To the joy of delivery managers everywhere, media technology and agile development methodologies have reduced the need for hard launches and enabled lower risk approaches for the implementation of new services. But the requirement for big bang' launches hasn't completely gone away. We explore some techniques to avoid getting burnt in the bang [blast] and enjoy a trouble-free transition to service.
As the media technology industry has become more IT' and less old school broadcast' centric over the last 20 years the approach to project delivery has benefitted as much as the commoditisation of the technology.
An agile and incremental project implementation approach provides rapid benefits-realisation with low risk. An approach which elaborates on a base end-to-end capability, or a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) allows for hypotheses to be tested quickly and for requirements to emerge through an iterative delivery. In terms of outcomes, providing the overall vision for a project is well defined, there is no better approach.
With the increasing accessibility of cloud-based infrastructure, operators regularly plan projects based on an incremental service migration rather than a launch'. In this context, transition to service is continuous and undisruptive. Blue Lucy are great proponents of incremental migrations and soft launches of new services. But there are inevitably cases, such as move to a new studio facility, where a big bang' launch is unavoidable.
BANG The big bang transition to service can be terrifying for delivery managers, especially for established television services on which every freeze frame, wrong package and startled presenter will be noticed by a hawk-eyed audience of thousands.
Further pressure may come from immovable deadlines such as the date by which a building needs to be vacated or project sponsors who wish to see a timely return on investment.
Here's some advice on how to avoid getting burned on the big day, and the period that follows.
Plan the Launch from the Outset At the highest-level, break down a large project or programme into three logical and overlapping phases of:
Define and Design (DD)
Build and Deploy (BD)
Training and Transition to Service (TTS)
All programmes are different but typically the phases are of approximately equally duration and cost. Each phase is also of equal importance and robbing' funds from the TTS phase during the earlier phases is a common mistake which should be avoided. New tools, which operators are unfamiliar with and cause error, will quickly negate a diligent design and build. Ring-fence, to use government parlance, the allocated budget in all phases. Tech is not more essential than training - the operation must come first.
Training and Operational Shakedown The training plans should be developed early, immediately after the definition and design phase, during the build phase. A good starting point for this is to reuse the workflows defined during the design.
Training approach and materials should be contextual, operationally focused and framed on user journeys. Training should also be system focused, avoid breaking down the training by technology. A system may breakdown into specific technologies but the operation rarely follows the same pattern.
If possible operational training should take place on the new systems, as opposed to a specific training set-up, as this will assist in the system shakedown. The shakedown (which should shake out any bugs which weren't captured in unit or integration testing) is most effective if it's as live' - as it is in training and rehearsals.
Continually Monitor Status In the weeks running up to a launch, the operational training, system testing and rehearsals will be a busy, and resource intensive, time. Project status monitoring through this period is best focused on the question of readiness: are the operational and technical teams ready? This warrants a checklist. As with many aspects of good project management, the checklist is just common sense with the skill residing in the assessment of the answers to those questions and any resulting action.
Are new operational processes and workflows defined?
Is there a common understanding amongst the operational teams of what the planned launch looks like?
Is the technical solution to support the operation in place? Infrastructure installation complete? What is missing? When will it be available?
Has workflow-based training been undertaken by operational teams on complete and integrated systems?
Are any required operational workarounds or interim processes in place and reliable?
Are the migration processes and roles and responsibilities fully defined?
Is the technical and operational runbook (usually an intranet wiki) in place and up to date?
Are external suppliers and internal technology departments ready for launch?
Are software installations, including any bespoke developments or integrations, complete?
Is testing, shakedown (as live operational testing) and loading complete?
Are the plans for the migration from existing systems in place and robust?
Have system failure and recovery scenarios been exercised?
Have rollback or back-out scenarios been defined and exercised?
Deliver Sustaining, and Sustainable Services The big bang launch is resource intensive and there is invariably a disproportionate focus on launch zero hour. The most experienced operational team will be deployed for the big day and the project delivery team will be on hand to deal with any teething troubles.
That's great for the first day, but do ensure the resource plan extends for whatever period is necessary to transition to an operationally sustainable service. It is no co-incidence that most problems occur when the project team has disbanded a few weeks after an apparently successful launch.
We A
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
02/07/2026
BLAST, a competitive entertainment company focused on esports, has announced more than $133 million in revenue for 2025, representing more than 40% year-over-ye...
02/07/2026
Riedel Communications has announced official SKAARHOJ panel support for SimplyLive production workflows, enabled through the SimplyLive 2.1 release. The integra...
02/07/2026
The Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic has deployed LiveU video-over-bond...
02/07/2026
Gravity Media USA has announced the appointment of Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development, effective July 1, 2026. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Bosto...
02/07/2026
TwelveLabs, a video intelligence company, has announced $100 million in Series B funding co-led by NEA and NAVER Ventures, with participation from Amazon, Radic...
02/07/2026
The Pro Padel League (PPL) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports that will air five PPL championship matches on CNBC during the 2026 season, the...
02/07/2026
LiveLike, a digital fan engagement platform, has announced eight confirmed FIFA ...
02/07/2026
Cobalt Digital has received Future's Best of Show Award, presented by AV Technology at InfoComm 2026, for its blueCORE family of standalone signal processor...
02/07/2026
Synamedia has announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transition...
02/07/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) and Sony Group Corporation have announced an expanded collaboration for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), taking place in Paris, Fra...
02/07/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ( Z') has announced exclusive broadcast and digital rights for the Bundesliga in India for five years, beginning with the...
02/07/2026
An effort uniting News, Sports, Local, and Telemundo, the 50+-camera live produc...
02/07/2026
Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and Ben Wang appe...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Following the successful launch of its inaugural APAC Mentoring Programme last month, the Rise AV APAC Regional Council will bring the conversation around mento...
02/07/2026
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out
Brie Clayton July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Highly mobile camera supports tense and de...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, medi...
02/07/2026
Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversar...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions GmbH, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is acquiring BFE Studio und Medien...
02/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has extended the ingest facility at leading Brazilian sports company LiveMode, work...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
To the joy of delivery managers everywhere, media technology and agile development methodologies have reduced the need for hard launches and enabled lower risk approaches for the implementation of new services. But the requirement for big bang' launches hasn't completely gone away. We explore some techniques to avoid getting burnt in the bang [blast] and enjoy a trouble-free transition to service.
