Data Protection Key as M&E Explores AI Capabilities in Cloud Storage

Stakeholders in media and entertainment plan to develop or implement AI and ML capabilities in their cloud storage plans this year, but there are also notable concerns about the powerful technology, including data protection.

That’s not to say the cloud storage space isn’t poised for continued growth. The “2024 Cloud Storage Index Report,” commissioned by cloud storage firm Wasabi and scheduled to be released in its entirety in September, found 97% of M&E respondents expect the amount of data they store in the public cloud to increase in 2024, with 95% saying their storage budgets will increase for this purpose and 100% planning to develop or deploy AI/ML capabilities as part of this function.

Where M&E is concerned, archiving is a key area experiencing growth in cloud storage usage. As studios continue to explore how they preserve and monetize their voluminous content, they are generally shifting away from storing physical media and moving toward the cloud.

But there’s no foolproof archival method, and the Wasabi survey found that seems to support why cloud storage adoption has been slower than other industries represented in the overall report. Among M&E respondents, only 27% are taking a “cloud first” approach to cloud IT service adoption, which includes uses such as archiving, production asset management and backup. Some 42% of respondents still keep the majority of their IT infrastructure on premises, while 31% rely on a combination of on prem and cloud.

That hesitation might help to explain why price wasn’t a top consideration for M&E respondents, when asked the reasons for which they would choose a cloud vendor or service. The top reasons from M&E respondents were availability of adjacent cloud services, third-party app integration and data protection. Sustainability saw the most growth in interest compared with the 2023 survey results.

Speaking last winter at the HPA Tech Retreat, Andrea Kalas, senior VP of asset management at Paramount Pictures (who also leads preservation initiatives for the Motion Picture Academy’s SciTech Council), emphasized the potential of AI to aid in aspects of archiving, most notably in accessibility. “Generative AI tools mean that content discovery has changed forever,” she asserted, citing the potential to expand search possibilities, giving content owners, for instance, the ability to identify and use material to create social media content, find documentary material or identify references for new films.

The Cloud Storage Index Report supports that belief but also identifies where concerns lie. Among M&E industry respondents, 51% believe AI/ML workload adoption could create new challenges for storing data across a wider range of locations (e.g., edge, cloud). Nearly half (46%) said addressing new data backup, protection and recovery requirements will be a top challenge.

There are also concerns around storage cost patterns, such as egress fees and data access fees, which 43% identified as a notable hurdle.

A maturing of the technology, as well as development and implementation of standards, could help in these areas, though that will take time.