NEWBURY, ENGLAND—2017 is poised to be a big year for IP, if the findings from Snell Advanced Media’s Global IP Barometer study pan out. Based on the responses from 1,000 media industry professionals from Europe and North America, SAM’s study put a particular focus on the timeline for IP’s transition, the internal skills gap, and industry and technology concerns.
According to the study, a majority of respondents in both North America and Europe are preparing to begin IP production infrastructure projects in the next nine months; specifically 64 percent of Europeans and 56 percent of Americans. Over the next two years 54 percent of Europeans and 50 percent of Americans are expected to move to an IP production workflow. The report indicates that this IP migration is driven by the desire of improved flexibility and reduced cost of infrastructure, with both earning 35 percent of the response. Meanwhile, respondents listed migrating media studios to IP infrastructure as their number one priority (35 percent).
Despite the desire to make the move to IP, the study finds that most media organizations don’t have the needed technical skills in-house for a smooth transition. Just 36 percent of North Americans and 28 percent of Europeans believe they have the skills in place, while 47 percent of Americans and 56 percent of Europeans believe they partially meet the required skills. But respondents look to be working on that, as the study found 69 percent of all respondents will train current staff to bridge the gap, and 22 percent plan to bring specialist consultants to support the transition.
The last of the big three focuses on the study found that the most important priorities and concerns for respondents. Adopting open standards was priority number one for 47 percent of respondents. The biggest concern is the compromising of quality productions at 31 percent, followed by the cost of the transition at 27 percent.
Additional findings included the fact that 81 percent of respondents will take either a hybrid SDI/IP or pure IP approach to current infrastructure projects; 71 percent of European will go the hybrid route, while 65 percent of Americans will do the same.
