Industry research consistently shows that archiving and preservation remain the largest drivers of storage demand in media and entertainment workflows. As of 2024, archiving—including both new and historical assets—accounts for the majority of digital storage capacity.
This reflects an ongoing reality: Every production adds new terabytes of content, and studios/vendors are responsible for keeping it safe and usable long-term. And, for many M&E teams, traditional LTO tape libraries represent a cumbersome way to manage vast (and growing) archives.
Increasingly, the decision is less whether to adopt cloud, and more how to use it responsibly. For some, that means hybrid systems that balance performance and scalability. For others, particularly smaller studios, cloud may become the backbone of both active and deep archives.
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Why archiving dominates conversations—and what makes it so complex
Long-term preservation isn’t a “set-and-forget” task—technology evolves, file formats age, and migration becomes as essential as storage itself. Meanwhile, the shift to 4K, 8K, HDR, and immersive content means productions routinely generate petabytes of material.
The challenge isn’t just volume, but ensuring ongoing integrity, accessibility, and migration compatibility over decades. That makes both current trends in file creation and future-proofing archives an active task.
While the challenge can look different to different types of M&E teams, there are benefits for all of them:
- For editors and post-production teams, active archives keep high-resolution footage readily available, eliminating the frustration of digging through cold storage when a quick edit or repurposing request comes in.
- For media asset managers, they transform archives into searchable, metadata-rich repositories that reduce retrieval time and prevent costly duplication of content.
- For executives and producers, active archives protect past investments by making legacy assets easily accessible for remonetization in new markets, remasters, and marketing campaigns.
- For IT and workflow engineers, they provide automated tiering and integration across on-prem and cloud systems, ensuring scalable performance without ballooning infrastructure costs.
Still, a recent NAB survey showed that archive capacity remains a challenge for 85% of respondents. Searchability is another weak spot, with some teams still relying on spreadsheets.
Why cloud adoption has been cautious
Although cloud storage offers flexibility, adoption in the M&E industry has been measured. Common concerns include:
- High egress costs: Many providers charge significant fees for retrieving archived data. For media workflows that often involve moving large files in and out of storage, these costs can add up quickly.
- Performance concerns: Latency and bandwidth limitations can disrupt workflows, especially in post-production environments that rely on fast access to high-resolution files.
- Unpredictable workflows: Unlike enterprise archives where files may be rarely accessed, media archives are often “active.” Teams may suddenly need terabytes of content for a remastering project or marketing campaign. Cloud pricing models built around cold storage don’t always align well with this reality.
- Trust and security: Especially in the early years of cloud, concerns around data sovereignty, intellectual property protection, and compliance slowed adoption. While cloud providers have strengthened their credentials in these areas, trust remains a consideration.
- Established investments in on-prem: Many organizations already have significant capital invested in tape libraries, network attached storage (NAS), storage area network (SAN) systems, or colocation setups, making the shift to cloud a long-term transition rather than an overnight change.
How the cloud can help
The shift from “traditional” production to newer technologies in content filming and creation—including both hardware and software tools—leaves many M&E teams with several, competing demands for their tech stacks. Cloud workflows can offer significant benefits for scalability, searchability, and budget management.
Elastic capacity
Cloud removes the need for large upfront capital investments and scales as archives grow. For organizations with fluctuating storage needs, this flexibility is particularly valuable.
Cost-tiering options
Cloud services now offer multiple archival tiers—from “hot” to “deep archive”—allowing teams to balance cost with access needs. Combined with lifecycle management policies, this helps align budgets with actual usage.
Hybrid approaches
The most common strategy today is hybrid: keeping frequently accessed assets on-premises or in private cloud, while offloading less active content to public cloud. Surveys show hybrid adoption has grown significantly in the last five years, with expectations that it will continue to rise.
Collaboration and accessibility
For global teams, cloud improves accessibility. Editors, producers, and marketing teams in different regions can access the same archival assets without relying on physical transfers, VPNs, or duplicated storage.
AI-enabled metadata
Cloud platforms also support AI and ML services that enrich metadata. This transforms archives from passive repositories into searchable, discoverable libraries—unlocking new value from existing content.
The future of media archiving is in the cloud
The move to cloud is gradual, shaped by cost, performance, and workflow realities. Yet the volume and importance of archives—and cloud-based workflows—continue to grow. When paired with thoughtful strategies, cloud storage offers a flexible way to manage that growth while unlocking new creative value.
By designing storage approaches that balance innovation with practicality, M&E teams can ensure archives remain accessible, secure, and ready to support the next generation of storytelling.
