Mix and Match
Posted on Oct 11, 2024 by FEED Staff
Lawo’s Flex Subscription model is gaining traction – and for good reason
Sponsored editorial
When Lawo launched its HOME Apps about one year ago, the world discovered flexible processing apps with an equally flexible licensing model. They are platform-agnostic containers running on generic servers instead of bespoke hardware. Separating the processing capability from the hardware in charge of computing is a crucial advantage of this novel approach.
Many Lawo customers have already adopted its HOME Apps for their future-proof video and audio processing needs – since they deliver top-notch processing quality in a flexible guise and are equally flexible with respect to their deployment.
HOME Apps are based on containers which only provide the processing capability users need – rather than a whole suite of functionality that eats up CPU or GPU capacity without reason. The inputs/outputs and supported transportation and compression formats reside in separate containers, making it easy to configure the perfect tool for each job.
Go For It
Once customers understand that this processing flexibility is matched with commercial flexibility, they begin to wonder why it took Lawo so long to come up with Flex. One Canadian customer, for instance, immediately understood that Lawo Flex encompasses two approaches. Users can purchase perpetual licences for the processing functionality they need on a permanent basis. The apps in question will be yours forever.
The second leg of Lawo’s Flex proposition is based on subscriptions with a duration between one month and five years. Unlike perpetual licences, Lawo Flex subscriptions are not linked to a specific HOME App; they come with a number of user-selectable credits that can be allocated to any HOME App. We’ll get to that in a minute.
These credits can also be used to unlock optional licences on the .edge SDI–IP gateway or within the HOME management platform, like when operators must use HOME’s optional NMOS Importer or NMOS Exporter functionality. More credit-savvy applications with no link to HOME Apps are on the roadmap.
How does it Work?
As stated above, Lawo Flex subscription credits can be allocated by the user – to other HOME Apps such as HOME mc² DSP, HOME UDX Converter, HOME Stream Transcoder or HOME Graphic inserter. These apps do not necessarily need to run on a specific server. Credits can be moved around – from the broadcaster’s premises to OB trucks, remote set-ups, etc.
Establishing the ideal ratio between perpetual licences and subscription credits is surprisingly straightforward. Look at the infrastructure you are about to build, then ask yourself how much of the equipment will be needed around the clock. That is your baseline, which can be covered by perpetual licences. For example, multiviewers used constantly do not require the flexibility offered by subscription credits.
Processing tasks only needed every so often, on the other hand, can be covered with Lawo Flex subscriptions. Stopped Apps require no credits; using a UDX converter on Saturdays and Sundays still allows use of the same server and credits for graphics insertion or stream transcoding at other times.
Flex credits remain valid for the entire subscription period – they do not burn down. They allow you to leverage HOME Apps and other optional licences that become available in the future.
At the end of the day, you’ll be able to do more with significantly less hardware and environmental qualms. And what’s more, your infrastructure always remains current.
This feature was first published in the Autumn 2024 issue of FEED.
