Cover Story what works best for different functions . It is likely a hybrid approach , mixing the two , will become the norm . Object Matrix : During the first lockdowns , storing and sharing content via cloud-based services spiked significantly . The biggest effect on cloud-based services , has certainly been the volume of organisations adopting them and this has played a big part in demonstrating the capabilities of cloud and hybrid workflows . Plume : It is fair to say that with the shift to work-from-home , and now hybrid working , there has been an accelerated uptake for important Smart Home Services including adaptive WiFi and cyber-security . Trends from our Plume IQ Smart Home Market Report , which compared data points from the 1H 2021 to the 1H 2022 , showed that globally the average number of cyber threats blocked had risen massively by 51 %. Quickplay : From a video infrastructure point of view , the pandemic accelerated the shift to the cloud and the development of flexible , scalable cloud-native architectures that match the quality and reliability of traditional video delivery systems . Critical mass has been reached for digital mastering , playout , encoding , and distribution . We are only going to see more media services moving to the cloud , as the cost benefits , scaling , and opportunities for hyper-personalisation have no match compared to traditional broadcast . RIST : Remote working has led to increased confidence in cloud-based services as people have seen that modern technology is more than capable of reliable use cases such as highquality video contribution and distribution . Although it has always been a key concern , the increased uptake in cloud-based services has also exemplified the importance of low latency , interoperability and security when transporting content over IP . R & S : It is important to differentiate between virtualised processes and the cloud . Virtualisation is a matter of optimising the way
12 EUROMEDIA resources are used and , as the media industry becomes almost entirely software-driven , so those software applications will be virtualised to deliver the flexibility expected . The cloud means outsourcing the resources to run those virtualised software applications . Signiant : The move to cloud had already begun before 2020 and the pandemic proved to be a huge accelerator of workloads being moved to the big public cloud providers , Amazon , Microsoft and Google . We saw more than 5X growth in the amount of data moved to and from the cloud on the Signiant Platform from 2019 to 2022 . The near future appears to be a hybrid cloud , multi-cloud world . Telestream : As the Media & Entertainment industry looks towards growth post pandemic , many businesses have become keenly aware of the limitations of their on-premises systems . Meanwhile , the cost of running an on-site data centre is going up with rising supply chain issues and cost of components , while the cost of operating a virtual machine continues to drop . Since more content is being stored and distributed from the cloud , it only makes sense to process it there as well . Torque : More and more components of the broadcast chain continue to move to the cloud . Some aspects , OTT playout for example , would have continued their move to the cloud with or without lockdowns . VeEX : Services have significantly improved in quality and functionality , and users have adopted them . For example , prior to the lockdowns we had been promoting cloudbased remote access services for testing . With the lockdown , these services suddenly gained traction and continue to do so . Also , communication service providers have invested in improving their Internet access services , benefitting subscribers , businesses , and providers alike . Witbe : Wehave seen a significant amount of growth in our own cloud-based services since the pandemic began . We believe this is a reflection of customers wanting secure and scalable technology that is also quicker and easier to implement than previous set-ups . Zixi : The ability to scale out infrastructure dynamically and rapidly is fundamental to supporting modern video operations . Cloud virtualisation , software-defined networks and resilient , secure live video delivery are enabling new live event and linear channel business models that would have been far too expensive and complex to execute in the past . Network neutrality is once again becoming a hot topic . How real are the challenges for providers of Content Delivery Networks , telcos and ISPs ? Broadband Forum : By utilising metro edge compute architectures , not only can issues with jitter , delay and latency be alleviated , but operators can offer differentiated QoE , prioritise traffic that is solely within their own network and , in effect , offer differentiated services that require specific QoE per use case or application case . Routing and scalability challenges can also be overcome at the edge , with virtualisation and disaggregation of edge components delivering low latency for applications . MEC technology allows operators to deliver flexible on-demand bandwidth that detects traffic changes and automatically scales to preserve the user experience . InCoax : There is no doubt that the global pandemic and the rise of homeworking has caused the debate for network neutrality to rage . Operators are today deploying fibre infrastructure next to one another on the same streets . Sweden , for instance , has ruled to make these networks open for all operators with the Communication Operator Model ( infrastructure provider ) where the customer can choose the service provider and selectable services through a portal , speeding up deployment and access to all . Mediaproxy : The idea of true network neutrality , with everyone on a network knowing how much bandwidth they will have ,