MUMBAI: Cloud-based technology will empower consumers and has the potential to change the way content is consumed. This was the underlying theme of the panel discussion on the ‘Digital Entertainment with Connected Devices and Cloud Based Services‘ at Ficci Frames 2012.
For starters, Cloud Computing is a web-based service which allows users to access content from anywhere by tapping into the vast resources of the Internet.
Reliance Entertainment Digital Business COO Manish Agarwal said the company’s subscription-based video-on-demand service Bigflix is run completely on cloud technology which allows consumers to watch video seamlessly from any device, anywhere.
UTV Interactive Sr. VP Sameer Pitalwalla said UTV, which produces a lot of movies every year in addition to the content that it produces for its various channels, is among the few companies to digitise its content.
Pitalwalla further stated that the content produced by the company is gradually uploaded on its YouTube channels besides Facebook, which has become the defacto destination to access and exchange content.
Adobe Systems South Asia Regions MD Umang Bedi said the company has transitioned to cloud technology as the consumers are asking for it. The company has created Adobe Creative Cloud, a creative hub, which allows users to explore, create, publish, and share work using Adobe services.
Tata Communications Head- Sales, Media & Entertainment Richard Craig Mcfeely said the cloud service will help Indian content owners in a big way to monetise their content well in international markets that have sizeable NRI population.
One sentiment that the panellists echoed was that the cloud technology will help content providers understand their consumer preferences as cloud stores data about user which allows them to provide content that is relevant to their tastes.
“In simple terms, cloud knows the person and will help to dissect what the consumer wants. From consumers perspective it’s about the content that they want,” Bedi said.
According to a study conducted by research firm IDC for Microsoft, the cloud technology is projected to create two million jobs in India by 2015 and will generate nearly 14 million new jobs worldwide in the same period. The study also estimates revenues from cloud innovation to reach $1.1 trillion per year by 2015.
