SES Platform Services: Fast and reliable transfers for playout services and delivery to VOD platforms worldwide

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SES Platform Services, a subsidiary of world-leading satellite operator SES, operates one of Europe’s most modern broadcasting centers and provides a comprehensive range of services that include content management, archiving, preparation for playout and file delivery. As the broadcast industry widely began to adopt file-based workflows, SES was confronted with a request for a file-based transfer mechanism to speed content ingest and reduce delivery times to VOD platforms worldwide, more than File Transfer Protocol (FTP) file delivery could offer. The playout services are particularly time-critical, as consumers await the latest episodes of their favorite shows. Faced with quick deadlines and driven to stay competitive, SES Platform Services required the transfer solution to be fast and also reliable because missing or defective files are unacceptable in this business. As a service provider, SES Platform Services has to tailor the delivery workflow to suit the needs of different customers and their content providers. Thus they were looking for an advanced solution that would enable tight integration into their existing master system and offer the flexibility to accommodate different workflow steps and diverse client requirements.

SES Platform Services is a subsidiary of SES, a world-leading satellite operator. The company operates one of Europe's most modern broadcasting centers and offers a comprehensive range of services. These services include content management, archiving, preparation for playout, and file delivery. As the broadcast industry began to adopt file-based workflows, SES Platform Services faced the challenge of needing a file-based transfer mechanism to speed up content ingest and reduce delivery times to Video On Demand (VOD) platforms worldwide. The company's services are particularly time-critical, as consumers eagerly await the latest episodes of their favorite shows. To stay competitive and meet tight deadlines, SES Platform Services needed a transfer solution that was not only fast but also reliable. Missing or defective files are unacceptable in this business. As a service provider, SES Platform Services needed to tailor the delivery workflow to suit the needs of different customers and their content providers. Therefore, they were looking for an advanced solution that would enable tight integration into their existing master system and offer the flexibility to accommodate different workflow steps and diverse client requirements.

To address all of their transfer requirements, SES Platform Services relies on a suite of products from Aspera including Aspera Connect Server, Aspera Desktop Client and Orchestrator. Aspera Connect Server has been implemented in the SES web platform and browser UI, making it easy for SES’ customers to send in their media files using the free downloadable IBM Connect Browser Plug-in at no charge or their own Aspera Desktop Client. Once customers’ video files are ingested into the MAM, SES provides a variety of services including archiving, file processing, transcoding with metadata, and other content preparations before playout or video and meta data delivery. Customers have access to the digital archive, where they can use the MAM functionality to browse content, edit meta data and perform rough-cut as well as frame accurate editing. As SES has expanded their workflow, the decision to select Aspera Orchestrator for end-to-end workflow automation was an easy one based on their successful use of Aspera Connect Server for basic file transfers over the past several years. Aspera Orchestrator complements their existing in-house workflow engine with automated file delivery into SES’ facilities, enabling SES to combine all internal and external file transfers in one application that is tightly integrated within SES’ diverse environment with evolving requirements.

• Fast transfers: With Aspera, SES Platform Services uploads and delivers huge media files at maximum speed, regardless of file size, transfer distance, or network conditions.
• Aspera ecosystem: By selecting Aspera, SES Platform Services joins an ecosystem of content providers, VOD platforms, and other media partners that are already using Aspera, making it easier to exchange files with them.
• Workflow automation: Aspera Orchestrator offers an easy-to-use interface for defining and monitoring complex workflows.

• SES is able to receive several hundred files, amounting to three terabytes of data, each day from their customers.
• Aspera completes approximately 100 outgoing file transfers to VOD platforms in the US, Germany and around the world daily.