Cloud computing might come across as one of the solutions for industries which are looking to outsource storage and maintaining issues. The world of Digital Media is moving forward tremendously and it has become very necessary to take inventory of what you are working on and what needs change.
In the previous article, we got introduced to Cloud Computing for Media. This article presents us with a broader view about how exactly is the Publishing Industry getting benefited. We also explore different stacks in the Cloud computing domain.
Who uses Cloud?
Time Inc is one the largest Media and Publishing giants, it has an in house data center on the 21st floor, but “it is not on the 21st floor, is IS the 21st Floor” Colin Bodell, the then CTO explains. He understands the limitations of “held capital”. Colin’s main agenda from the time he joined has been to shift TIME’s in house data center to Cloud infrastructure. He says that getting new hardware on board is time consuming. Time doesn’t want to be on data center business, wants to be what time does best - Write, Publish. They no more have to hire or select talent who would maintain data centers or manage a department to look after that.
Moving some of the data centers is cost effective for enterprises. Hosting costs for Time has come down from 70k to 17k and now they have an - enterprise data center it is more agile , has more speed and more power, can handle traffic surge in peak times with ease.
Cloud computing applications brings down the cost for operations and maintenance. It is hassle free and service provider handles maintenance for things beneath the application layer. You choose a vendor and post migration, your work is much smoother and requires far less attention than before. You do not have to get bothered while deciding to invest lump sum into hardware.
What benefits can Cloud provide?
Handling disruptions
Handling traffic demand
No infrastructure maintenance
Improve infrastructure without people
No people maintenance
Reduced Software Costs
Improved and Fast updates
Unlimited storage space
Worldwide accessibility without costs to set up data center
What is the Cloud Computing Stack?
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS):
Infrastructure as a Service, sometimes abbreviated as IaaS, is a pack of virtualized computing resource. It contains the basic building blocks for cloud IT and typically provide access to features such as networking, computers (virtual or on dedicated hardware), and data storage space. It is exactly like its name it provides infrastructure. It provides you with the highest level of flexibility and management control over your IT resources and is most similar to existing IT resources that many IT departments and developers are familiar with today. It also covers automation of administrative tasks, dynamic scaling, desktop virtualization and policy-based services.
Platform as a Service (PaaS):
Platforms as a service remove the need for organizations to manage the underlying infrastructure (usually hardware and operating systems), it provides a platform allowing customers to develop, run, and manage applications without the complexity of building and maintaining the infrastructure typically associated with developing and launching an app, and allows you to focus on the deployment and management of your applications. This helps you be more efficient as you don’t need to worry about resource procurement, capacity planning, software maintenance, patching, or any of the other undifferentiated heavy lifting involved in running your application.
Software as a Service (SaaS):
Software as a service (SaaS) is another method to standard software installation in a traditional work environment wherein the user has to build the server, install the application and configure it. Customer do not pay for the software itself, they rent it or pay in time or other parameters. Saas provides you with a completed product that is run and managed by the service provider. In most cases, people referring to Software as a Service are referring to end-user applications. With a SaaS offering you do not have to think about how the service is maintained or how the underlying infrastructure is managed; you only need to think about how you will use that particular piece software. A common example of a SaaS application is web-based email where you can send and receive email without having to manage feature additions to the email product or maintaining the servers and operating systems that the email program is running on.
Although Cloud comes with the utmost levels to flexibility and scalability, there is considerable talk about how efficient can cloud computing be to help reduce capital expenses; however is is less likely with traditional Publishing companies to shift completely to Cloud. Cloud opens the doors to the greatest opportunities for media companies where there is is content storage, media processing and distribution services co located. There is a lot to weigh in on this so on our next article we plan to discuss the challenges for working with cloud.
Image Courtesy : ComputerWorld Columbia
