-->
Save your FREE seat for Streaming Media Connect in November. Register Now!

How to Control Cloud Streaming CapEx and OpEx

What are the best strategies streamers can follow to manage the costs of cloud streaming architecture and production and maximize efficiencies in their workflows? AWS’ John Barber, IMAX’s Abdul Rehman, Zixi’s Eric Bolten, and SVTA’s Jason Thibeault discuss cloud streaming cost management in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2024.

The key points of controlling cloud streaming CapEx and OpEx

Barber outlines the key points of controlling cloud streaming CapEx and OpEx: the cost implications of operational and capital expenditures, the importance of managing predictability in expenses, and the differences between constant load workflows and on-demand processing.

“You have the whole production piece,” he says. “You may be sending out content that's already pre-produced, which is just a single stream, or you might be running a whole truck or a whole in the cloud production. Those can get very expensive, both on OpEx and CapEx. Once you get the live production in or pass through, then you have the video prep to get ready for the encoding and the streaming, and then you come up with the delivery. So the CDN, the player, the DRM, and the analytics. Those are really the major chunks that we see.”

The higher costs of constant load workflows vs. on-demand

Thibeault asks for Bolten and Rehman’s thoughts.

Rehman says, “I think constant load workflows, where you need to process 24/7/365, those are the areas where you have higher costs than on-demand, where you require a whole lot of scale. Relatively speaking, [they’re] on the cheaper side.”

The need for efficient architecture to manage costs

Bolten highlights the need for efficient architecture to manage costs and the balance between initial higher expenses and long-term efficiencies.

“From a Zixi perspective in the transport world, there's certainly production,” he says. “We've done some production in the cloud. We showed it at NAB, where we were able to use replay and packaging and actually cut a show. But in terms of overall OpEx costs, you've got your egress, a level of compute, and then you try to manage those elements as elegantly as you can, and you're going to chip away at that. But it's egress and how you architect that. Your commercials will be a direct result of your architecture.”

He emphasizes the importance of managing the predictable aspects of cost. “Linear versus occasional use event-based,” he says. “How does one manage slates? How does one manage switching? How does one manage all the elements? Because when the lights are on, they cost money, and if the lights are off, they do not. So you try to manage that elegance, and then you contrast that with the agility and customizable scenarios that you can run in use cases within the cloud. So I think it's part of an education. I would say that in the initial steps, things tend to be more expensive, but over time, you refine that program and you milk out those efficiencies as you go line by line.”

Join us in November 2024 for more thought leadership, actionable insights, and lively debate at Streaming Media Connect.

Streaming Covers
Free
for qualified subscribers
Subscribe Now Current Issue Past Issues
Related Articles

Are Streaming Workflows Going 100% Cloud?

Cloud streaming workflows and infrastructure seemed like the wave of the future 5 years ago, due to the rapid growth of cloud technology, their evident advantages in scalability, and economies of scale, and accelerated adoption during the height of the pandemic. Today, streaming's cloudward progression seems like all but a foregone conclusion-though opinions vary on whether that hypothesis holds for certain live and VOD workflows, as well as productions with essential on-prem components-as this discussion involving key cloud practitioners from Endeavor Streaming, Grabyo, TMT Insights, and LiveX at Streaming Media NYC reveals.

SMNYC 2024: United Cloud's Boban Kasalovic Talks End-to-End Streaming and Content Security

Streaming Media's Tim Siglin interviews United Cloud's Boban Kasalovic at Streaming Media NYC. Kasalovic discusses United Cloud's development of an end-to-end streaming solution and an anti-piracy platform called Gladiator. The platform uses machine learning and AI to analyze data and identify critical behavior that could lead to piracy. The company has also implemented Widevine CAS for its hybrid solution.

SMNYC 2024: Grabyo's Clare Butler Talks Cloud Streaming Services and Pricing Models

Streaming Media's Tim Siglin interviews Grabyo's Clare Butler at Streaming Media NYC 2024. She highlights that Grabyo is not geographically bound and caters to anyone working in the live space, including news broadcasters, sports clubs, and entertainment producers. She also emphasizes the cost-effectiveness of cloud solutions, noting that cloud technology is now at parity with on-prem solutions, offering features like instant replay and SCTE-35 ad insertions.

How CBS Sports Approaches Cloud vs. On-Prem Streaming Workflows

Most of the essential elements of streaming workflows and architecture are moving toward the cloud, but the fundamental question driving streaming workflow development should always be not how do we migrate this or that process to the cloud, but what will serve the production and the viewer best, according to CBS Sports Senior Director, Advanced Production Technology Corey Smith, who breaks down these questions in this discussion with Eyevinn Technology's Magnus Svensson from Streaming Media Connect 2024.

How Netflix, Meta, and United Cloud Choose New Codecs and Why

Migrating to new codecs is fraught with challenges and complications for companies with massive content libraries like Netflix and Meta, or live linear providers like United Cloud. What drives change-of-codec decisions and what considerations and trade-offs complicate these decisions vis a vis legacy users and more? Netflix's Andrey Norkin, Meta's Hassene Tmar, United Cloud's Boban Kasalovic, and Help Me Stream's Tim Siglin discuss these issues and more in this clip from Streaming Media Connect.

Companies and Suppliers Mentioned