Big demands for big data
Several television series are developing new content at a rapid pace. This requires a place to store not only existing content, but tons of new content as well. As more cable television subscribers cut the cord and content demand increases, technology professionals are faced with the perpetual challenge of scaling storage infrastructures to meet storage requirements as well as extracting value from the volume, velocity and variety of viewer data.
Every time you access any content on the internet – including the article you're reading now – your computer retrieves it by pinging a server housed in a data center. This can be attributed to the work of big data and big data analytics – and the marketers who care about this data.
These little things that go unnoticed by most of us are the work of big data and IT companies. These companies are constantly striving to develop servers, storage systems and other network products that are reliable enough to meet the surging demand for bandwidth-hogging content like HD video.
In order to make big data even bigger, innovators are coming up with solutions that provide unlimited, modular scalability of storage capacity and performance at zero downtime for instant and cost efficient online access to extensive data volumes – a necessity for the inevitable onslaught of cord cutters. New content is constantly being generated and data loads are only getting bigger, making service providers rethink the use of words like "unlimited."
The cable box is the new landline
Cable TV is quickly becoming similar to the home phone/landline many of us had, but never used and eventually got rid of. If you still have a home phone, it's not because you need it, but most likely because it's part of your cable bundle.
The fact of the matter is that most consumers' communication happens on a mobile device via any number of apps, like Facebook, SnapChat, Twitter and Instagram.
The recent popularity of inexpensive streaming services - such as Netflix and Hulu Plus - and devices that beam content to TVs - like Google Chromecast, Roku and Apple TV - lets viewers watch movies and even current-running cable TV shows on-demand without paying high cable fees. Because of this, it has never been easier to cut the cord on cable and rely solely on network-based technologies for first-rate entertainment.
Television networks such as HBO and CBS are also developing content that needs to be stored online, with several other providers likely to join the trend – giving millennials and other demographics alike all the more reason to cut the cord. But as a result, the demand for readily available high-definition content is at an all-time high.
In 2014, a study by Frank N. Magid Associates found that 2.9% of cable TV consumers are very likely to cancel their cable service in the year ahead. That's up from 2.7% last year and 2.2% two years earlier. The numbers are growing slowly but surely, and as more premier providers offer alternative online options, those numbers will undoubtedly spike.
It's safe to say that in the not-so-distant future, it will no longer be about cable, but broadband. Cisco's Visual Network Index (VNI) indicates that by 2018 global consumer video on demand (VoD) traffic will double to the equivalent of six billion DVDs per month. The Cisco VNI also forecasts that in the same time frame, IP video will become 79% of all consumer traffic. Given these predictions, how can Internet providers support the switch from cable to broadband?
All is fair in the cable versus internet war
It's clear that millennials are driving IT, with enterprise IT helping to drive the consumer revolution. As we move forward in this technology-driven world, and continue to enjoy our television and movie content no matter how way we decide to receive it, remember: be nice to your IT guy. Though almost always behind the scenes, they've got all the power in work and in play.
- Robert Ryan is the Chief Innovation Officer at Fujitsu Americas
