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Sneak Preview: Cloudsplitting - Tackling Common Cloud Live Broadcast Workflow Challenges

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No other events provide the clarity and information you'll find at Streaming Media conferences. That’s why Streaming Media attracts serious, high-level technology decision makers ready to do business. For more than 20 years, our events have been the No. 1 gathering place for streaming industry professionals. Join us this November 12-14 for the next installment of Streaming Media Connect, a FREE online event.

On Tuesday, November 12, streaming industry consultant Nadine Krefetz will moderate the panel "Cloudsplitting: Tackling Common Cloud Live Broadcast Workflow Challenges."

Some elements of streaming workflows and architecture may always stay on-prem. However, the cloud affords streaming pros opportunities for scaling and cost-cutting that make the lure of cloud workflows too powerful to resist for most live streamers intent on managing large and unpredictable audiences, improving QoE, increasing ROI, and satisfying brands. For most of the industry, the great cloud migration has largely happened. For all of their advantages, end-to-end cloud workflows also bring new challenges, from production to playout to distribution. Tune in to this panel of cloud streaming experts for actionable insight on how to refine and streamline your scalable cloud live-streaming workflows and jump and dodge the hurdles that threaten to break your stride.

Confirmed panelists include

Moderator Nadine Krefetz focuses on how technology will drive change in the media industry. She writes on Generative AI, Adtech and a wide range of cloud SaaS for delivering streaming. Her background is in software development, project management, journalism and marketing consulting through her company, realitysoftware.com. She also moderates technical industry panels and executive keynotes in many of the areas she writes on. Half of her brain is unstructured data, and the other half is structured data. She can be reached at nadinek@realitysoftware.com or on LinkedIn.

"Our panel will talk about the biggest advantages and challenges streamers face moving to cloud workflows," Krefetz says. "I don’t want to speak for what the panelists will say but we’ll talk about every part of what is required to deliver streaming, so join us and hear directly from them."

Panelist Corey Smith is an innovative technology leader in broadcasting. He is in between opportunities after leaving Paramount in August of 2024 where he joined the company in March 2022 as Senior Director, Software Engineering in CBS Sports. He led the technical team building the next evolution of advanced production technology, strengthening CBS Sports Digital’s leading cloud-based hybrid television production platform. Smith has been transforming digital television and broadcast systems since 2011, and he previously worked on Microsoft’s Xbox Live team, managed Sinclair Broadcast Group’s digital news publishing operations across the U.S., and tackled the next generation of cloud encoding and distribution systems for Activision Blizzard Esports with a primary focus on the cloud-based production and broadcasting of Overwatch and Call of Duty Leagues globally.

"One thought, who ever invented the phrase end-to-end workflow likely lived in a marketing bubble," Krefetz says. "It’s unlikely one company can provide everything you need. Moreover, getting locked into a contract for this end-to-end service can really prevent you from benefitting from innovations happening elsewhere. Everything doesn’t need to be in the cloud. Only when it makes sense from both a technical and cost perspective. Using cloud services is a cultural jump for many companies. From finance to software development, you need to think about how things are done differently and that can be hard if your pressing underlying need doesn’t immediately show cost savings."

Panelist John Barber is a Principle Solutions Architect for AWS Sports with over 25 years working in Broadcast, OTT and CDN technologies. Over the last few years he has focused on Low Latency video workflows working with encoder technology, ISV’s, and AWS service teams to provide solutions that bring viewers closer to the live experience enabling Social interactivity, Betting, AR/VR and AI/ML features to Low Latency streaming. Recently he has been working with customers and partners to introduce RealTime latency video workflows into the Sports marketplace to bring viewers and fans even closer to the action.

Panelist Loke Dupont is a Staff Engineer at TV 2 Denmark, working with the Streaming & Player team. The Streaming & Player team is responsible for streaming, encoding, packaging, live ad replacement, DRM and playback on TV 2 Play. Loke has more than 10 years experience working within the streaming industry with anything related to encoding, streaming and DRM. Having worked on both the vendor and customer side, Loke has extensive experience in delivering streaming solutions. Prior to joining TV 2, Loke has worked with Blockbuster to launch its nordic streaming platform.

Krefetz says, "Biggest challenges: Applications which previously were designed to be used on-prem, need to have a companion cloud version. While I’m not a fan of the phrase lift and shift, it explains what not to do. Software needs to be specifically written to work in a cloud environment. If you place something not designed for the cloud, it will likely have weird bugs. I had one client who spent a lot of time trying to figure out why an application wouldn’t run correctly after a certain amount of streams were reached. Eventually they figured out a fix, but it’s your choice if you want to take that risk of trouble shooting why a vendor’s product won’t work correctly. Another big challenge is what things can cost and I’ll talk with the panel about how accurate they are estimating this. Biggest advantage: Immediate scale, so if and when this is important, cloud services have your back."

Panelist Nishant is an Industry Solutions Architect at Alibaba Cloud engaged in assisting business leaders, technology evangelists and entrepreneurs in realizing their vision by helping them re-architect and implement cloud native technologies across core infrastructure, data platforms, Artificial Intelligence solutions & tooling and industry-specific solutions.

Panelist Daniel Healey is a Senior Technology Partner Manager at Console Connect, working with Alibaba Cloud and other global cloud service providers on business development, platform innovation, and the global expansion of multi-cloud services. Focused on digital automation, he delivers solutions that meet the evolving needs of partners and customers worldwide, establishing Console Connect as a positive disruptor in the NaaS marketplace.

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