Does your workflow play nice with the unexpected?
With labor strikes and government shutdowns in the headlines, a facility owner has to think about unexpected turbulence and what that could mean to them. We’ve been through writers’ and actors’ strikes; transit and food service disputes and weekly protests and rallies that clog up city streets. Are you protected from sudden disruption that could cause loss of business and protracted work stoppage?
Protect Productivity
When working on-prem, a lot of priority is placed on the reliability of connectivity and access to the central server system. Without connection, and without proper access, you can’t work. However, as we saw in the midst of the pandemic, many facilities have no plan for connection and access when workers can’t be on-prem, resulting in an unproductive situation.
The decision that could land you in trouble is putting everything in the cloud. You’ll still need your on-prem system for high-bitrate work, so you’re now doubling your storage footprint – half you own, and half you’re renting. And that rent will never decrease, only increase. The interruptions that caused this situation are likely to bring in less business, so why strap yourself into another large monthly expense?
High-speed access to on-prem storage you already own is key in these situations. Many editors are happily working from home, far away from the facility, with full access to the on-prem storage. Bitrates of 150Mb/sec or higher can be played in real-time from hundreds of miles away, and proxy workflows can be designed for the heavier 4K sources. Facilis Technology offers this type of high-speed access with WANLink direct server connectivity through the internet, and FastCache client-side caching for low bitrate links.
Access Anywhere
If the producer or director can’t make it to the facility to review the latest shoot, you have a few options. Screen share works but requires that an operator on-prem is available to review the content, and schedules can conflict. Using a cloud-based approval tool insists that all the footage or proxies are uploaded prior to viewing. Time and cost could be prohibitive.
The new generation of access tools use an agent installed at the on-prem central storage, and real-time transcoding to provide an appropriate bitrate to a web browser anywhere. Strada.tech is an example of this, and the agent is qualified for use with Facilis HUB shared storage servers. As soon as the source files are ingested to the central storage, they’re available via secure and authenticated access from any web browser. Review of the source material and download of files to the desktop of the remote workstation is provided.
Be Prepared for Downturn
Regardless of the remedies put in place for access when disruption occurs, sometimes business will slow, and expenses have to be managed. This is when it’s critical to have a partnership with your suppliers, that will allow you to pull back on costs for a time, without risking ongoing projects. Holding your assets in the cloud, or on a subscription service that will restrict your access when the contract lapses, will force you to continue paying for services that you can’t charge back due to project sabbatical. The work will return, but how much will you spend in the meantime to keep your data available?
Beware of support and warranty contracts for on-prem storage servers that will charge retroactive fees when re-activating. If you need to stop or slow operations for a year, you don’t want to be responsible for the past year of services to resume support. In the search for new streams of recurring revenue, some on-prem storage providers are even moving toward yearly subscription fees for servers you already purchased, just to stay on support and move up to the latest software version. When that subscription lapses, your infrastructure is bricked.
Stay Calm and Keep Creating
Having good people in your circle that understand the challenges of maintaining a modern post production and content creation workflow will allow you to keep producing even in the rough times. Surround yourself with suppliers and service providers that know the industry and care about your unique needs. Never let anyone treat you like a checkbook. If they’re not willing to work with you on the little stuff, look elsewhere when business improves.