MAM Silver Lining

MAM solutions have served broadcasters and global media companies for over a decade however two key challenges remain: cost-effectiveness and practical deployment. By Julián Fernández-Campón, Director, Head of Solution Architecture, Tedial.

Desktops, departments and multiple sites can work with third-party programme makers upstream and many more delivery partners downstream. Pair this with the explosion in mobile media consumption and audience interaction and it’s easy to see why the dream of cost-scalable interconnectivity and effective media staging via cloud-based services is so popular.

MAM and workflow can be fully integrated across the entire media value chain to better meet future requirements and to deliver ROI.

From acquisition through to production and delivery, MAM systems provide efficient and cost-effective operations and users can expect increased content management options. For example, integration of different areas for processing automation; sophisticated workflow management for content preparation; and web-based user interface to simplify support and enable multi-site workflows all supported by the cloud. The cloud can also provide improved media management and storage options. These range from storage services with additional backup in a separate location; content storage with the additional capability to transcode different formats for delivery; to full MAM features for content management providing complete search capability and the ability for content to be managed by third-party service providers if required.

This last scenario provides broadcasters with a full multi-tenant MAM in the cloud with independent virtual MAMs sharing the same IT platform, providing an always-online multi-site architecture. This is a sophisticated model that allows broadcasters to search, select and share content via the cloud with a very high Quality of Service (QoS). Media files are delivered automatically in the correct working format of the recipient regardless of the originating format.

Distributed access better enables anyone within the organization to access content from any location. This high-level of flexibility means that it’s easier to evolve and amend media services. Time to market is also reduced if the cloud infrastructure is already available. Broadcasters for example, can focus more on their core business of programme making, brand care and audience engagement.

Speed of delivery is also key. To meet the demands of the multi-screen world, broadcasters require solutions that enable fast and secure access over IP, providing automated workflows that package and present content, which can then be delivered to the cloud, and other sites. This removes the unnecessary complexity caused when working between so many desktops and departments using LAN or MPLS.

It's also no longer enough to simply move many thousands of media files over IP quickly and securely without an improvement in productivity. Broadcasters and increasingly telcos are also now faced with the challenge of how to automatically manage and monitor the enormous volume of media and metadata that’s being exchanged with multiple media partners 24/7/365. This will only continue to increase. Adapting typical broadcast processes or relying on simple IP accelerators or transcoding is not scalable or cost-effective.

Tedial's award-winning enhanced Media IT platform Tedial Evolution provides broadcasters' and content owners with advanced Media IT tools for multi-site Enterprise MAM and Business Process Workflow. Tedial Evolution significantly extends MAM functionality providing new services to surf/explore archives and improved integration between archive and workflow engines to reinforce a collaborative environment.

www.tedial.com

(JP/LM)