Caspar Herzberg |
This article first appeared in the
Winter 2017 issue of The Record.
The consumerisation of content creation and distribution has forced media organisations to adjust to a new reality of content wherever, whenever and however consumers want it.
At the same time, declines in traditional revenue sources have required a recalibration of business approaches. The relentless pressure for operational efficiency has further challenged an industry already filled with disconnected people, tools, and workflows. These market conditions have changed everything – from workflows to business models to revenue streams.
Media organisations must work more collaboratively and efficiently, and overcome the limitations of proprietary solutions. Artists need the best tools tied seamlessly to the rest of the ecosystem. Everyone needs to be more connected at a much lower cost.
Avid is a provider of professional tools for the creation, distribution, and monetisation of media assets. We have teamed with Microsoft to cooperatively develop cloud-based solutions and services designed specifically to address these challenges.
By extending MediaCentral – our open, tightly integrated and efficient platform designed for media – to the cloud on Microsoft Azure, media organisations now have complete flexibility to create, distribute and monetise their content using the deployment type best suited to their needs.
Regardless of their deployment model, organisations of every type and size will have the same user experience, workflow power, speed, efficiency and collaboration capabilities.
Cloud production increases capacity and eases the financial burden of content creation and distribution. Media organisations gain the licensing flexibility and business agility to align their technology solutions with the needs of their production environment. They can also connect and collaborate from anywhere – whether through a workstation, laptop or mobile device – all while increasing efficiency across every facet of the media value chain.
Beyond operational efficiencies and increased creative capabilities, this new way of working allows media organisations to grow viewership and brand affinity. The flexibility and elasticity of cloud services enables organisations to maximise the value of their assets by expanding to new outlets. They can repurpose material to exploit new revenue streams and grow brand affinity across a broader range of viewers by making content available everywhere they want to consume it, whether on TV, online, or on a mobile device. It’s also easy to scale resources as needed to address peaks in demand and tap into massive economies of scale across workgroups and departments.
While the challenges of the new media landscape are great, so are the opportunities. The reality of full-scale media production in the cloud is here to help bring those possibilities within reach.
Tom Cordiner is senior vice president of global sales at Avid