Should you consider an alternative cloud?

Webinar Preview: "How OTTs Save Money and Improve Performance by Streaming Video on the Alternative Cloud" Register Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/1016128083481/WN_VFPGDEyjQJuA5-ebTIsbGg

I've spent the last few years getting much deeper on the technology that drives video streaming services. This includes app development platforms, encoders, big data systems, content management systems, video players, and subscriber management and billing platforms, among others. But the ever-present backdrop is the cloud platform that hosts many of these capabilities and provides essential processing power and storage for content.

Everyone is familiar with the cloud "big three" of AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, but how many know about alternative clouds such as Linode, DigitalOcean, and Vultr? Why would you even consider leaving the safety and reliability of the Big Three?

Well for one, you might find them more cost effective for your business. Alternative clouds such as Linode might not only be cheaper, but just as important, you might find their cost structure much more predictable. This is because video streaming is bursty and never predictable, especially if you have vast fluctuations in viewer engagement (over time, geography, demo, etc.) or if your service involves live-streaming (such as news, sports, events, concerts, etc.). It would be really nice to have a predictable cost structure and not get a huge unexpected bill at the end of the month. What if you could control expenses with virtual machines that come with pools of bandwidth included in the cost along with additional bandwidth offered at a flat rate?

What about scaling performance and reliability? You'd be surprised how much alternative clouds have caught up, in some cases exceeded, in this department. The key is to be able to programmatically deploy and manage infrastructure with open APIs and open source configuration management solutions. It's also important to optimize routing and peering through a high-speed global network and worldwide data centers. We'll be exploring these requirements with real customers during my webinar.

How about support responsiveness? This the area where I hear some of the biggest complaints about the Big Three. Especially if you are a smaller or mid-size customer-- you just might not get the same fast support as the bigger customers.

So, I encourage you to register for my upcoming "alternative cloud" webinar. I'll be joined by MIXR's Garvan Doyle and Blaze Cerovcec, Red5 Pro's Chris Allen, and Linode's Mike Maney.

March 24th at 1 EST PM (New York time).

#ottvideo #Video #streamingvideo #streaming #ott #streamingmedia #aws #azure #cloud