Cloud computing and the Entertainment Industry
There is no doubting the impact that big data and cloud computing are having on businesses in all sectors. It has revolutionised businesses through cost cutting, mobility and by creating a competitive edge. For smaller businesses, it has levelled the playing field – allowing them to implement IT systems with similar capabilities as those possessed by larger multi-national companies.
It has also revolutionised how people work, with the ability to store data securely making remote working more efficient than ever before.
This video of Cloud World Forum experts posted by Dell gives an account of the ways in which companies are embracing cloud technology and the various solutions it offers them.
Shifting consumer habits
These benefits span all sectors, and one of the industries, most impacted by cloud technology is entertainment. It has long been the accepted wisdom that traditional packaged media such as CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray are on a fast track journey to becoming obsolete. The ease and speed at which one can download a film or a music file means that driving into town to buy or rent a film is an unnecessary journey.
Of course, this shift in consumer spending patterns has been happening for some time but it is cloud computing that is really speeding up that process. In much the same way that iTunes lets you download one song as opposed to an entire album, streaming services also allow you to rent a movie online without having to pay the full price to purchase it.
Cloud technology also makes this service available through smart TVs and Blu-ray players; posing another threat to the DVD market.
A new way of doing business
Cloud based streaming services such as Amazon allow you to rent a movie soon after it comes out on DVD, something that all the major studios have picked up on. This change has also extended to the film industry’s IT model as well. While they used to own all the capital assets needed to make a film including storing media files and transcending them for delivery they are increasingly turning to cloud providers to handle these tasks and space requirements.
This allows them to be more flexible with costs, stopping expenses when production ends.
Replacing physical disks or expensive satellite links with broadband is a no-brainer and the film industry is taking full of advantage of this decrease in distribution costs.
