At the 2011 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show, Microsoft has launched new strategic ecosystem that will lead media and entertainment (M&E) companies to the cloud.
The strategic ecosystem enables partners to develop specific offerings based on the Windows Azure platform to give M&E companies a simplified digital supply chain combined with the advantages of cloud computing.
Microsoft said that with the combined strength of the partner ecosystem and the Windows Azure platform, M&E customers benefit from applications and scenarios including: streaming online content, content security or transcoding, without having to deploy servers, build an infrastructure or plan for capacity of demand.
The company claimed that the new platform helps M&E companies do the following: reduce capital expenditures for new IT infrastructure; allow innovation and shorten time to market for new digital media services; leverage economies of scale of Microsoft’s datacentres and platform investments; and develop and deliver new applications and services on a global scale.
In addition, by adopting applications based on the Windows Azure platform, customers can support IT environments where they are using a mixed IT environment of on-premise and other private or public cloud platforms, said the company.
The new offering also allows customers to pick and choose the partners that meet their unique needs including: cloud-based content processing; cloud-based content management; cloud-based content delivery; and cloud-based content protection.
Microsoft communications sector media and entertainment industry solutions director Jake Winett said the company believes that the success of Windows Azure in M&E is hinged not only on offering a robust, scalable and open cloud platform, but also offering an excellent partner ecosystem that allows media companies to leverage their critical applications seamlessly between on-premise and the cloud.
