How is Cloud-Based Streaming Revolutionizing the Omnichannel Experience?

Amid the global pandemic, the world witnessed a paradigm shift when movie theatres were swiftly replaced by OTT (over-the-top) platforms, which was primarily driven by the fact that everybody was locked inside their homes for weeks.

Undoubtedly, OTT platforms have been dealt a blow since 2020, and this trend will not change soon.

The latest stats reveal OTT video segment alone would experience substantial growth in terms of subscribers and is expected to amount to 3,777.9 m by 2025. So what’s the driving force behind such a massive demand for video streaming channels? Is COVID-19 pandemic the sole reason, or is there anything else?

Cloud-based streaming is undeniably the significant aspect that’s making a huge difference in delivering rich omnichannel experiences!

Let’s look at the vital aspects of cloud-based streaming that have revolutionized the omnichannel experience at multiple touchpoints.

What is Omnichannel Experience in OTT?

Before we inch towards better knowing how cloud-based streaming services enhance the omnichannel experience, let’s first understand what omnichannel experience is.

An omnichannel consumer experience comprises individual consumer touchpoints over various devices and channels that are seamlessly integrated, allowing consumers to pick up where they left off. This ensures a seamless experience that improves engagement and eventually helps to build brand reputation and reliance.

Businesses that create omnichannel experiences also interact with their consumers across diverse networks, including social media, mobile applications, and web applications.

Role of Cloud-Based Services

Since we’ve understood what omnichannel experience is, now let’s have a quick look at how cloud-based services are contributing to enhancing the omnichannel experience for consumers across the globe.

Overcoming the Challenges of Scalability

One of the biggest challenges for OTT broadcasters is scalability, a seamlessly integrated channel when one cannot predict the surging number of subscribers. The higher requirement of infrastructure and personnel becomes pretty challenging in on-premise streaming, which further hampers user experience since new subscribers would certainly face glitches and lags.

On-premise OTT streaming undeniably has certain limitations, including the continuous requirement of configured live encoding and streaming servers that may encounter issues over time, which results in a lousy streaming experience for consumers. Regular maintenance of hardware, its security, and timely update is yet another challenge that must be overcome to ensure a flawless experience when subscribers are increasing exponentially.

On the other hand, a cloud-based streaming service cuts off these issues as it leverages a network of servers dedicated to delivering the best experience to consumers over multiple touchpoints like a breeze. The auto-scalable infrastructure handles peak loads seamlessly and delivers a consistent experience to subscribers even if there’s a sudden surge in the number of subscribers or viewers. This also reduces infrastructure and maintenance costs.

Reduced Latency of Video Streaming

Another big issue with on-premise streaming is the high latency rate. If the data center is located remotely from subscribers, there would be a lag in delivering the content to viewers.

Since cloud servers are located across the world, the issues related to the high latency of video streams are negligible in cloud streaming.

Users can be catered with video content from their nearest data center, which reduces streaming latency and delivers a great user experience across all devices and applications.

More Options for Consumers to Interact with the Platforms

Today’s time-strapped subscribers don’t want to wait for their favorite TV series or movies.

When every subscriber demands that they should be able to engage with the OTT platform through any channel of their choice on any device, cloud-based streaming becomes the need of the hour. With cloud streaming, users can eventually resume their video streaming wherever and whenever they wish to, regardless of devices or other touchpoints.

One can start a movie streaming from their laptop and continue streaming on the go through their smartphone without any glitch. This omnichannel experience also expands the scope of consumer engagement and helps facilitate a frictionless transition of access between different channels via data integration.

This is perhaps why several OTT platforms are leveraging cloud streaming services, enabling them to deliver a flawless omnichannel experience to their subscribers anywhere, anytime.

Final Thoughts

OTT platforms are undeniably shaping the future of entertainment, especially in times when things aren’t predicted. Cloud streaming has undeniably offered new opportunities to OTT platforms that rely on on-premise streaming servers with limited accessibility leading to a frail consumer experience.

OTT vendors that haven’t yet leveraged the true potential of cloud services should immediately put their best foot forward towards cloud services to enhance consumer experience and ensure their business stays ahead of the competition.