To build or buy, is that really the question: Mitigating Business Risks
This blog was written by Hamish Muiry, Head of Sales.
In the rapidly evolving landscape of ‘digital’, live streaming has emerged as a pivotal tool either for adding value to viewers of linear or VOD output or is a OTT distributor’s core business. From virtual events, webinars, or M2A’s speciality area in live sports and the versatility of live streaming, and the options in the marketing, is impressive and overwhelming in equal measure. However, with its benefits come inherent risks, whether content is managed and delivered from on-premise resources or cloud-based platforms. (Here I focus on cloud, because that’s where we are mostly heading). Effective risk mitigation strategies are essential to ensure that live streaming remains a powerful asset rather than a potential liability.
Understanding the Risks
Before diving into mitigation strategies, it’s crucial to identify the primary risks associated with live streaming in the cloud. Obviously, technical issues such as server downtime, software bugs, or poor internet bandwidth can disrupt the stream, leading to a negative viewer experience. Cloud-based platforms are susceptible to various security threats, including hacking, data breaches, and unauthorized access. Ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of live streaming content is paramount to protect both the business and its audience. The quality of the stream is directly related to the business’s reputation. Poor video or audio quality can detract from the viewer’s experience and impact brand perception negatively.
Perhaps the risk that flies below the radar but I personally feel is critical is access to talent. Cloud broadcast engineers, architects, and highly skilled software engineers are in great demand. It is hard for the average broadcaster to attract and retain talent whilst competing against an apple, facebook, amazon, or google. The allure of the big four and other market leading innovating companies will make it difficult to incentivise these individuals to join, never mind to stay for long enough to see a project through, never mind the ongoing upgrades and user experience improvements required.
Mitigation Strategies
To address technical failures, invest in a robust and diverse technical infrastructure relative to the value of the rights you’re distributing. This includes selecting a reliable cloud streaming service provider with high uptime guarantees and redundancy features. SAAS companies will likely offer you better SLA uptimes, and potentially managed operations services, than you will get directly with the infrastructure provider. They will also make sure that the platform is updated and maintain your software to minimize the risk of bugs and failures. It sounds obvious, but test, test, and test again. It’s a complicated business, that’s why there’s not many suppliers trusted to deliver top tier streaming rights in the cloud. And therefore why many broadcasters can get sucked into building their own platforms.
Security is a major concern for cloud-based live streaming. Implement strong encryption protocols to protect content during live transmission and storage. Choose vendors that can adhere to your SSO needs and an infrastructure provider that knows live broadcast and adheres to industry standards and best practices for security. Conduct periodic security audits and vulnerability assessments to identify and address potential weaknesses, and through some ‘Chaos Monkeys’. Some broadcasters will not even consider using a vendor’s services who are not cloud native, Initially forgoing feature parity in favour of adhering to their engineering principles and cloud native methodology. This is an interesting presentation from Sky Group’s Dave Travis at AWS Re:Invent last year.
To ensure high-quality content delivery, choose a streaming service that offers scalable solutions and supports the latest specifications for video and audio. Regularly monitor the stream’s quality and make adjustments as needed. Having a dedicated operational and technical team on standby during live events can help address any quality issues promptly. Yet, the technically used needs to provide visibility of the resources and ‘deep link’ into the underlying cloud services so that operations teams can pinpoint issues and resolve at speed. Cloud streaming platforms will typically offer a self-serve or managed service offering, or hybrid with hypercare support available for the biggest events.
Contingency Plans
Mike Tyson said “Everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the face.” Despite the best efforts to mitigate risks, unforeseen issues can still arise. Therefore, having a well-defined contingency plan is crucial. This plan should outline steps to take in the event of a technical failure, security breach, or other disruptions. Establish backup systems and procedures to quickly (or even seamlessly) switch to an alternative if the primary system fails. This might include resiliency cloud regions, or an alternative DR streaming platform. This of course comes at additional cost, but that must be weighed up versus the quality and importance of the rights. Can you afford for it to fail?
Designate a team responsible for managing and responding to issues during live streaming events. This team should be trained in troubleshooting common problems, wargaming, and implementing emergency protocols. Choose a service provider with a history of tier 1 operations support. Even if you provide your own broadcast operations in house, they can still advise on and help you craft best practices that work for your teams and setup. Align a communication strategy between vendors in the critical path and also to inform viewers of any issues or delays. Clear and timely communication helps manage audience expectations and maintain trust, and ultimately reduce the likelihood of viral negative press on X, which no one wants.
So where’s the upside
Live streaming content in the cloud offers remarkable opportunities for businesses to connect with their audiences in real-time and drive commercial success. However, to fully leverage these opportunities while minimizing risks, it is essential to implement effective risk mitigation strategies. By investing in robust technical infrastructure, enhancing security measures, and using best of breed products and service partners to maintain high content quality, businesses can navigate the complexities of cloud-based live streaming and achieve a seamless and successful streaming experience. In the top tier live streaming world, business risk mitigation and management is not just a precaution but a strategic imperative and competitive advantage. With a thoughtful perspective and approach, businesses can turn the challenges summarized above into opportunities for growth and innovation in the live streaming space, ultimately giving happy and loyal consumers.
