While the cloud model clearly works for Netflix and a whole raft of other emerging challengers, our broadcast and media industry stalwarts won’t put their mission-critical, 24/7 services completely in the cloud any time soon. The risks are too great; even a second of downtime is unacceptable to consumers. What happened to Netflix in the US in 2012, when Amazon Web Services suffered an outage over Christmas, would not be tolerated from a traditional broadcaster

Consider a hybrid solution

A hybrid management and delivery model based on a virtualized on-premise/cloud platform is perhaps a better solution for many major broadcasters and media companies than a giant leap into the cloud.

With the race on not only to retain, but also to add, valuable eyeballs in an increasingly competitive and fragmented world, on a global scale - a virtualized on-premise/cloud model offers an effective and flexible way for these organizations to expand their footprint quickly and safely without throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Specifically, this model provides broadcasters and media companies with the best of both worlds: a streamlined approach built around existing business operations that offers the reliability and redundancy of a strong on-premise component, combined with the flexibility of cloud management and delivery.

So how best to do it?

Back in the good old days, investing vast amounts in technology infrastructure gave media companies/broadcasters a competitive edge. This is no longer the case. What has already happened in post-production, where expensive editing suites have largely been replaced by software and technology, is now happening in other areas of the broadcast industry. Technology is becoming commoditized, allowing the market to be flooded with new entrants who focus on great content as their differentiator.

The key, then, for the large broadcasters and media companies, is to adopt a delivery model that reduces the reliance on huge Capex budgets and costly maintenance charges - but without moving fully to the cloud, for the reasons cited above. Ploughing more money into creating exciting, compelling content and less into infrastructure is the way forward.

Working with a dedicated digital media partner, broadcasters and media companies can achieve this. They can refocus and redouble their efforts where it really matters – in the realm of content creation and marketing. The option of a fully managed or self-service approach also offers broadcasters and media companies an unrivalled level of flexibility and scalability that allows them to monitor and grow their services in a way that best suits them.

Consider the benefits

Choosing to go down the route of a hybrid on-premise/cloud services platform opens up, literally, a world of revenue-generating opportunities. It makes it possible to access and deliver content from and to anywhere in the world easily and cost-effectively, and reach new, global audiences on multiple screens without having to worry about how it gets there.

With a digital media services partner that offers a comprehensive range of services over a secure, scalable, physical and virtualized infrastructure, broadcasters and media companies can quickly and easily access content management, playout, online video services and multi-screen delivery. These can be established in very short lead times.

This approach also enables a single, integrated broadcast/online workflow, saving time and money. Using an end-to-end digital media services platform, content is ingested once, and then prepared, repurposed, optimized and localized for broadcast or online delivery or both, anywhere in the world - and on a wide range of devices.

Removing some or all of the technical and operational complexities of content management, channel playout and delivery across different regions and time zones in different formats from broadcasters and media companies, using a hybrid on-premise/cloud services platform, represents a step forward for the industry. It offers a proven, cost effective and reliable way to stay ahead of the curve and reach any viewer, on any device, anywhere, anytime with fantastic content.

The benefits are considerable: the ability to deliver ever richer, increasingly personalized, services to a growing number of geographically dispersed consumers brings with it the holy grail of new revenue streams and improved ROI.

Perhaps this approach isn’t simply a step forward, but rather the giant leap forward that the industry so desperately requires?