With the rush to provide remote working, business continuity and the ability for creative professionals to self-serve content from the archive, the second wave of cloud mania is in full swing. There are a number of different cloud options out there from Local cloud and Private Cloud to Hybrid Cloud and Public Cloud.
1. Unpredictable
Number one in our list of gotchas is the topic we talk about most within the creative community. Public cloud in creative workflows is far too unpredictable in both cost and performance.
2. Comms
You got it or you haven’t, and without it, well…
it is evident that whilst some media organisations have fantastic connectivity both internally and externally the vast majority do not.
3. Got you by the data
Let’s get one thing straight. Customer content belongs to the customer. Yet even today there are storage vendors, MAM, DAM and PAM vendors and also cloud providers who force you to always use their tools or protocols to retrieve the content you own. In the worst cases, they put the data into proprietary formats that ensure you are locked into them for data access and workflows. Be aware! Read the small print!
4. Metadata
In many ways, metadata is as important as the content. If you cannot find it you do not have it. Metadata, where possible, should be stored in an open format, available via open API’s and portable throughout the supply chain.
5. Media archive workflows
To make public cloud platforms ‘affordable’ they have to be generic across all verticals. Many offer ‘just another me-too service’. Specialisation needs people and expertise, which costs. Some of the bigger players have media services they provide themselves but there is, of course, an associated cost per play but in the main 3rd party applications are needed to make media work in that environment.
