es at work. TV sets and tradi-
tional broadcasts are not going
away but at the same time,
broadcasters and content own-
ers must create more content,
faster to cope with the habits of
today’s connected media con-
sumers.
While people might be watch-
ing less traditional TV, they’re
watching more video. They’re
consuming more video when
and where they want – on their
own terms and on devices of all
types. In this new world of non-
broadcast channels, the need
to spin production workflows
up or down on demand is criti-
cal. And it must be done in a
way that’s fast and cost effec-
tive. This is what’s driving the
move away from infrastructures
of purpose-built hardware.
And while the initial transition
to completely IP-based sys-
tems will require the outlay of
some capital expenditure, the
long-term cost benefits are tre-
mendous. Along with the new
realities of content produc-
tion, the need for new business
models is also apparent. While
we shift from hardware-driv-
en workflows, we’ll also shift
from a capex-based operation
to an opex-based, pay-per-use
model.
Plus, it’s impossible to imagine
traditional point-to-point sys-
tems meeting the needs of new
media distribution channels and
evolving business models.
But all this does require a differ-
ent level of planning, a rethink-
ing of product development (or
perhaps more accurately IT ser-
vice development) rollout and
lifecycle. It’s a matter of how
and when, not if.
A DIFFERENT KIND OF
PRODUCTION ECOSYSTEM
The key to virtualization is dis-
sociating compute and storage
equipment from their func-
tionalities. COTS hardware and
standard computing equipment
will be deployed to add new
functionalities with standard
data center principles at their
heart. This means equipment
can be assigned to specific and
instantaneous requirements of
any production.
A good example is the use of
additional transcode resourc-
es. Transcode engines will be
launched on an as-needed basis
rather than on the upfront allo-
cation of specific video sources.
Something that wasn’t possible
years ago, this kind of extreme
flexibility is only the beginning
of where we can go. This prin-
cipal is now being extended
to video switchers, servers and
even overall production sys-
tems, breaking down the busi-
ness barriers to flexibility, and
allowing the routing of video
and other signals to every pos-
sible destination.
78 • Broadcast Beat Magazine • www.broadcastbeat.com
A second fundamental enabler
for virtualization is the use of
common data center equip-
ment. In any system, dedicated
hardware tied to specific func-
tionalities limits possibilities. In
contrast to SDI-based commu-
nication and hardware-assisted
compute nodes, an all-IP envi-
ronment allows the flexibility
needed to assign services to
whichever computing resources
are available.
The flexibility of virtualization
doesn’t end with specific tasks
– the entire production w ork-
flow can be applied in on-prem-
ise data centers or in infrastruc-
ture as a service like the cloud.
In any way, virtualization will
create infrastructure that’s not
only less expensive but faster
to deploy.
It also enables scalable work-
flows that deploy only resources
that are needed while enabling
much easier resource sharing.
Through functional separa-
tion, network virtualization and
automation, users can control
traffic from a centralized con-
sole for new production free-
dom and agility. A software-