The IABM has unveiled the result of a major initiative that is designed to aid both technology vendors and buyers in developing their technology and business strategies: the Technology and Trends Roadmap.
Sharing roadmaps has become a fundamental requirement in the new collaborative environment as point sales are increasingly being replaced with long-term partnerships between tech suppliers and buyers. Both sides need to be confident that their ideas and vision for the future are closely aligned to form the basis of a successful long-term relationship that enhances business opportunities for both parties. Until now, there has been no common framework for the roadmaps that express this, with every vendor and end-user creating their own from scratch – and inevitably based on a different set of assumptions. IABM does not expect its Technology and Trends Roadmap to be adopted wholesale, but rather sees it as a blueprint for common understanding which can be customized to each company’s exact requirements.
The IABM put together an industry wide group of members and technology buyers to build the roadmap. It incorporates the major current and unfolding technologies and trends, which are mapped onto the standard technology adoption curve which ranges from bleeding edge to commodity in each of the five main blocks of the BaM Content Chain: Create, Produce, Manage, Publish, Monetize. In some cases, they may be on different areas of the adoption curve at the same time – for example, an early adopter in one and mature in another. At a glance, viewers can see the 14 main technologies/trends and where they fit on the technology adoption curve. By zooming in for more details the viewer can read the synopsis that includes a brief commentary on the highlights.
The Roadmap’s structure allows new areas to be added and adoption maturity to be simply updated over time. The 14 technologies and trends are grouped into families; for example, Compute includes CPU, GPU, FPGA and Buss Architectures; and Delivery includes 5G, DVB, ATSC and OTT.
Cloud
Storage
Compute
AI/ML- Analytics
Imaging
Immersive
Blockchain
Security
Remote Production
Virtualization
Transport & Networking
Delivery
Super Trends
IoT
The IABM sees two main uses for creating and distributing a common industry roadmap:
Company Internal – giving both board members and executives a common view of the industry. This gives the CTO a strong reference or ‘springboard’ to further add in their own company’s unique expertise to produce a company-specific roadmap which will typically map into company quarters/years.
Company External – when presenting to customers and end-users, there is currently no starting point, no reference to begin. Having a common industry roadmap may not provide 100% buy-in by every end-user, however it does give a common industry consensus that sets the stage for each company’s distinctive roadmap. This in turn becomes a key driver of strategic decision making for high-level plans that need to be articulated in the new world of partnerships.
“One of the constantly moving challenges in our industry is not only keeping up with all the new technology trends, but also having a deep enough dive to understand what is truly relevant and not simply just a ‘fad’,” explained IABM CTO, Stan Moote, who has been driving the development of the Technology and Trends Roadmap. “Our industry poured 25% of hard-earned revenue back into R&D in the last half of 2018 - so every penny spent needs to be as close to a sure bet as possible. End-users also have a similar issue understanding which technology to bet on, what they can’t live without – the ‘must haves’ - and which will capture more market share for them, as well as providing a path of profitable growth. The Technology and Trends Roadmap will help address these fundamental business questions for everyone involved with broadcast and media technology.”
Peter White, IABM CEO, said: “We see creative collaboration as central to success for our industry and we have launched a number of initiatives aimed at fostering this over the last 18 months. The Technology and Trends Roadmap is another large step forward in nurturing the partnerships that will drive all our futures. As with the BaM Content Chain®, it is also a ‘living’ concept that can provide a secure basis for business decisions not just now, but way into the future too.”
Visit the IABM website at https://www.theiabm.org/media-and-entertainment-technology-and-trends-roadmap/ to get your copy of the IABM Technology and Trends Roadmap.
