*Camunda Platform 8, our cloud-native solution for process orchestration, launched in April 2022. Images and supporting documentation in this post may reflect an earlier version of our cloud and software solutions.
BT Media and Broadcast is a leading global media services provider, distributing video and file-based content to companies like NBC, Universal, Fox, and others for more than 60 years. BT Media and Broadcast’s global media network plays a key role in the contribution of live television content, connecting cameras, program feeds, and satellites to create and distribute content to viewers of more than 500 media production companies.
To ensure its global media network continues to deliver low-latency, high-quality video for its customers and their viewers, BT Media and Broadcast has prioritized the automation of physical media functions and services critical for next-generation media companies.
Ajit Dani, solutions architect at BT Media and Broadcast, spoke at CamundaCon about the impact of process automation, and highlighted how Camunda has helped the media service provider build a new, even more powerful global media network.
The Vena Project: Building a New Network
Eleven years after the initial BT Media and Broadcast content distribution network was built, the company set a goal of introducing an even stronger network to meet the demands of a larger, more distributed subscriber base while continuing to move content of the highest possible quality. This new network, the Vena network, was intended to improve concept-to-market times for customers and convert many of the manual processes required by the network into automated ones. As Dani said, “we set a goal of transforming and building a shiny new network to help us solve problems.”
Previously, BT Media and Broadcast deployed off-the-shelf software to implement orchestrations and manage its content distribution network, with many processes still requiring manual intervention. But the company had a vision of an agile orchestration that could continue to be customized in a long-term effort to build more efficient and automated processes. It soon became apparent that building orchestrations and workflow processes in-house was the best way forward for BT Media and Broadcast on its mission to build a new network.
“Because of the bespoke nature of our requirements, we found it was best to build these systems in-house as opposed to taking in vendor products,” Dani said.
The ultimate goal of the Vena Project was clear – to build an automated, programmable network that will deliver the highest possible quality to customers. To achieve this level of customization and configuration, BT Media and Broadcast needed a customizable solution.
Automating and Optimizing: BT Media and Broadcast Leverages Camunda
Having years of experience in attempting to implement off-the-shelf software solutions, Dani knew his company needed the ability to build customizable, automated workflows in order to achieve its goals for the new network. To effectively collaborate with designers and developers across the company and build automated processes that optimize performance and scalability, BT Media and Broadcast turned to Camunda.
Camunda Platform 7 now provides BT Media and Broadcast with the design-time and runtime functions that enable collaboration between the enterprise, network designers, and developers. This improved connectivity between both teams and technology has allowed for a much faster development cycle, which means a quicker ability to apply configurations onto the new and improved network.
“A product manager or designer can effectively start testing different service variations. We no longer need to develop code to deliver different service variations. It can just be a rule in the DMN… This has really helped us speed up our development cycle.”
The reusability of tasks built with Camunda Platform 7 allowed for rapid development of features across multiple microservices for BT Media and Broadcast, while the visualization of workflows enabled by Camunda also became an integral part of the success of The Vena Project.
“Camunda gives you a design time and runtime function. Since the workflows are visual, you can get network designers and software designers together, and it becomes a good discussion point. You can literally draw out the processes,” Dani said.
Looking to the Future with Camunda
Successfully building an even stronger network, and automating countless manual processes, was a major accomplishment for Dani and BT Media and Broadcast. Building a low-latency content distribution network that’s reliable for some of the most popular TV channels in the world is an accomplishment that impacts the lives of millions, if not billions, of people.
In order to continue to maintain its broadcast-quality network, scalability and network customization remain priorities for the company. With the help of process automation and support from Camunda, Dani feels his team is fully equipped to adapt.
“With Camunda, we get support… We can have sessions with a team to help implement and optimize our workflows. This is key for the service-level agreement we offer to our customers.”
Ready for results? Get started with a Camunda free trial and experience some of the possibilities process automation can deliver to your organization.