Cisco and Imagine Demonstrate IP Transition Solutions for M&E Industry at NAB 2015

World-class software, IP and cloud solutions integrated to offer a managed transition to cloud playout and hybrid IP facilities

Imagine Communications, a global leader in video infrastructure, advertising systems and workflow management solutions serving media networks, broadcast stations, digital media, communication service provider and enterprise markets, today announced collaboration with Cisco to provide best-in-class technologies for helping transition media companies to the next generation of IP playout and hybrid IP facilities.

Collaboration between the two companies is broad-reaching across critical aspects of broadcast and media operations. Imagine Communications’ Zenium™ workflow manager and VersioCloud™ platform have been certified to run on Cisco’s Unified Computing System™ (UCS). UCS is a next-generation data center platform that unites compute, network, storage access, and virtualization into a cohesive system designed to reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) and increase business agility. The agreement also provides media companies transitioning from baseband to IP infrastructures with the ability to manage Cisco’s Nexus IP switches with Imagine Communications’ Magellan™ Software-Defined Networking (SDN) Orchestrator. Both of these integrated solutions will be on display at the Cisco and Imagine Communications booths at NAB 2015.

“We are excited to be collaborating with Imagine Communications and leading media customers, to seamlessly evolve legacy production infrastructures to next-gen IP and cloud platforms,” said Paul Bosco, vice president, market development, Cisco. “With VersioCloud running on Cisco UCS, we are able to effectively address rapidly growing and evolving media customer requirements with a world-class, highly agile, data center cloud platform.”

VersioCloud is the industry’s premier IP-enabled, playout in the cloud platform and the only integrated playout solution that is 100% software running on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) IT platforms. With VersioCloud, all of the traditional integrated channel playout functions are now cloud-enabled, including automation, branding, graphics, master control, and file server capabilities. The VersioCloud platform is powered by Zenium, an agile software engine for designing, deploying and managing extensible, customizable software-defined workflows. Bringing these advanced software services onto the Cisco UCS next-generation data center platform enables media companies to capitalize on Cisco’s IT market expertise and paves the way for increased innovation and business acceleration.

“The Cisco UCS decouples scale from complexity and accelerates the delivery of new services simply, reliably and securely,” said Steve Reynolds, chief technology officer, Imagine Communications. “This collaboration brings Cisco’s leading IT infrastructure together with Imagine Communications’ advanced IP, software and cloud solutions to ensure that media companies realize maximum benefits from their next generation architecture investments. NAB presents a unique opportunity to showcase these leading solutions to global broadcasters, video service providers and content creators.”

As media companies move from baseband to IP, they need to simultaneously address investment, workflow and operational challenges. Magellan SDN Orchestrator, Imagine Communications’ software control system for hybrid baseband and IP networks, ensures both the integrity of content today and the optimal benefit of investments now and into the future. Running Magellan SDN on Cisco’s Nexus IP switches ensures a seamless transition and gives media companies the assurance that their investments will deliver maximum value with minimum risk going forward.

Come visit Imagine Communications at Booth N2702 and Cisco at Booth N802 at NAB 2015 to see live demonstrations of these integrated solutions. To find out more about VersioCloud, Zenium Workflow Manager and Magellan SDN Orchestrator, visit www.imaginecommunications.com.

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About Imagine Communications

Imagine Communications empowers the media and entertainment industry through transformative innovation. Broadcasters, networks, video service providers and enterprises around the world rely on our optimized, futureproof, multiscreen video and revenue enablement solutions every day to support their mission-critical operations. Today, nearly half of the world’s video channels traverse our products, and our software solutions drive close to a third of global ad revenue. Through continuous innovation, we are delivering the most advanced IP, cloud-enabled, software-defined network and workflow solutions in the industry. Visit www.imaginecommunications.com for more information, and follow us on Twitter @imagine_comms.