Expanding on its use of a software-as-a-service model, MediaKind said it has launched an iteration of its Aquila Streaming platform on Google Cloud, claiming the move will help its media and service provider partners accelerate the development and launch of OTT-delivered video services.

That deployment of Aquila Streaming comes on the heels of Google Cloud being named an inaugural partner of the MediaKind Universe Alliance, a program launched last fall that aims to pre-integrate a selection of various tech partners along the video distribution ecosystem. Examples of other initial partners include Evergent (self-service), Microsoft Azure (for cloud-based deployments of Mediaroom and MediaFirst), Telestream (media delivery and monitoring) and Tiledmedia (360-degree, VR video technology).

Speaking on a press event Wednesday, Richard Mansfield, product management director at MediaKind, said the Aquila Streaming's pivot to the cloud and the company's enhanced partnership with Google Cloud enter the picture as MediaKind sees an uptick in OTT players seeking to deliver their services to smart TVs and other large screens with a consistent experience that replicates some core elements of traditional broadcast TV, such as image quality and latency.

He noted that MediaKind's linkage to Google Cloud also gives its streaming platform the ability to access and integrate other advanced, cloud native features, such as Google's Kubernetes engine and its content delivery network and AI/machine learning capabilities, as well as Google's Android TV and advanced advertising systems.

That partnership is also taking more formal shape as capabilities of Aquila Streaming (a platform that encompasses ingest, encoding, encryption, packaging, streaming and general management of video streams) evolves from an appliance-based, on-premises solution to one that can run end-to-end via public or private cloud environments.

MediaKind execs said this implementation of Aquila Streaming is in trials with select customers and is nearing deployment stages with some of them. But they declined to identify them by name.

Although MediaKind is now closely connected to Google Cloud, execs also stressed that Aquila Streaming's cloud native software is capable of running on any other public cloud, such as those operated by Amazon and Microsoft, or service provider-operated clouds.

Following a transaction completed more than a year ago, MediaKind is now owned 51% by One Equity Partners and 49% by Ericsson.

Related posts:

— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading