The author is with Digigram.
The adoption of cloud solutions by the broadcast market is accelerating.
Thanks to the portability of data and flows, as well as the relative standardization of systems, we now have access to a full range of services: Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service, Software as a Service, and tomorrow, Radio-as-a-Service.
FLEXIBILITY AND SECURITY
This turning point corresponds to a strong technological trend that today combines two worlds: flexibility and security. It is by surfing the wave and the success of the IT world in exploiting professional business applications that these services gradually have been opened to broadcasters, particularly radio.
Starting from a mature and stable market, radio workflows can now be built easily using cloud technologies. The cloud benefits from shared structures, which make it more accessible and cheaper than before, turning cap-ex spending into flexible op-ex.
It also offers more elasticity in terms of investment; while you “get what you pay for,” customers also benefit from a multitude of ancillary services, including performance indicators, regular updates (new features and functionality), scalability and security of access as well as the outsourcing of maintenance and online support.
As far as security is concerned, professional applications have implemented a level of security and data protection similar to the famous GAFA [Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon], which now seems suitable for broadcasters.
Nevertheless, it is important to highlight some strategic aspects that should not be overlooked when choosing to migrate real-time features to the cloud. For example, it is preferable to select hosting in the geographical area of the broadcaster to avoid latencies in audio streams that can occur unexpectedly on the Internet.
CONSIDERATIONS
Furthermore, while security is based on the hosting of the applications it also relies on the confidence that one has in the developers and the security of their implementation. It is therefore a good idea to work with recognized major brands. It is also good to check redundant access to applications and their data with the developers.
That being said, cloud development will have a major role in the broadcast world for years to come, bringing with it a virtual radio studio concept that heralds an unprecedented freedom of action.
It is therefore natural for current market solutions to turn toward this vision, particularly in infrastructure with important parts of the workflow associated with solutions that allow real-time audio applications to be linked together.
Offered on a subscription basis and accessible from anywhere, cloud technologies make it easy and affordable for even the smallest broadcasters or production companies to connect and manage audio outside sources and bring content to the control room.
[Read: Leveraging Technologies to Forge the Broadcast Future]
Virtualized infrastructures open the door to the virtualization of a secure cloud-based studio thanks to new applications that enable greater flexibility, pay-as-you-go operation, integration with a professional console in the cloud and, above all, an ease of use that corresponds to new, freer and more nomadic modes of operation.
