Fastly Enhances Live Streaming and Video-On-Demand Portfolio As Organizations Power Remote Digital Experiences
New features will enable technologists to accommodate accelerated innovation for immediate and long-term video streaming demands
SAN FRANCISCO: Fastly, Inc., provider of a global edge cloud platform, today announced advancements to its comprehensive portfolio of the live event and video-on-demand services. As organizations continue to experience a shift from in-person to online, the need to deliver high-quality, low-latency content in a secure and scalable way has become more crucial than ever before. Fastly’s enhanced Live Event Services and video-on-demand features will enable developers to respond to a recent rise in live streaming events influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to preparing for long-term video streaming trends.
“COVID has drastically accelerated the quantity and frequency of live streaming viewership that we were already seeing pre-pandemic,” said Lee Chen, vice president of corporate development and strategic partnerships at Fastly. “The gap between those investing in streaming technologies and those who are not is widening and becoming more prominent than ever before. Having the correct set of tools and technologies is essential for businesses to accelerate their digital transformation and stay ahead of their competitors.”
Fastly’s new engineering innovations further strengthen its existing portfolio of live-streaming solutions and services. In addition to helping organizations deliver large-scale, low-latency streams, customers are able to make the most of real-time monitoring, capacity planning, and flexible deployment options.
Fastly’s Live Events offering now includes:
- Media Shield with Origin Insights: Technologists can optimize multi-CDN deployments and reduce streaming costs while gaining real-time analytics and visibility into the egress data collected from the origin infrastructure to Fastly’s Edge Cloud.
- Live Event Monitoring: Organizations can rely on a team of Fastly experts to monitor, alert, and troubleshoot complex issues throughout high-profile, mission-critical events, enabling a faster, more consistent viewer experience.
- Capacity Reservations: Organizations can easily reserve additional bandwidth to prepare for high-traffic events.
- Real-time Observability: Technologists can gain real-time insights into how their users are consuming streaming content, empowering them to proactively identify and fix potential issues.
Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of video-on-demand users is projected to be up by nearly 50 million at the end of this year. Fastly’s video-on-demand services now include:
- Device Detection: Video engineers can write logic to tailor content for a variety of device types, improving delivery quality and user experience.
- Enhanced On-the-fly Packager (OTFP): Organizations can cut costs associated with duplicating content for different packaging HTTP streaming protocols. Enhancements include multi-language audio and additional DRM partner integrations.
- VPN/Proxy Detection: Enhanced programmability at the edge enables organizations to detect when VPNs and proxies are being used to bypass content protection.
“Fastly makes it easier for us to manage large numbers of concurrent users in a predictive way, lowering costs and better preparing us for crucial moments such as the La Voz program premier, the Veneno premier on Atresmedia Premium, and for national election debates,” said Head of Digital Media Solutions at Atresmedia Raquel Fernández. “Additionally, with Media Shield, we’ve been able to predict bandwidth needs more accurately and reduce the cost of access to origin by 60%.”
