Wowza’s Alex Gammelgard Talks Pivots in Streaming Architecture Away From ‘Pure’ Cloud at Streaming Media 2025
Is the streaming industry on another pendulum swing in streaming infrastructure, away from embracing the “pure” cloud approach in vogue over the last few years toward a more hybrid setup integrating both cloud and on-prem elements? Wowza VP of marketing Alex Gammelgard explores this theory along with growing data security concerns and more in an interview with Streaming Media contributing editor Timothy Fore-Siglin at Streaming Media 2025.
New to the Industry
Fore-Siglin welcomes viewers to the interview and encourages Gammelgard to introduce herself.
“I head up marketing at Wowza. I joined the company and the industry back in May,” she says. “It has been a very exciting time, I think, to make an entry into media and broadcasting. There’s clearly a lot of transformation and transition in the industry.” She notes that her first few months have been eventful.
Fore-Siglin asks her to clarify that she wasn’t previously working in streaming media.
“My background’s in AI, robotics, B2B software, so adjacent,” Gammelgard replies.
Fore-Siglin inquires whether she’s participating in any panels at the conference.
“We’re actually participating in two panels here. My counterpart Barry [Owen] is heading up one today on cloud, hybrid, and on-prem, which is near and dear to everything that we do at Wowza. And then tomorrow actually, we’re on the Reader’s Choice panel [because] we were selected for a Readers' Choice Award.”
The Pendulum Swings
Fore-Siglin wonders what Gammelgard is expecting from her first time at the conference.
“For me, I think getting an understanding of how everyone else is kind of riding with the change in the industry” is what she appreciates about the event. Gammelgard points to the pivots she’s noticing that are coming from the industry. “Part of the reason we’re doing the panel [is that] we’re seeing so many people kind of move away from pure cloud and really start thinking about how they want to own and manage their own infrastructure. … We see that in our customer base, but is that happening in the broader world? So I think getting out of our own echo chamber and coming to meet other people is really valuable.”
Fore-Siglin notes that he’s recently talked to colleagues of hers at Wowza about how often the streaming pendulum swings to something new among cloud, hybrid, and on-prem options. He says it “feels like the accounting people are back to, ‘Hey, we probably really ought to own some hybrid version of this thing.’”
Gammelgard agrees that cost is a partial factor, but it’s also that “we’re seeing this broadly in all B2B software and just software across the board. Because of AI, there’s a lot of concerns about data security and then of course the complexity of everything that you’re doing has just exploded. So I think there’s more imperative everywhere to own that and kind of keep your secret sauce and your data and your customers’ data, [to] keep it very protected.”
Join us December 9-11 and tune in for more great conversations at Streaming Media Connect! Registration is free and open now!
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