It is always exciting to meet Lawo customers and partners in person to discuss where our industry is headed and how we can collaborate to help operators keep producing world-class content under the current circumstances. We are also eager to learn how Lawo’s mission to provide operators with a unified, agile platform they can rely on is received by operators in the field. Lawo clearly sees the need to move beyond products as such, as they are only a means to a specific end. Broadcasters and content producers increasingly focus on solutions that make the production workflow more intuitive and effective.

Unfortunately, it is still a bit early to disclose the stars of the show at the Lawo booth. Let’s just say that the convergence of video and audio is in full swing and that Lawo will host an online launch event on April 9th where we will show how the pieces of Lawo’s master plan, initiated with the launch of our HOME platform about two years ago, are coming together. Of course, there will also be plenty of news about significant refinements to existing offerings, such as the convergence of all Lawo products under the HOME umbrella, which offers numerous benefits: the ability for customers to use the same COTS hardware for vastly different processing tasks by spinning up a tailormade configuration of a given HOME App at the press of a button; the freedom to use Lawo Flex Subscription credits not just for HOME Apps, but also for hardware devices and other software titles; making highly efficient use of the processing capability broadcasters by mixing and matching hardware and software, etc. There is a lot to talk about, because Lawo has operators covered all the way. Finally, a comprehensive education offering will allow operators to familiarize themselves with concepts and workflows they may need to know.

First of all, we are excited to see that IP is gaining serious traction as customers realize that, while they may want to keep using SDI edge devices for contribution, the power of SMPTE ST2110 is such that now is a good time to migrate to an IP backbone where on-site, remote and distributed production scenarios coexist. Another point of interest will be whether, and how, new formats are on the horizon. Hybrid production workflows are increasingly common, which is why our HOME Apps already support SRT and NDI, and are able to accommodate whatever comes next. The microservice architecture of Lawo’s HOME Apps and providing customers with what they need—from A to Z—make additions to a highly modular and agile platform easy.

I’m especially interested to see how virtualization is panning out and what operators working at the cutting edge expect from such tools. Then there is the debate about the public cloud: there are still a lot of broadcasters and content producers who prefer to stay “off the grid”, relying instead on private clouds hosted in datacenters to which only authorized users have access. And, finally, where are we with respect to artificial intelligence?

Just look at the consolidation wave in the broadcast industry. This frequently leads to synergies and fewer people doing the same work as before. To cope with this, operators need to be able to conjure up the right processing tools in a split second, use them, then replace them with other tools a few hours later for another assignment. Maximum asset utilization and agility will be key. Lawo has decided to transcend its erstwhile role of vendor and serve operators in any way possible to keep the pressure bearable. After all, as content consumers, we are all looking for the same thing: compelling, masterful storytelling. We want those in charge of producing it to wow us time and again.

While stopping by our direct competitors’ stands will be mandatory to check how they are addressing real-world expectations, I’m also looking forward to stopping by new, perhaps even disruptive players with interesting answers. I’m pretty confident that Lawo’s unified platform approach and the readiness to walk the extra mile to help it all come together are what customers expect. Yet, it is also wise to learn how Lawo’s holistic service offering can become even better.

You’ll find Lawo at booth C4110 in Central Hall.