Imagine spending millions – and months – putting together the best-of-breed components to build what you think is the perfect OTT streaming platform ever. You’ve sourced from five different vendors, integrated all the components and tested them, and are ready to go. On the big day, you launch the service… and just a few hours later, something goes terribly wrong. You contact your suppliers – all five of them – and each one lays the blame on another. There’s no consensus on whose fault it is, or on who should – or can – fix the problem.
Arrgghh!
Such a nightmare situation is in fact quite plausible when you use multiple vendors to build an OTT platform. At each different component interface, something could go wrong. And when it does… who’s to blame?
How great would it be if you had just one supplier for your whole OTT platform – and knew exactly who to turn to for help?
That is, in fact, now possible by getting all the components of your OTT platform as a service, from a single supplier. Let’s explore how this helps.
1. Simplify Operations with SaaS
First, the obvious. It makes life so much simpler. You just have one vendor to contend with – so if there are any glitches, you know, and they know, that they must fix it.
But beyond that, you cut the whole integration and testing phase: It’s already been done. You’re not cobbling together a hodge-podge of different components to create a solution; you’re buying a ready-made service that works. All the system’s components have been designed, integrated, and tested to work together, as a service. And that goes not only for the initial deployment: All upgrades will also be guaranteed to work in tandem, making the system future-proof.
If you’re from Argentina, you’ll appreciate another advantage of going SaaS. You’re probably waiting six to nine months to import hardware, due to restrictions on access to foreign currency. With a SaaS model, where your software runs in the cloud, hardware imports become a thing of the past.
2. Reduce Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
How much do you spend on the human resources that monitor, maintain, and replace the servers your OTT platform runs on?
A lot.
With a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, you get rid of all that. Yes, the SaaS service runs in the cloud, which means that infrastructure, compute, storage, and network are all managed. But it doesn’t stop there. SaaS also includes everything wrapped around this, including power, air-conditioning, security, hardware replacement, and the list goes on. When you calculate the total cost of ownership and factor in all these on top of the operational savings, you can really see the benefit.
3. Flex Your OTT Platform
If you’ve already transferred your OTT platform – or parts of it – to the cloud, then SaaS is just a logical extension of that. But it gives you even more flexibility – not only technically, but also financially. With SaaS, you don’t pay it all upfront. You transition from a CapEx to an OpEx model – effectively reducing your initial investment while enjoying the flexibility to scale your service up or down as needed, for example, to meet short-term demands for sports tournaments or the likes with Occasional Use channels.
4. Save Your System on a Shoestring
You can also use a SaaS OTT platform as a low-cost insurance policy. If you consider how much you are spending to back-up your platform today, with on-premises dual-site redundancy, you’ll realize that you can protect your business from adversity for a much lower fee. Using a SaaS model, you can build a business continuity plan that truly leverages the benefit of the cloud, is designed to be elastic, and can scale from zero to hundreds of channels in minutes. This results in a great Disaster Recovery solution – which effectively is your low-cost insurance policy.
Introducing the Ultimate SaaS: Ateme+
If you’re looking for an end-to-end OTT delivery in a SaaS model, Ateme has you covered with a true SaaS offering that gives you full control over how you operate it: Ateme+. No backend wiring is needed, and your SaaS OTT platform can be up and running in just an hour from first login. It’s that simple.
But the best thing? Once it’s up and running, it’s very easy to operate, with a single-pane-of-glass, What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (WYSIWYG) interface.
The service comes with rich features, including a push/pull packager, HLS and DASH support, as well as CMAF, enabling ultra-low latency. It can feed in to the CDN or multiple CDNs of your choice and can easily scale up from one to one thousand channels, giving you ultimate flexibility.
Get Sassy with SaaS
Whether you’re ready to take the plunge for your entire OTT platform, or just want to dip your toes with Occasional Use channels, it’s time to get sassy and start playing with SaaS to streamline your operations and cut costs. Ateme+ offers a compelling alternative to traditional solutions. Together, we can transform the way you deliver content and ensure a brighter future for your streaming services.
Yet while it makes perfect sense to marry the SaaS model, it can be challenging to rearrange your budgets for an OpEx type of expenditure. How do you overcome the challenge of rearranging your budget for an OpEx model? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
Ateme will be at Nextv Series Latin America from November 1 to 2. If you’ll also be there, let’s have a chat!