SES plans to deliver new Microsoft Azure-based media services for broadcasters, and connect enterprise and government sites in remote, rural and underserved locations to Azure.
“SES and Microsoft are aligned on a vision to bring the power of intelligent cloud, media and network solutions to businesses and parts of the world that have so far been under-connected. The more we collaborate, the more we realise the combination of our respective strengths – SES’s global satellite reach and performance plus Microsoft Azure and the Microsoft AI platform…we are working with Microsoft to transform every aspect of our business to fully enable customers in the cloud-scale era.”
Steve Collar, CEO, SES
SES’s vision to make satellite connectivity a seamlessly-integrated part of a multi-network global solution has taken another step forward.
In August 2019 the company revealed it would be the first satellite operator to implement Open Network Automation Platform (ONAP) using network functions virtualization (NFV) from Amdocs on Azure. This technology will enable SES to orchestrate the creation and delivery of new services – such as SD-WAN, virtualised Evolved Packet Core (vEPC), security and so on – in a completely automated and standards-based operating environment. SES is also migrating its customer relationship management (CRM) platform to Microsoft Dynamics.
It has now announced (September 2019) that it will deliver new cloud-based managed services, direct cloud connectivity and intelligent network automation and service orchestration including:
- Azure ExpressRoute Satellite Connectivity – providing global reach and fibre-like performance via its portfolio of multi-orbit satellites, global gateway network, and core terrestrial network infrastructure. SES is the first Azure ExpressRoute satellite partner with Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites and a Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) constellation, enabling it to bring cloud services to enterprise and government sites
- Azure Broadcast-Grade Managed Video Service – SES is creating a broadcast-grade managed video offering on Azure. The new cloud service will bring scale, flexibility and quality assurance to the entire video delivery value chain – from content ingest to playout to delivery. This will help broadcasters keep pace with consumer demand for a premium viewing experience on various devices
CEO Steve Collar commented: “This is really exciting stuff; it has never been done before. I think we are at the forefront of a new wave of connectivity, a new wave of truly taking satellite mainstream and integrating satellite into the network of tomorrow.”
