Profile
Express Media Group, a part of At Television Media Networks, has a variety of distribution formats including paper, electronic media and digital news delivery. Being under one group, they rely on 12 different sites that combine these products together to provide 3 electronic channels, 3 published papers with editions in 12 different cities and 2 digital news platforms.
Challenges
Due to the increasing size of media files, and having to collaborate on, as well as deliver, print and electronic media across different locations, Express Media Group relies on the efficient and reliable movement of data between locations to meet strict deadlines. Using FTP, they commonly would be under pressure to meet deadlines. Since they were at the mercy of the protocol, which commonly suffers from packet loss and latency, this meant slow transfers and potentially missed deadlines.
International media houses also provide Express Media Group with simulcast content. This content is varied and up to 70 GB per piece of content. To enhance their workflow, Express Media Group needed to receive all this content as soon as possible in order to make it ready for their scheduled on-air time.
Another challenge they faced concerned their ability to deal with the multitude of different versions for each piece of content. Additionally, human interaction occasionally led to critical mistakes, resulting in redundant transfers. Express Media Group generates content across 12 sites which are globally dispersed. The content is then submitted to the Main Site, where software processes it for graphic colour proofing and forwards finished pieces to the appropriate sites across a variety of different cities. Their different electronic channels upload and download content from two different cities, and share content between them. They required all solution that has the ability to automate these processes, removing the need for human interaction and potential errors.
Solutions
To overcome the challenges of sending large files and lack of automation, Express Media Group deployed FileCatalyst Direct Server, FileCatalyst Hot Folder and FileCatalyst’s upload/download client applets.
FileCatalyst Direct provides Express Media Group with the fast file transfer speeds the required. FileCatalyst Direct maximizes their bandwidth (up to 10 Gbps) and guarantees that all of the content the distribute or receive arrives on time.
Results
FileCatalyst Direct and the client application FileCatalyst HotFolder provided Express Media Group with the multi-gigabit transfer speed and automation features they required.
Yasir Irfat, Senior Manager of IT for Express Media Group, stated, “When the challenges of file size, transfer speed and delivery time appeared in our workflow, they were easily resolved with FileCatalyst’s solutions. With bandwidth optimization, FileCatalyst utilizes every bit of our VSAT medium. All we had to do was design the structure properly, and after that, the solution works with minimal administrative oversight. We never worry about our product choice, as FileCatalyst’s roadmap always covers whatever difficulties we may face in the near future.”