-- 2020 Storage Predictions: Invisible Storage
When it comes to media archives most people want to store lots, never have to manage it, and certainly never have to worry about data migration. Oh, and also to pay very little in the meantime.
So in making my 2020 storage predictions I've focused on that rather than NVMe, computational storage, storage class management and intent based storage management. To be quite honest, I love those technical aspects; but I don't think it's a day to day concern.
Articles about NVMe belong to the storage geeks whereas Invisible Storage is for those who just want something that works. Invisible Storage is for the many not the few (if they even know it), and Invisible Storage is the theme of Object Matrix's 2020 storage predictions.
--
2020: Three Good News Storage Trends
-- Prediction 1. Invisible Storage: Services
Ready-to-roll services are becoming mainstream and will develop out quickly in 2020. Suppliers who provide just one component will become for very bespoke workflows only.
Multiple services are now available to not just be able to store media assets into faceless buckets, but also open those assets up for usage. These workflows go beyond safekeeping of data, but also include workflows such as search, editing, previewing, collaboration, etc. It's a bright future for individual post house, broadcaster or practically anyone with a media workflow: workflows including storage that just work.
And, whilst larger broadcasters are trying to build more complex and bespoke service based workflows that include on-prem and cloud services, many other media companies are signing up to off-the-shelf service solutions made ready-to-roll for the Creative industry.
Suppliers: Object Matrix, DropBox, Adobe; and more.
-- Prediction 2. Invisible Storage: Hybrid Storage
What people like about the cloud low management easy expansion data services opex pricing plus hybrid needs to extend to on-prem as well. The good news is the adoption of hybrid is accelerating and will continue to in 2020.
The cloud often provides an invisible storage service, but, can: ease of management ease of storage expansion seamless data services ease of never having to migrate data again ability to automatically copy data from location to location be extended to on-prem?
The good news is that in 2020 an increasing number of solutions are available that provide some if not all of these attributes.
For instance most HSM tools can now migrate from on-prem to cloud and back again, global namespace software can virtualise the asset's location if the global namespace's interfaces are used to access the assets . And, in the case of on-prem object storage, a full range of invisible storage services can be achieved right where you need to access use your assets.
In the year 2020, the year of invisible storage, we predict a great rise in Creatives seeking solutions that provide cloud like simplicity but with the speed of on-prem access, the pricing of on-prem and the ability to seamlessly link into hybrid workflows.
Suppliers: HSM providers, Global namespace providers, object storage providers.
-- Prediction 3. The Slow Migration from LTO to Continue
LTO continues to hold many media archives that could simply be better searched, accessed, reused and montised if they were on faster access storage. AI can now better analyse assets. Organisations the world over are realising this and that's why the move away from LTO is accelerating.
I've got nothing against LTO as a cheap medium to store assets that will never be looked at again but everything against LTO if the assets need to be read-back even semi-regularly or if the assets need to be analysed, searched, or generally kept for a long period of time (since then they will need to go through migration processes). Speaking recently to an owner of a major media archive with 1.5m film assets on tape, even being able to get that film digitised and then to run image recognition and speech-to-text is a major headache and hurdle. The last thing they want to do is to put those assets back into a system that will become outdated every few years, or into a system that makes it hard to analyse and re-analyse the assets.
--
2020: Three Worrying Storage Trends
-- Prediction 1: Cloud Service Ransomware
An increased level of noise from media companies who have made bad cloud investments due to unexpectedly high and ongoing costs and due to the difficulty of exit.
At a recent technical forum for the industry a TV broadcaster CTO lamented that cloud services are becoming both expensive to commence due to set up fees , expensive to use due to egress / download fees, and almost impossible to exit from due to restrictive contracts. In short, cloud services can quickly become ransomware, holding your assets but with non-stop fees.
Of course, a cloud service that is time-share accessed can be an extremely efficient. Paying just for when you use a cloud service allows the service provider to split the costs, e.g., for CPU time, amongst many customers. However, a storage service is a 24/7 usage requirement and comes with a significant overhead for egress. The benefits are much more limited.
Worryingly, many large cloud providers only offer sensible pricing with restrictive contracts that effectively lock the customer into that service for years to come. In a changing world, lock-in is a very dangerous strategy.
-- Prediction 2: Global Namespace and Digital Asset Management Vendor lock-in
Keeping media assets is valueless if you can't find them. Many software vendors create very proprietary, difficult to share and difficult to migrate from databases, and thus create vendor lock-in. There appears to be little industry move towards open standards that would stop t
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
07/08/2025
July 8 2025, 22:30 (PDT) Tata Motors & Dolby Bring Dolby Atmos to Harrier.ev, R...
15/07/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
15/07/2025
L3Harris put its CORVUS-RAVEN counter-small UAS capability into the hands of soldiers at VANAHEIM, showcasing its ability to provide passive signal detect, enha...
15/07/2025
Netflix Viewing Up 13.5% vs. May, Represents 42% of Monthly Gain for Streaming
...
15/07/2025
SAN FRANCISCO and BENGALARU, India Sangeeta Chakraborty has been named chief revenue officer at Amagi, a cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) technology pro...
15/07/2025
As part of its mandate, the Advanced Television Systems Committee the U.S. organization tasked with developing advanced broadcast TV standards promotes ATSC 3.0...
15/07/2025
QuickLink, the leading global provider of multi-camera video productions and remote contributions, announces the launch of two innovative control panels Studi...
