Virtualization is a Necessity for Entertainment and Media Companies

A new white paper from Iron Mountain Data Centers explores the current challenges, drivers, and opportunities for entertainment, content and media infrastructure. Virtualization is key to future success.

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The pandemic significantly impacted the media and entertainment industries. Movie theater and live music venue closures decimated 2020 revenues but, according to a new white paper from Iron Mountain Data Centers, the rise of streaming helped to offset some of those losses.

“Total data consumption increased 30% during the year, sparking a new, higher forecast growth trend,” according to the paper. They go on to say that virtual reality (VR), OTT video, and video games all showed above average rises and “despite drops in revenue, decisive investment is now taking place to maintain uptime and performance. Virtualization is a necessity rather than a nice-to-have.”

This shift in revenue streams is bringing many media and entertainment companies to a digital crossroads when it comes to their infrastructure. Capital pressures, the push to develop new channels and services, the need to automate, and increased bandwidth are just a few of the drivers pushing the industry to change. Iron Mountain notes that “these commercial and technological forces are driving a wholesale shift from on-premises resources to colocated core, cloud, and edge networking.”

Digital architectures that used to be adequate now hold businesses back. ‘Pure-play’ digital operators are in the driving seat and this is forcing mixed businesses to restructure. – Iron Mountain, “Content and Digital Media Infrastructure“

In the white paper, Iron Mountain explores why the migration to media function virtualization (MFV) is key to developing an IP/SDN-driven architecture. They also explain the importance of a multitenant MAM. The paper says “A multitenant cloud neutral facility makes an effective and scalable core data center for the new architecture, enabling both operators and service providers to focus on services rather than physical security, operational efficiency or onboarding partners.”

As media and entertainment companies migrate to MFV, the author says they need to be aware of several key infrastructure considerations, including ecosystems, core to cloud edge capability, and uptime, resilience, and security.

Iron Mountain asserts that early adopters of a virtualized core model that can easily be rolled out at multitenant locations will have a competitive advantage. “As Netflix has demonstrated, the earlier the move to a virtual environment, the more flexible, streamlined, and scalable the business model will be.”

Download the full report to learn more about the key drivers behind the rollout of virtualization in the entertainment and media industry.