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Google Cloud Platform > Case Studies > ARD: Transforming Public Broadcasting with Google Cloud
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ARD: Transforming Public Broadcasting with Google Cloud

Technology Category
  • Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms
  • Sensors - Camera / Video Systems
Applicable Industries
  • Cement
  • Construction & Infrastructure
Applicable Functions
  • Logistics & Transportation
  • Product Research & Development
Use Cases
  • Construction Management
  • Infrastructure Inspection
Services
  • Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services
  • System Integration
The Challenge

ARD, the world’s largest public-service broadcaster network, was facing challenges in keeping up with changes in how users consume content. The organization's previous hosted data center infrastructure was 10 years old and had a monolithic architecture, which resulted in a development turnaround cycle of three months. Video content was distributed without being tailored to particular devices. In 2018, ARD decided to change the monolithic infrastructure for its video delivery platform to improve the user experience, regardless of how users were watching or listening. The challenge was to build a new platform that could cover all touchpoints, support a truly digital-first strategy, and improve the user experience on a global scale.

About The Customer

ARD (Association of Public Broadcasting Corporations in the Federal Republic of Germany) is a public service broadcast organization founded in 1950. Its mission is to inform, educate, advise, and entertain. With a budget of €6.9 billion and more than 22,000 employees, the ARD network consists of nine regional broadcasters and the international state-funded broadcaster Deutsche Welle. ARD is responsible for approximately 250 hours of television and 1,500 hours of radio programming daily. The organization represents nine self-governing regional broadcasters across 16 federal states in Germany.

The Solution

ARD chose to build its new platform on Google Cloud, due to its range of tools and services. The organization adopted a cloud-native approach, building a new infrastructure for its media platform, Mediathek, using Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE). ARD also took an API-first approach and developed an event-driven architecture that offers better data integration. The organization used Google Cloud managed services, running managed MongoDB clusters and using Memorystore for managed Redis. For content delivery, Apigee provided API management, enabling easy distribution across its network, while Firebase offered user management functionality. This new infrastructure allowed ARD to easily scale its services up and down according to demand, enabling the organization to focus on more value-driven development.

Operational Impact

  • The migration to Google Cloud and the adoption of an API-centered approach transformed ARD's development process. The organization moved from a monolithic to a microservices mindset, supporting a more agile way of working with distributed teams. The new infrastructure also enabled a more tailored user experience across devices. ARD consolidated its services, moving 150 products into five key platforms, and plans to have ARD Audiothek fully hosted on Google Cloud in 2020. The organization is now able to test new ideas and launch updates much faster, moving from three-month development turnaround cycles to a new release into production every day. The cloud-native solution on Google Cloud has developed more trust among ARD's developers and set the organization apart.

Quantitative Benefit

  • Increased views from 50 million to 100 million annually since migrating to Google Kubernetes Engine on Google Cloud

  • Reduced time to market for updates, with a new release into production every day instead of every year

  • Enabled a more tailored user experience across devices with an API-centered infrastructure managed using Apigee

Related Case Studies.

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IoT System for Tunnel Construction
The Zenitaka Corporation ('Zenitaka') has two major business areas: its architectural business focuses on structures such as government buildings, office buildings, and commercial facilities, while its civil engineering business is targeted at structures such as tunnels, bridges and dams. Within these areas, there presented two issues that have always persisted in regard to the construction of mountain tunnels. These issues are 'improving safety" and "reducing energy consumption". Mountain tunnels construction requires a massive amount of electricity. This is because there are many kinds of electrical equipment being used day and night, including construction machinery, construction lighting, and ventilating fan. Despite this, the amount of power consumption is generally not tightly managed. In many cases, the exact amount of power consumption is only ascertained when the bill from the power company becomes available. Sometimes, corporations install demand-monitoring equipment to help curb the maximum power demanded. However, even in these cases, the devices only allow the total volume of power consumption to be ascertained, or they may issue warnings to prevent the contracted volume of power from being exceeded. In order to tackle the issue of reducing power consumption, it was first necessary to obtain an accurate breakdown of how much power was being used in each particular area. In other words, we needed to be able to visualize the amount of power being consumed. Safety, was also not being managed very rigorously. Even now, tunnel construction sites often use a 'name label' system for managing entry into the work site. Specifically, red labels with white reverse sides that bear the workers' names on both sides are displayed at the tunnel work site entrance. The workers themselves then flip the name label to the appropriate side when entering or exiting from the work site to indicate whether or not they are working inside the tunnel at any given time. If a worker forgets to flip his or her name label when entering or exiting from the tunnel, management cannot be performed effectively. In order to tackle the challenges mentioned above, Zenitaka decided to build a system that could improve the safety of tunnel construction as well as reduce the amount of power consumed. In other words, this new system would facilitate a clear picture of which workers were working in each location at the mountain tunnel construction site, as well as which processes were being carried out at those respective locations at any given time. The system would maintain the safety of all workers while also carefully controlling the electrical equipment to reduce unnecessary power consumption. Having decided on the concept, our next concern was whether there existed any kind of robust hardware that would not break down at the construction work site, that could move freely in response to changes in the working environment, and that could accurately detect workers and vehicles using radio frequency identification (RFID). Given that this system would involve many components that were new to Zenitaka, we decided to enlist the cooperation of E.I.Sol Co., Ltd. ('E.I.Sol') as our joint development partner, as they had provided us with a highly practical proposal.
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