIPS . “ There is a lot of discussion in that area . No two partnerships are the same . We ’ re seeing a lot of that , especially in Western Europe . A lot of the multi-company , multi — Cloud , it ’ s something |
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A report from IABM , the international trade association for broadcast and media technology , analysing trends in the Content Creation & Production segments of the BaM Content Chain , notes that Content Creation & Production were severely hit by production shutdowns and live event cancellations in 2020 . The acceleration in the transition to direct-to-consumer ( DTC ) is also forcing a rationalisation of technology spending in this part of the content supply chain because of its effects on the business models supporting content . Among the findings :
• Media companies have accelerated long-standing technology transitions , such as the move to remote production and Cloud ,
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because of the impact of pandemic-induced restrictions . Remote production and Cloud are driving new investment in Content Creation & Production , with media companies changing their plans for these transitions out of necessity in 2020 .
• Although it is upending business models , DTC is also driving more investment in original programming . This and the importance of content in media companies ’ strategies are drivers of investment for content creation and production technology .
• Content creation and production technology is becoming more versatile to enable adaptability to different use cases , as part of
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wider ecosystems of products that work seamlessly together . On the supply-side of media technology , the search for holistic ecosystems has driven increased M & A activity .
• When it comes to the allocation of resources , from both a technology and staffing perspective , the future of production looks hybrid . Hybrid offerings are also translating into geographical and business diversification – through increasing adoption of technology by markets parallel to media .
• More technology products are focusing on data gathering right at the start of the content supply chain to enable automation of routine tasks or track consumer touchpoints through interactive graphics ,
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for example . “ While the coronavirus pandemic clearly hit content creation and production hard , what we have seen as a result in these two segments of the BaM Content Chain is in large part a significant acceleration of trends that were already in process ,” said Lorenzo Zanni , head of knowledge at IABM . “ However , the pandemic has also forced companies in all verticals to move much more towards high quality video and audio communication , and this has opened opportunities for broadcast and media technology vendors in markets well beyond their traditional scope . The changes we are seeing in content creation and production are also rippling through the entire content chain ; I think this report will amply reward time spent reading it .” |