15/07/2025
Chris Kontopanos has joined leading high-quality microphone solutions manufacturer, DPA Microphones, as the company's new Regional Sales Manager for the Mid...
15/07/2025
Magnifi by VideoVerse, a global leader in AI-powered video automation, has launched a major platform upgrade built to simplify live and archival video editing f...
15/07/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will preview its latest innovations at IBC2025, Stand 7.B21. This year's showcase highlights how...
15/07/2025
IBC2025 is set to transform the onsite experience for its global attendees with the launch of a pioneering new feature: full integration of Amsterdam's GVB ...
15/07/2025
Music, sport and technology collided in spectacular fashion as ASB GlassFloor powered the debut of Beats N Buckets, Germany's first Basketball meets Hip-Ho...
15/07/2025
The Collectv, the Emmy award-winning broadcast solutions and workflows consultancy - and winner of Broadcast Tech's Team of the Year is delighted to announc...
15/07/2025
SipRadius, the expert in secure, low latency media transport, will showcase how broadcasters and media companies can take control of fragmented IP workflows at ...
15/07/2025
Appear, the global leader in live production technology, today announced its strategic partnership with beIN ASIA PACIFIC, a leading multi-platform sports media...
15/07/2025
Company marks 15 years of innovation at the show
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and monetization at scale, will return to IBC (Hall 1, Stand F83. RAI, Amster...
15/07/2025
New software solutions extend trusted timing measurement across broadcast, venue, and professional AV applications
Hitomi Broadcast, the market leader in audi...
15/07/2025
SHENZHEN, China Telycam has added control options for its portfolio of pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras with a new plug-in for Elgato's Stream Deck family of con...
15/07/2025
MELVILLE, N.Y. Chyron said its Chyron LIVE cloud-native live production solution has successfully completed the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Foundational Technical...
15/07/2025
PHILADELPHIA The Xumo streaming platform joint venture between Comcast and Charter has announced the nationwide launch of a new line of Xumo TVs from Westinghou...
15/07/2025
LONGMONT, Colo. DPA Microphones said Chris Kontopanos has joined the microphone solutions provider as its new regional sales manager, Mid-Atlantic....
15/07/2025
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO OR TO ANY PERSON LOCATED OR RESIDENT IN THE UNIT...
15/07/2025
News Corp Authorizes New $1 Billion Stock Repurchase Program and Intends to Acce...
15/07/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Announces the Start of Production of Los secretos de l...
15/07/2025
Harmonic's Hybrid, AI-Powered and Live Sports Streaming Innovations are Key ...
15/07/2025
The well-known and well-loved 4099 has been completely revamped. It features amazing CORE+ technology, which eliminates distortion and extends dynamic range, a ...
15/07/2025
Comscore Partners with HyphaMetrics to Launch Advanced Person-Level Audience Mea...
15/07/2025
Peak audiences of over half a million tune into both Kerry v Tyrone and Donegal ...
15/07/2025
PROTON Announces Production Facility Expansion Ahead of IBC2025 posted: 15/07/2025
Proton Announces Production Facility Expansion Ahead of IBC2025
Alongs...
15/07/2025
Submissions for NVIDIA's Plug and Play: Project G-Assist Plug-In Hackathon a...
14/07/2025
The Royal Moroccan Air Force hosted a C-130 award ceremony with L3Harris Technologies President of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Jason Lambert a...
14/07/2025
UK launch set for September, following on from recent US and Germany releases
London - UK, July 14, 2025 - Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, da...
14/07/2025
SHENZHEN, China Telycam has added control options for its portfolio of pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras with a new plug-in for Elgato's Stream Deck family of con...
14/07/2025
The awards are open to IBC2025 show exhibitors and offer a valuable platform for companies to raise awareness for the new products and solutions they will be la...
14/07/2025
Clear-Com is excited to announce a significant expansion of the award-winning Arcadia Central Station with new software updates. Together, these releases dram...
14/07/2025
Grass Valley and Daktronics today announced a strategic technology partnership that unites Grass Valley's live production expertise with Daktronics' lea...
14/07/2025
Cloud playout solutions provider, Veset, and swXtch.io, provider of cloud-based multicast and reliable networking solutions, are partnering to deliver multicast...
14/07/2025
Tintri , a DDN subsidiary and leader in AI-powered data management solutions, today announces a game-changing and award-winning refresh to its global Partner P...
14/07/2025
HighField AI, the broadcast industry's first agentic and multimodal AI platform for automating graphics production, is now commercially available. Developed...
14/07/2025
Encompass Digital Media has today announced that it has been delivering a complex global services project for DAZN, the world s leading sports entertainment pla...
14/07/2025
MASV (massive.io), the fastest, most reliable large file transfer platform trusted by over 10,000 global organizations, announced today it will showcase its nex...
14/07/2025
Calrec is introducing a series of usability, customisation and system enhancements across the entire range of Argo consoles at IBC 2025, on Stand 8.C47. Look ou...
14/07/2025
Fincons Group, IT business consultancy and systems integrator company with more than 40 years of experience in the market, is proud to announce a new engagement...
14/07/2025
Intinor returns to IBC to present the latest updates to its Direkt series. A key development on show is Intinor Direkt Management (IDM), a web-based interface f...
14/07/2025
Back to All News
Trailer Out Now! Netflix and YRF Entertainment's Mandala ...
14/07/2025
Back to All News
25 Former Athletes Seek Redemption in Final Draft,' Japan...
-- 2020 Storage Predictions: Invisible Storage
