OmniBus and Isilon in OEM Agreement

Isilon Systems, Inc. and OmniBus Systems, provider of broadcast automation, have entered into an OEM agreement to integrate Isilon IQ scale-out NAS with the OmniBus iTX transmission system.

The new relationship delivers an enterprise-class, end-to-end solution for broadcast automation that will drive increased simplicity, efficiency and value for digital broadcast operations. With Isilon IQ and OmniBus iTX, broadcasters can unify their entire broadcast workflow onto a single, integrated solution, thus eliminating multiple points of failure common with traditional broadcast transmission, while significantly accelerating time-to-air.

Andrita Media Center, the largest independent standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) network origination, production, post-production and digital media facility on the West Coast, is using the integrated Isilon and OmniBus solution to deliver both SD and HD content for a variety of its leading broadcast clients. By integrating Isilon IQ with OmniBus iTX, Andrita streamlined its automated broadcast workflow, speeding content delivery while dramatically reducing management time.

"As we continue to grow our business, it is critical that we have an IP-based, broadcast automation architecture capable of delivering high performance and reliability to power our operations today and far into the future," said Tom Mikkelsen, CTO, Andrita Media Center. "The OmniBus-Isilon solution is just that – a complete solution that eliminates multiple failure points and maximizes efficiency, enabling us to better serve our clients and grow our bottom line."

"With the many advancements in content creation, post-production and media formatting, today’s broadcast leaders realize they simply can’t continue using a legacy transmission model in a new, digital world," said Tim Mendoza, executive vice president, OmniBus Systems. "Our iTX system eliminates the complex, costly workflow management of the past, while streamlining the broadcast automation process into a single, efficient system. By joining with Isilon, we can now extend these benefits from storage all the way to play-to-air."

In a traditional broadcast scenario, an automation system manages the entire transmission chain to communicate with each hardware device individually via its own protocol and creating a highly complicated, unreliable system in which any single device represents a point of failure for the entire workflow. By deploying OmniBus iTX with Isilon IQ, broadcasters can replace the many disparate devices and points of failure found in traditional broadcast automation with a complete, software-based transmission system using industry-standard hardware. As iTX automates the entire broadcast transmission from a single point of management, Isilon IQ mirrors this process on the storage-side, unifying all broadcast media into a single, high-performance, highly scalable, shared pool of storage that significantly increases performance and reliability for delivering content-to-air.

"As the proliferation of multiple formats and new media distribution networks has intensified the demand for broadcasters to deliver content 24x7x365, scheduling delays are simply unacceptable," said Leonard Iventosch, vice president of global channels and OEM, Isilon Systems. "However, legacy broadcast architectures are inherently flawed, making transmission failures only a matter of time. By joining with OmniBus, we can provide broadcasters worldwide a single, complete solution to automate the most demanding workflows and stay ahead of schedule."