Original equipment manufacturers can help broadcasters compete with OTT providers

The media and entertainment industry has been through transformation before, but the speed and scale of the current shift set this change apart. Broadcasters now face tough competition in this industry, with over-the-top (OTT) providers offering ever faster, high quality streaming services.

To retain and win new customers, broadcasters must deliver live content with zero latency. And to differentiate themselves in the media and entertainment industry going forward, they must diversify and innovate their offering to meet ever-growing consumer demand for newer, better services.

Media and entertainment OEMs must deliver next generation products and services that help broadcasters strengthen and rapidly innovate their business offering to compete in this crowded market. However, the rapid pace of change, pressure to compete, protect profit margins and expand globally can make it challenging for OEMs to establish where to focus time and investment.

Opportunity at the edge
Analysing data at the edge minimizes how much data is transferred to and from the data center, reducing latency. This enables broadcasters to provide high definition, on-demand content almost instantly and level the competition with over the top (OTT) providers.

As more and more data is captured and analysed at the edge, OEMs must provide intelligent edge solutions that help their broadcast customers not only to drive smarter real-time operations at the edge, but also to enable deeper cross-organisational analysis of trends over time.

With its deep understanding of and experience in the broadcast industry, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) OEM Solutions helps broadcast OEMs design and introduce new, reliable services, and deploy intelligent edge solutions that capture and efficiently process huge volumes of data.

Imagine Communications, an OEM that provides end-to-end solutions to the media and entertainment industry, needed a solution to help broadcasters easily create and share content. This requires technology that lets broadcasters store recorded content, monetize the content through advertising management solutions, and distribute the content via multiple channels with zero latency.

With HPE OEM Solutions, Imagine Communications developed its applications on HPE servers and storage solutions, which include the HPE Moonshot System, HPE Edgeline System, HPE Apollo servers and HPE ProLiant servers. As a result, the company deployed its new technologies and applications globally, faster than ever before, increasing revenue opportunities in the process.

In fact, these technologies have worked so well that Imagine Communications has now achieved zero-latency and reliable performance for broadcasting content in multiple formats – including over the air, cable, satellite, web and mobile.

The launchpad to success
Innovation must be constant and fast for OEMs in the media and entertainment industry. But deploying new innovations is only half the process. Sustaining innovation is equally important. To ensure success beyond first prototypes, it’s crucial that OEMs draw upon the expertise of vendors like HPE OEM Solutions to meet requirements and squash unexpected challenges.

A robust and trustworthy IT foundation is the key to transforming edge innovation into enduring success. HPE OEM Solutions’ Edgeline portfolio consists of ruggedised systems specifically designed to exist in the harsh environments of the edge. And HPE OEM Solutions’ full spectrum of edge-to-cloud products and solutions ensure data and analytics are transferred to the data center efficiently to drive real-time decisions and outcomes.

When OEMs have stable, reliable and proven edge-to-cloud technology in place, they can use it as a springboard to new services – and new revenue. And a reliable IT infrastructure reduces time spent on inefficiencies, so OEM resources can focus on the next success.

Matt Quirk is Global Market Strategy & Development Manager at Hewlett Packard Enterprise OEM Solutions