Building a Bingeworthy Content Future on Hybrid Cloud
Cloud computing offers an enticing solution to the Media & Entertainment (M&E) industry's scaling, collaboration, and efficiency needs. Yet, full cloud adoption is fraught with unique challenges, including costs, latency, security and compliance. Media companies need more than a “one-size-fits-all” solution. They need a strategy that balances the best of both cloud and on-premises workflows. That’s why hybrid cloud architectures are becoming the norm—not the exception—for streamers and broadcasters who are playing to win.
The Rise of Cloud-Smart Strategies
Traditional “cloud-first” models push organizations to fully transition workflows and services to cloud environments. While this seems attractive for its flexibility and scalability, the complexity of media workflows calls for a more nuanced approach. Many early adopters relied on a “lift-and-shift” approach that simply moved legacy apps into the cloud without redesigning them, often leading to performance bottlenecks and dated software architecture that has a short lifespan.
Rather than indiscriminately migrating all processes, “cloud-smart” emphasizes a balanced approach using cloud-native applications designed to fully leverage cloud capabilities like elasticity, microservices, auto-scaling, and managed services. Workflows like post-production, rendering, and compliance may remain on-premises to maximize control, efficiency and costs, while tasks such as AI-powered analytics, disaster recovery, and content distribution harness the power of the cloud.
The key lies in combining the strengths of cloud platforms while leveraging the stability of existing on-premises systems. This tailored hybrid solution ensures that organizations derive maximum value from their investments while mitigating operational complexity.
Cloud-first is definitely feasible when launching a new streaming channel. However, for companies with legacy infrastructure, aggressive, unchecked cloud adoption that prioritizes immediacy and full migration can often lead to unexpected complexity. Companies can end up with a much more difficult-to-manage infrastructure, sometimes reliant on a patchwork of microservices that may not be reliable long-term.
M&E’s Unique Cloud Challenges
High-resolution videos, intricate visual effects, and multi-layered assets demand significant computational processing. Adding to this complexity is the need for real-time performance, rigorous security, and the unpredictability of workflows, making a straightforward “cloud-first” approach often impractical.
In fact, cloud repatriation, the process of moving data and workloads from public cloud environments back to on-premises or hybrid infrastructures, is gaining traction in the M&E industry. Last year, 25% of organizations surveyed in the United Kingdom alone moved half or more of their cloud-based workloads back on-premises, according to a study by Citrix, a Cloud Software Group business unit.
High-resolution media’s substantial bandwidth can slow workflows, necessitating costly infrastructure upgrades. Creative workflows rely on instant file access, making low latency a fundamental requirement across cloud migrations. Legacy systems further complicate the transition as substantial investments in on-premise infrastructure can render a full migration both expensive and operationally challenging.
Security and compliance are equally critical considerations. Unreleased content requires stringent protections, making private clouds or hybrid environments more appealing. Compounding this is the need to comply with licensing requirements and regulations like Europe’s GDPR, which often mandate local hosting of sensitive data.
While cloud platforms offer flexible, pay-as-you-go pricing models suitable for fluctuating workloads, unmonitored usage during peak times can result in skyrocketing costs. On a global scale, facilitating efficient collaboration across distributed teams is critical, yet balancing smooth accessibility, compliance, and performance across regions remains a daunting task.
AI-driven workflows also come with specific hurdles. Automated editing and media enrichment rely heavily on cloud-based services, but protecting assets from unnecessary internet exposure is imperative.
The Big Misconceptions around Cloud Adoption
One persistent misconception about cloud technology is the idea that the shift inherently simplifies operations. Broadcasters often encounter the opposite. Managing multiple vendors and integrating fragmented cloud products can become a resource-intensive and inefficient process.
Many early adopters found themselves burdened by the operational overhead resulting from siloed third-party solutions. This reality underscores why a “cloud-smart” approach, rather than indiscriminate “cloud-first” adoption, is critical in maintaining operational clarity and efficiency.
Fragmentation in cloud environments also poses a greater challenge compared to on-premises systems. This complexity is primarily due to the fact that many M&E organizations lack the specialized expertise and resources required to effectively integrate third-party solutions. Plus, the distributed and intangible nature of cloud technology introduces additional layers of complexity, making seamless integration and management considerably more demanding.
