Jim Turner Synamedia VP of product management, streaming platforms
virtually unlimited collection of computers and storage devices. The cloud provides amazing agility in implementing services, lowering capital expenditures and enhancing reliability in operations and maintenance, as well as the ability to scale, expand and contract capacity and remove location dependence. What are the most exciting trends we are seeing emerge within cloud offerings? Along with the growth of production services to provide new levels of collaboration, faster and more powerful
How have you seen the cloud develop since your time working in this area? Cloud services have evolved in the media world much as they have in other sectors – starting with support for data- intensive administrative functions such as accounting, customer data collection and processing, which require large amounts of numerical calculations and data manipulations, as well as large amounts of storage. They have evolved and expanded rapidly to encompass high-
bandwidth streaming, distributed content deployment, GPU rendering services for graphics and, very recently, extreme computational services like generative AI. A big one: How do you personally define the cloud? I’ve always thought of it as – using someone else’s computer and storage. But the scale and power of someone else’s computer has grown at a pace that exceeds Moore’s law to become a
Thomas Mueller Qvest Group Chief technology officer
How have you seen the cloud develop since your time working in this area? I have experienced the development of cloud usage intensively and directly. Back at the beginning, we found out that cloud is a storage somewhere managed by a large hyperscaler. Later on, it became the home base of internet applications like webserver, email server or services like Skype or Teams, but also for all kinds of OTT applications. In recent years, we have seen the rise of professional media production applications in the cloud. Examples for such production applications and solutions in the cloud are Grass Valley AMPP and Frame.io. A big one: How do you personally define the cloud? I would say: cloud lifts the barriers. Because from a user’s point of view, the cloud is limitless in various dimensions since all processes are orchestrated and defined by software. That means I can start and use any IT equipment without installing a server in a rack, just by using software. From my point of view, that makes the cloud an established
and essential part of data management and IT solutions today – a foundation that is very stable and at the same time maximally flexible and agile. What are the most exciting trends we are seeing emerge within cloud offerings? Automated personalisation, data and analytics at large scale and generative AI like ChatGPT are only possible because of cloud computing. Such personalised services and solutions are of course much more efficient and can also become a sales success factor. However, it is important that these AI services only learn and improve on the basis of data. This requires human input. Although cloud workflows help to better some sustainable practices, there are still problems like the carbon-emitting data centres at the other end. How can cloud service providers work to better the sustainable side? In principle, I see three levels for optimisation. First, the data centre itself should be in a place in the world where
extra cooling is not an issue and where as many regenerative energy sources as possible are usable. Secondly, all hardware equipment should be 100% recyclable. Thirdly, an intelligent server start/stop service should be implemented to further reduce energy consumption. How has the cloud helped to define the M&E trades as we see them today? The most important impact from cloud services are on OTT, social media and streaming offers combined with data analytics and recommendation engines. Thanks to cloud services, the broadcasters have a more personalised experience and exchange with their audience. This offers opportunities and risks, because it is crucial to understand how well-received a programme is on the diverse media platforms. It is important that M&E companies make use of new tools for detailed data analysis. What does the future hold for the cloud (especially for broadcasters and media organisations)? I see a transition from ‘content is king’ in the past to ‘distribution is king’ nowadays, to a future in which customer experience and their retention is the ultimate objective of a broadcaster. The cloud is an essential solution to scale up customer experience, and having the flexibility to quickly adopt to customers’ needs and their preferences.
GENERATIVE AI LIKE CHATGPT IS ONLY POSSIBLE BECAUSE OF CLOUD COMPUTING
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