It seems that the media & entertainment industry is bigger than life today, and figures like M&E’s expected revenue of 2.2$ trillion by 2021 are there to support that notion. Due to strong competition, major OTT service providers are inclined to reach out to leading-edge technology to jockey for position. The game-changing tech everyone appears to be turning to is the OTT cloud technology and OWNZONES and here’s everything you need to know about them.
Cost-effective cloud-native solution
One of the first things worth pointing out is that this type of technology is cloud-based. What that means is that the entire storing and handling of data happens through remote servers maintained by a third-party service provider. This is much more cost-efficient compared to on-premises solutions where data is managed on local servers. On-prem infrastructure maintenance involves substantial expenses such as purchasing, updating and maintaining on-prem servers, which further includes overheads like server rooms, utilities, staff, and IT support to name a few.
Unlike the CapEx of on-prem which you need to pay for regardless of whether you’re using the servers or not, a cloud solution is an OpEx where you are required to pay a monthly or annual subscription. For instance, OWNZONES uses the pay-as-you-go model which allows users to scale their use of storage and distribution up or down depending on their requirements like seasonal demands, new service or product launches.
Volume, scalability, accessibility
OTT cloud tech essentially means unlimited infrastructure. This allows enterprises to set up their IT infrastructure and adjust it to a workload of any size. Additionally, they are able to meet the market demands quickly and adjust their resources in real time leading to the improvement of Time-To-Market, which the vital KPI demonstrating how your company performs in terms of workflow optimization.
Another great feature of OWNZONES cloud-leveraged tech is that it can be accessed from any point on the planet making globalization of business operations seamless. The M&E industry quite often relies on the work of teams and individuals in different locations across the world. The solution eliminates the need to move assets from one location to another and organize frictionless workflows, both being highly cost- and time-consuming processes. Furthermore, everything from production, distribution, finance, and marketing can be improved by various integrated tools such as email, social media, push notifications, and many more.
Customization, integrations, and how OWNZONES leverages IMF
Modern OTT cloud solutions provide users with options of customizing their services through applications for archiving, delivering content, and migrating databases. The tech allows easy integration with other delivery mediums from SFTP to Aspera and Media Shuttle.
Paired up with ML and AI offered by leading cloud MLaaS services, OTT cloud technology gives media companies the possibility to acquire valuable insights to drive custom recommendations and personalized CE. Amazon Machine Learning services, Azure Machine Learning, Google Cloud AI, or IBM Watson are used for data pre/processing, evaluation, predictive analytics, and model training and in synergy with the Cloud, industries are able to deliver new services and better content to carefully targeted consumers.
Also, some OTT cloud tech providers are employing new formats to make sure their cloud-based solutions are ready for any future market demands. Taking a look at OWNZONES and the Interoperable Master Format (IMF) they are using with their video management and delivery solution, content creators are able to create one IMF and multiple distribution formats with localized metadata for each country and format.
Reliability and security
There is a common misbelief that since the cloud depends on an internet connection, once it goes down, it’s not possible for the users to access their data. Fortunately, all cloud service providers have the Service Level Agreement (SLA) that obliges them to meet the performance standards they claim to provide. AWS provides 99.99% availability, Azure 99.9%, and NetSuite 99.5% of all their services at all times. Additionally, cloud service providers usually have highly reliable customer support systems to make sure any problem causing downtime is solved efficiently.
To build on the aforementioned regulations and support, this also applies to rigorous security measures OTT cloud services need to comply with. Unlike legacy IT environments that require manual maintenance and updates that might get neglected, the cloud is updated consistently to meet developing security standards and usually implements several levels of security. If we look at the example of AWS, they have highly secured data centres with electronic surveillance, trained security guards, and strictly monitored access and are practically disruption- or damage-proofed. Security also applies to disaster recovery, a cloud solution is safer and more sustainable than on-prem DR strategies.
Final thoughts
The companies within the OTT media supply chain niche are more and more aware of the fact that moving to the Cloud and employing state-of-the-art SaaS like OWNZONES is becoming a necessity. The advantages of these innovative platforms starting from overcoming the pain points of on-prem servers to streamlining their business operations and faster monetization of their video content are recognized by the companies the competitive media landscape. All of this is changing the dynamics of the OTT game and we can only look forward to seeing how new advancements will be used to further improve the video consuming experience.
