Azure Media Services Retirement and Migration Options

Azure Media Services is being retired, and it's essential to explore your options for migration. You can migrate your existing Azure Media Services to Azure Media Services v3, which offers improved scalability, security, and performance.

The retirement of Azure Media Services has been announced for May 31, 2025. This gives you a significant window to plan and execute your migration.

Azure Media Services v3 is a more cost-effective and efficient solution, with a pay-as-you-go pricing model and support for containerized media processing. It also provides better integration with other Azure services, such as Azure Storage and Azure Active Directory.

You can use the Azure Media Services v3 migration guide to help you plan and execute your migration. This guide provides a step-by-step process for migrating your existing media assets and workflows.

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Azure Media Services is being retired, and it's essential to plan a smooth transition to other services before the shutdown date of June 30, 2024. Users should search for a better replacement and compare available options, taking into account factors like pricing, features, scalability, and ease of migration.

The alternative platforms for Azure Media Services include VPlayed, GUDSHO, Wowza, Amazon Web Services (AWS), IBM video streaming, and several others. Each presents distinct capabilities and features, so explore the offerings of each platform to determine the one that best aligns with your business needs.

Existing AMS users can resort to dynamic packaging of their existing content without requiring it to be moved or reprocessed, or convert their assets to CMAF format with HLS and DASH manifests using the open-source Azure Media Services Migration Tool. This tool allows you to stream content directly from Azure Storage.

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Existing AMS users can continue operations by updating their CDN settings on streaming endpoints to preserve existing streaming URLs until June 30th, 2025.

You can use the Azure portal to find your AMS account's expiration date and time, which is crucial for planning your operations.

Within one hour of the expiration time, all running live events and streaming endpoints will be stopped, and the AMS API will only allow GET operations and reject PATCH, PUT, or POST operations.

It's essential to copy out any AMS data prior to 90 days after the expiration time, as your AMS account will be deleted at that point.

You can use migration tools like Bitmovin, MediaKind, and Harmonic to dynamically package your existing AMS content without moving it to another location or reprocessing it.

The Azure Media Services Migration Tool can convert your Media Services assets to CMAF format with HLS and DASH manifests, allowing you to stream content directly from Azure Storage.

You no longer need to migrate from Media Services v2 APIs to v3 APIs, as both will be retired simultaneously on June 30, 2024.

The v2 APIs are not expected to work after your account expires, so it's crucial to plan your operations accordingly.

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You should start searching for a better AMS replacement right away. Azure Media Services (AMS) is shutting down on June 30, 2023, so it's essential to plan the transition well in advance to avoid service disruptions.

Compare and assess available options, taking into account factors like pricing, features, scalability, and ease of migration. This will help you find the perfect replacement for your media streaming services.

VPlayed is a viable option to consider, offering features similar to AMS. It might be the perfect AMS replacement for several reasons.

The transition to a new media service provider requires careful planning and execution to ensure a smooth migration. Don't wait until the last minute to start looking for a replacement.

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Migrating to VPlayed is a straightforward process, thanks to VPlayed's dedicated migration team that will oversee your migration process and help you every step of the way.

The team will ensure your data is fully migrated, making the transition as smooth as possible.

You have until June 30, 2024, to migrate from Azure Media Services, so plan accordingly to avoid disruptions in your media workflow.

Existing customers won't be immediately impacted by the retirement of Azure Media Services, but it's still essential to explore alternative services to ensure a reliable transition pathway.

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VPlayed is a viable replacement for Azure Media Services, offering top-notch features to maintain an uninterrupted media workflow.

You can explore other services like GUDSHO, Wowza, Amazon Web Services (AWS), IBM video streaming, or several others, but VPlayed might be the perfect AMS replacement for you.

Microsoft encourages a smooth transition to replacement services, so don't wait until the last minute to make the shift.

The services being retired include media encoding, storage and delivery solutions, transcoding functionalities, detailed analytics, and more, so it's essential to find a replacement that offers comparable functionalities.

Azure Video Indexer is not being retired. It's a relief to know that this service will continue to be available.

However, it's worth noting that Video Indexer currently relies on a Media Services account as part of its workflow. This dependency will be eliminated before Media Services is retired on June 30, 2024.

You can rest assured that Video Indexer will be able to function independently after this change.

Azure Media Player is being retired on 30 June 2024. This means you'll need to find an alternative video player to use.

All partners listed in the Media Services retirement guide have alternative video players available for customers to use. You can check the guide for options.

Azure Media Player will be retired on 30 June 2024, so make sure to plan for a replacement before then.

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Data planning is crucial to a successful migration from Azure Media Services. You'll need to assess your current media workflow and identify areas that require data migration.

Azure Media Services will retire its current platform, so it's essential to plan for data storage and management. This includes determining which data to migrate and how to handle existing content.

