Principles of the Cloud: Future

“Yesterday’s futures have become todays practicalities”

Continuing our cloud guiding principles, our third instalment looks at the ‘future’. Instead of waiting for a panacea, the advice is to start on your cloud journey now. In this blog, we will explore the many reasons why migrating to the cloud could be the best thing an industry professional could do in the current broadcast and media climate. Not just this, but we will be exploring the many reasons why some members of the industry are still convinced that holding off is the best move. With many people looking to intelligent use of mixed and hybrid designs.

Keeping It Simple and Productive

The cloud has skyrocketed in popularity over the past decade, and for good reason. Implementing cloud systems into broadcasting workflows is a flexible, customisable, and when executed well an incredibly optimal solution for organisations in the broadcast and media industry looking. There is one question on everyones’ minds. When is the right time to migrate to the cloud? When to get started?

The Cloud is an Evolving Landscape

One key thing to consider is that the broadcast and media industry, specifically the cloud, is an ever-evolving landscape. For many industry professionals that are just beginning to build the foundation of cloud-based workflows, it is important to remember that the cloud should be treated this way – as something that will look entirely different in even a few years.

This is why it is so vital to build your workflow with simplicity and productivity in mind, that way when the industry inevitably changes, your workflow is agile – ready and willing to evolve with it. At the centre of a functioning broadcast and media workflow, professionals need to be considering one thing, and that is the future-proof status of their systems. Arguably, the biggest step that many industry professionals will need to take is getting started in the first place – and many of the challenges will not arise until this happens.

Agile approaches and cloud infrastructure are natural friends.

Failure is Your Friend

 One of the first hurdles that many organisations need to overcome when delving into the world of cloud-based systems is overcoming failure. Most of us fear failure, whether it be in our daily lives or in our careers and passions – but it’s important to remember that failure is essential for every step in the journey of migrating to the cloud. In fact, it’s so important that professionals fail in the beginning, because it means that you are improving and developing with the systems you are implementing. Without this, you run the risk of ending up at a stalemate and developing a system that will not evolve with your needs.

As a popular rule of thumb for most cloud-based systems, software as a service (SaaS) should always come first, and cloud-native second. As we’ve covered already, the industry is an ever-evolving landscape, and as a result this means that some elements of cloud infrastructure embrace cloud natively, when others do not. Whilst some systems are entirely cloud-native, this approach comes with restrictions. When going with a basic lift and shift approach to the cloud, it will benefit professionals to remember that whilst cloud-native systems might be functionally strong, they will not be as effective commercially. The reality is that success in the early stages of migrating to the cloud is to be somewhere in the middle of these states, implement cloud-native elements where you can, but know that SaaS should always come first.

For rising professionals in the broadcast and media industry, a successful start to the cloud might look like a simple, SaaS-focused workflow that functions in a remote or hybrid scenario. If the systems need to operate on-prem, this should only be when it is necessary. If you take one thing away, let it be this: don’t be afraid to fail, make mistakes, and encourage your systems to evolve with the industry as a result.

Real Data, Real Systems

Another thing that many industry professionals don’t consider when starting out is the value of real system data. Many newcomers to the industry think that building a hybrid production system at scale and continuing to use it without any real-life applications will work forever. In reality, cloud-based systems that evolve and develop because of real system data are naturally more future-proof, leading to more success going forward.

This brings us to possibly some of the best advice, which is don’t build your cloud-based system on estimated data. Whilst many industry professionals have built an entire foundation of cloud-based infrastructure on estimated data, this will not get you far. In an industry as unprecedented and unpredictable as ours, it is vital to treat our cloud systems the same way. By applying data from your real system, you are leveraging more efficient data application and inviting in a new and promising approach to the future of the cloud.

We routinely find that estimates based on anecdotal equations such as “we have 30 users, they work 40 hours a week, we need 1200 machine hours” often leaves key metrics cost models are build on vastly inflated.  Models where real usage data has been gathered, a repeatedly only 50-60% of the size of the finger in the air equation.  This drastically tips the scales.  Remember that with fixed infrastructure you scale for peak, with cloud you pay for the area under the graph.