Eutelsat - Developing a turnkey VOD platform for OTT providers

The Objective – Providing a turnkey solution for TV providers through the Cloud

The rise of VOD platforms has forever changed the way we consume TV and video content. From pure players to TV channels, all actors offer VOD or replay services in today’s competitive landscape. These changes are now extending to developing countries and represent a growth driver for Eutelsat, which launched CIRRUS in September 2018, a hybrid satellite-OTT* solution that enables satellite TV channels and operators to offer a flexible and seamless multi-screen consumption experience.

In January 2019, Eutelsat mandated ekino to develop a new module to upload and encode video content to the Cloud and publish it in VOD catalogs. Eutelsat can thereby leverage its existing network and activities to provide a turnkey, high value-added solution for OTT & DTH TV providers, all on a white-label basis.

The challenges – How to build a new service offering from scratch?

Visionary and precursor of a new model for video content distribution, there was no feedback on experience from the market.

Starting with just a brief on user needs, the challenge involved with the design of this new service offering was considerable. It was ultimately met by co-constructing a platform with a strong technological dimension, combining Cloud technologies and integration via APIs with editor tools, in compliance with the initial brief and the envisioned value proposition. The overall solution infrastructure leverages AWS resources including Glacier, Batch, Lambda, Step functions, Fargate, Transfer, Cognito, SQS, SES, SNS, RDS, and CloudFront. 

Our solution – A scalable Cloud architecture to optimise the TCO

Multiple interviews and a design sprint were carried out to specify the business model, the strategy, the functionalities, the UX/UI, the product roadmap, as well as an agile production of the platform. We created a process orchestrator allowing the ingestion, control, encoding, packaging, and broadcasting of videos, alongside the back-office administrator. We created a scalable Cloud architecture, based on AWS Lambda, intending to optimise the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership).

The results – Eutelsat successfully positioned itself in a new market

An MVP delivered in 5 months allowing Eutelsat to successfully position itself on this new market. A high-performance, scalable, accessible, and deployable platform worldwide, which was unveiled at the IBC (International Broadcasting Convention) in Amsterdam in 2019, the world’s most influential media, entertainment, and technology show.

1. ^* OTT : Over-The-Top service is a service for delivering media over the Internet without a traditional operator (such as a telecom operator) in the control or distribution of content. The ISP may be aware of the content of the IP packets flowing over its network but cannot control the display or redistribution of the content passing over its network.