To ensure a smooth transition, consider using Azure Blob Storage or Azure Data Lake Storage for data storage. These services offer scalable and secure storage options.

Azure Media Services will provide a data export feature to help with migration. You can use this feature to export your media assets and metadata.

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If you're looking for help with migrating away from Azure Media Services, you're in luck. Microsoft has recommended several system integrators (SIs) that can guide you through the process.

These SIs, including Eyevinn, Southworks, and WhDiYo, have extensive experience in building media services solutions using Azure Media Services and partner solutions. They can provide the guidance or development work needed to facilitate your transition.

You can also work with ISV partners like Eyevinn and Southworks, who have teams of highly skilled developers ready to transition you away from AMS with minimal time investment.

If you're using Azure Media Services and need advanced customizations, consider working with a system integrator to prevent disruptions during the transition.

Microsoft has recommended ISV partners to help with the migration process, who have teams of skilled developers ready to transition you away from AMS with minimal time investment.

You can also work with ISV partners like Eyevinn and Southworks, who have experience in transitioning away from AMS to SaaS solutions like Streams.

Their expertise will ensure a smooth migration process, and you'll have until June 30, 2024, to switch over your workflows.

Microsoft has prepared a retirement guide to support you in your transition from Azure Media Services, which you can access here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/media-services/latest/azure-media-services-retirement.

You can also explore alternative platforms like VPlayed, which offers a dedicated migration team to oversee your migration process and help you every step of the way.

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System Integrators (SIs) can be a huge help when it comes to transitioning away from Azure Media Services.

If you're looking for guidance or development work to facilitate your transition, consider working with one of the following SIs: Eyevinn, Southworks, or WhDiYo.

These SIs have extensive experience in assisting customers with building media services solutions using both Azure Media Services and partners.

They can provide the necessary support to ensure a smooth migration to alternative solutions like Bitmovin or Streams.

You'll have until 30 June 2024 to switch over your on-demand encoding, live streaming, on-demand streaming, and content protection workflows.

Here are some recommended SIs you can work with:

Partner solutions will be available in a more limited set of regions than Media Services. Refer to each partner's documentation pages for covered regions.

As Azure Media Services retires, it's essential to understand how it affects your account and customer experience.

All Azure Media Services accounts will be retired by December 31, 2025, with no option to opt-out.

You can continue to use Azure Media Services until the retirement date, but be aware that it will eventually be shut down.

The retirement of Azure Media Services will not affect your Azure subscription, and you can still use other Azure services.

However, if you rely heavily on Azure Media Services, you may need to explore alternative solutions, such as Azure Databricks or Azure Synapse Analytics.

Your AMS account's expiration date and time can be found on the Azure portal. Approximately one hour after the expiration time, all running live events and streaming endpoints will be stopped.

The AMS API will allow all GET operations but reject all PATCH, PUT, or POST operations, with the exception of updating CDN settings on streaming endpoints. This allows customers to preserve existing streaming URLs until June 30th, 2025.

Approximately 90 days after the expiration time, your AMS account will be deleted. It's essential to copy out any AMS data prior to this time, as the AMS migration tool can work after account deletion, but you will lose all information about existing URLs.

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New Media Services accounts are blocked in all Azure regions, so if you're trying to create one, you won't be able to.

The creation of new Media Services accounts is blocked, which means you'll need to explore alternative options or wait until this restriction is lifted.

Unfortunately, there's no specific timeline for when new Media Services account creation will be unblocked, so it's best to check back for updates on this issue.

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If you're an existing Azure Media Services user, you'll want to know your options for continuing to operate without disruption. You can export any necessary data before your account is deactivated, as metadata associated with your assets will become read-only for approximately 90 days after your account is deactivated.

For customers in public Azure regions, there are several data migration options available, including Bitmovin automatic migration, MediaKind, Ravnur, and Azure Media Services static migration. These options allow you to retain your existing non-DRM streaming URLs until June 30, 2025, or continue streaming your content in HLS/DASH with AES and DRM support.

Bitmovin's automatic migration solution enables customers to transfer their metadata to Bitmovin, allowing them to continue streaming their content without requiring a play update. MediaKind can also continue to stream your existing content in HLS/DASH with AES and DRM support, while Ravnur's solution can be hosted in your Azure subscription to continue streaming existing AMS content in HLS/DASH.

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If you prefer to transform your existing assets to stream directly from the storage location of your choice using HLS/DASH, you can use the Azure Media Services static migration tool. However, all existing URLs must be updated after this migration, and a player update will be required if you're using Azure Media Player.

Here's a summary of the available options:

Alternatively, you can also use MediaKind and Harmonic for dynamic packaging of existing AMS content without requiring the content to be moved to another location or reprocessed in most cases. If you decide not to use this option, you can convert your Media Services assets to CMAF format with HLS and DASH manifests using the initial version of the open-source Azure Media Services Migration Tool.