Just the thought of changing the newsroom computer system is enough to make TV executives break a sweat.
How to replace the beating heart of a broadcast news operation while staying on air? Let’s not kid ourselves; it is a daunting task. But the brutal truth is that with legacy systems fast approaching the end of life, broadcasters across the globe are getting closer to the moment open-heart surgery is required.
Changing NRCS is typically done once every 20th years. Those who did it the last time may no longer work at your organization. Where to even begin?
Take a deep breath. They actually do exist, those with the knowledge and experience of successfully replacing out-of-date systems with state-of-the-art technology and modernized workflows.
The Norwegian media-tech company Fonn Group is at the forefront when it comes to guiding broadcasters through complex transformations from legacy newsroom computer systems to modern true cloud-native solutions. Fonn Group has, through its entities, successfully helped brand broadcasters all over the world with significant change projects from the old world to the new.
The Fonn Group companies provide the services and products for a total overhaul of the newsroom design, rundown systems, video collaboration solutions, and production tools.
Kunnusta is the integration partner. Kunnusta has experience and knowledge, from change management through technical implementation, project management, integration, and archive migration.
Dina is a rundown and planning solution that vastly improves legacy editorial workflows and eliminates the need for on-prem hardware and software except for a MOS integration.
Mimir is a video collaboration and production tool. Mimir has production asset management features, archive features, asset management, and object-store features. It integrates with a wide range of AI technologies for automatic metadata enrichment.
Dina and Mimir are built on a serverless Amazon Web Services infrastructure, meaning that Amazon operates the primary hardware, so you won't have to. Both products are Software-as-a-Service, meaning they run from an internet browser without any software installation.
Moreover, the products are built from the ground up on the latest web technology, making them true cloud-native running in the cloud. They are not just cloud-ready, which is legacy software modified to run on some cloud computing infrastructure but still need on-prem hardware.
Being true cloud-native allows for the support provided remotely in a much smoother and more efficient way than with legacy systems. The software supplier can log in, remotely adjust, deploy fixes, and sometimes even deliver projects remotely. It also means continuous deployment, as often as weekly, in addition to legacy systems where there are typically years between updates.
For example, Dina replaced iNews during Covid for New Zealand’s public broadcaster entirely remotely, from a different time zone.
Expensive and risky hardware and software upgrade projects are obsolete with no downtime. The below diagram gives a high-level reason why:
Further to this, here is why we selected this methodology:
- Smaller code changes are simpler (more atomic) and have fewer unintended consequences.
- Fault isolation is simpler and quicker.
- Mean time to resolution (MTTR) is shorter because of the smaller code changes and quicker fault isolation.
- Testability improves due to smaller, specific changes which allow more accurate positive and negative tests.
- Elapsed time to detect and correct production escapes is shorter with a faster rate of release.
- The backlog of non-critical defects is lower because defects are often fixed before other feature pressures arise.
- Upgrades introduce smaller units of change and are less disruptive.
- CI-CD product feature velocity is high, which improves the time spent investigating and patching defects.
- Feature toggles and blue-green deployments enable the seamless, targeted introduction of new product features.
- You can introduce critical changes during non-critical (regional) hours, limiting the potential impact of a deployment problem.
- Release cycles are shorter with targeted releases, and this blocks fewer features that aren’t ready for release.
- End-user involvement and feedback during continuous development lead to usability improvements. You can add new requirements based on customers’ needs on a daily basis.
Do you want to learn more? Please get in touch with us.
Visit us at the NAB Show 2023 in the North Hall at stand N1809. Book a demo here.
