Asia-Pacific Broadcasting (APB) November 2017 Volume 34, Issue 9 | Page 10

10 November 2017
NEWS & VIEWS

Building a better organisation with MAM technology

What are the biggest changes in broadcast technology over the past decade ? It is certainly not the variety of technologies involved . The most impactful change ( while not the most sexy ) has been the steady shift of investment from hardware-based products towards software solutions .
What does this mean for the broadcast industry ? Well , as broadcast technology continues to become increasingly IT-centric , it is important to consider not just the alignment of technology , but alignment of workflow to support business priorities . Broadcast IT spending trends such as those found in the Big Broadcast Survey ( BBS ) show that the industry is looking towards IT technology to tackle its top technology challenges .
The biggest problem for broadcasters lies in the prevalence of legacy technology that uses multiple products to solve a given problem . This is an issue , no matter if you are in New York or Hanoi . While daisy-chaining products worked well in the days of baseband video , the approach is less effective in an IP-networked environment where efficient workflow is crucial . As business strategies evolve , this piecemeal approach does not provide the agility to remain competitive .
Our most successful customers have taken a different approach . They start with a clear business goal and apply media asset management ( MAM ) technology to solve it .
Why MAM technology as opposed to point product solutions ? By starting with a flexible platform to solve a specific business challenge , successful broadcasters have adopted a platform that can be extended and expanded to solve additional business problems as they arise . The result is an agile platform that lends itself to continuous improvement and refinement to meet any existing or unforeseen
Straker Coniglio VP , Media Asset Management Vizrt
business challenges .
While there are many different definitions of what an MAM system is , the basic purpose of MAM is to enable more efficient collaboration across a media organisation . This includes collaboration across all teams , simplification of production workflow , and to enable integration and consolidation of systems in and across facilities .
MAM technology used to be ‘ the archive ’ or ‘ the playout centre ’. Today , MAM touches virtually every part of the facility as the diagram shown indicates . However , MAM systems need not be seen as massive investments that take years to implement . MAM systems can be as small and basic as a simple archive , or it can encompass a global organisation ’ s worldwide facilities and assets . The key is to start with the business objective and then apply the right degree of MAM technology to achieve it .
While no solution out-of-the-box will meet 100 % of any organisation ’ s needs , the key to longevity and flexibility is a solid platform with a rich set of welldocumented APIs . Those APIs are the key to ensuring that your platform will be able to integrate with any current or future system and to ensure your metadata is not ‘ locked up ’ by the vendor .
The challenge for today ’ s CTOs is to understand how they can align this technology to achieve their business goals with successful outcomes . The key to successful deployments is to be very clear on the goal at the outset . Projects that are large need to be broken down into smaller ‘ bite-sized ’ phases that have specific business objectives in their own right . By utilising these strategies , broadcasters can use MAM technology to achieve their organisational and business goals . q

Arista Networks ready to support Asia ’ s IP transition

HONG KONG – With the approval of the first standards within SMPTE ST 2110 , there really should no longer be any technical issues holding back broadcasters from transitioning to an IP-based infrastructure , suggested Ed Chapman , VP of business development and alliances , Arista Networks .
He continued : “ At the 2017 NAB Show and IBC2017 , Arista demonstrated at the IP Showcase , and at our booth , real-world IP interoperability based on SMPTE ST 2110 standards and AMWA NMOS specifications .
“ Arista demonstrated this with more than 15 partners , including Imagine Communications , Lawo , Grass Valley , EVS , Axon , Open Drives and many others .”
In Asia , like in other regions , Chapman believes that broadcasters are now able to have “ predictable control ” over their IP networks , just as they have had with traditional SDI solutions . “ In fact , we have had IP sports broadcasts in Asia already using our solutions ,” he added .
Chapman cited the example of Arista ’ s Extensible Operating System , which he said provides the availability , reliability and programmability for live video broadcasts , and has the expertise and partnerships with leading media and entertainment companies to deliver a solution today for HD and 4K / Ultra HD ( UHD ) broadcast deployments .
“ Arista ’ s broad range of networking platforms including 25Gb and 100Gb with support for IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol ( PTP ) deliver the IP network infrastructure to scale to today ’ s 4K / UHD and future 8K broadcast video .”
To add further support for broadcasters making the transition to an IP broadcast network , Arista Networks has also prepared a series of white papers , reference architectures and training , and will be part of the Professional media over IP : Building a future-proof media facility seminars that APB and systems integrator Ideal Systems will be organising this month in Hong Kong on November 3 , and in Singapore on November 6 . ( See page 11 for more information .)
According to Ed Chapman , VP of business development and alliances , Arista Networks , there really should no longer be any technical issues holding back broadcasters from transitioning to an IP-based infrastructure . To share its insights into how broadcasters can successfully transition to IP , Arista Networks will be participating in the Professional media over IP : Building a future-proof media facility seminars that APB and systems integrator Ideal Systems will be organising this month in Hong Kong and Singapore .
In Hong Kong , Addison Chi , solutions architect , Asia-Pacific , Arista Networks , will make a presentation entitled IP / Ethernet network infrastructure for 4K and beyond , while YJ Huang , systems engineering manager , Asia-Pacific , Arista Networks , will make a presentation on the same topic in Singapore .
Specifically , the presentations by Chi and Huang will cover digital media trends in the new connected edge and how networks can be built to be ready for 4K / UHD , or even higher resolution media .
Additionally , Raymond Lai , solutions architect , Arista Networks , and Mark Lee , senior systems engineer , Arista Networks , Southeast Asia , will be presenting case studies of how the company has helped implement a real-world IP deployment , in Hong Kong and Singapore respectively .