This fragmentation makes it clear that while "cloud-first" may be ideal for some niche use cases, a "cloud-smart" approach is often better suited for most large, complex M&E organizations.
Why Hybrid Is M&E’s Best Scene Yet
The hybrid approach provides the best of both worlds. Media companies benefit from cloud scalability while retaining critical processes on-premises for better control, cost efficiency, and responsiveness.
Take the example of a sports streaming service covering live games or post-match highlight shows. The workflow benefits from keeping editing and packaging on-premises. When a match ends at 9 PM and highlights need to stream globally by 10 PM, local processing ensures faster turnaround than relying entirely on the cloud. Hybrid setups allow teams to manage content locally, then use the cloud for rapid global distribution and scaling.
Financial considerations also drive many organizations toward hybrid models. For organizations with significant investments in on-prem infrastructure, running the cloud becomes an unnecessary expense. Since they can already fully utilize their existing hardware, hybrid solutions help bridge that gap.
Decoupled Architecture and Simplification
One critical trend is the shift toward decoupled architecture in cloud environments. While decoupling enables efficiency by splitting workloads into smaller services, it can also lead to higher complexity.
This is where simplification becomes key as companies are weary of dealing with so many vendors in the cloud. They want something that’s seamless and works out of the box. To this end, organizations need to focus on partnerships with providers who offer first-party integrations and truly unified systems. These integrated solutions eliminate the need for extensive manual configuration, streamlining workflows and reducing operational headaches.
Streaming Smarts: The Value of Strategic Planning
Adopting a cloud-smart approach demands a proactive, long-term business strategy. So what are the keys to assessing a cloud adoption roadmap?
- Align company goals: Organizations must evaluate their future facility plans, infrastructure investments, and business continuity needs. Are you planning on maintaining private data centers? Or moving to fully remote or cloud-only operations?
- Budget for predictability: Cloud-native services may work well for on-demand projects, but unpredictable costs—from additional transcoding or storage usage—can derail financial planning.
- Prioritize data security: When exploring cloud adoption or emerging tech like Agentic AI, content security needs to be at the forefront. Many enterprises have stringent rules prohibiting external access to files and metadata. Carefully vet providers to ensure compliance with security standards and data protection rules.
- Leverage integrated solutions: Partner with technology providers offering unified systems to reduce vendor complexity and operational fragmentation.
- Foster internal expertise: Equip teams with specialized training on hybrid workflows to effectively integrate on-prem and cloud environments.
The Future of Cloud Lies in Balance
The challenges of cloud migration go far beyond a simple “lift and shift” approach. Changing business models, driven by fierce streaming competition, heighten the industry's caution toward adopting cloud solutions without proven ROI. Navigating these obstacles requires a nuanced strategy.
The question isn’t whether to adopt cloud technology but how to do so successfully. By thoughtfully combining cloud and on-premises workflows, media companies can innovate without sacrificing efficiency or control. The time to make the shift is now—but the strategy must be rooted in adaptability and insight. A hybrid cloud strategy provides the future-ready foundation media companies need to thrive in the competitive era of streaming.
Related Articles
Security measures have come a long way since the days when security meant simply signing in and out of the facility and keeping valuable content in a locked room. As technology has advanced and the broadcast industry has adopted new ways of working, security systems have naturally become much more sophisticated. Take cloud security tools - they provide a formidable level of security that, contrary to popular belief, is actually difficult to match on-site. Data is only as secure as the systems and procedures around it; and the security systems safeguarding data in the cloud will likely be more advanced and superior to measures you can implement on-site.
31 Oct 2024
The broadcast industry has identified the benefits of cloud technology, including its adaptability and versatility. Cloud technologies facilitate remote production and streamline workflows. However, this shift may come with an adjustment period and a myriad of other challenges, which broadcasters today are still overcoming.
23 Feb 2024
With the sharp rise in cloud migration and the increasing unwillingness of viewers to tolerate video streaming quality issues, Joel Daly of Telestream outlines the top three reasons why quality monitoring is critical for cloud-native OTT streaming.
10 Jul 2023
In today's video-streaming-centric world, cloud OTT monitoring solutions are vital to staying competitive and meeting the demand for high-quality video content on every screen.
23 Jul 2021
Among all the other changes that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the industry, it has accelerated broadcasters' move to the cloud. That shift is only going to continue.
24 Mar 2021