CHALLENGE: Prior to adopting Suite, Døves Media struggled with several storage & workflow issues. While the immediate team remains largely in-house, it often outsources work to a large network of freelancers, and relying on hard drives for large media file transfers was cumbersome, error-prone, and space-consuming at the office. Exploring physical servers presented its own challenges that Døves Media team didn’t have time to prioritize, not to mention the high cost. Finally, using a hodgepodge collection of file transfer services like Dropbox & WeTransfer led to confusion, cluttering inboxes with different versions of files & wasting everyone’s time.

WHY SUITE?: Døves Media adopted Suite quickly for its user-friendly interface, reliable performance, and seamless integration into its existing workflow. The first thing that struck Døves Media was Suite’s familiar, streamlined design that eliminated any need for extensive onboarding.  Suite’s cloud-based, centralized file management resolved version issues, offering consistent performance between in-office & remote collaborators. Utilizing Suite’s scalable, cost-effective solution to storing/editing files in real-time, Døves Media works more efficiently without limitation.

“It seemed too good to be true… Suite surpassed all of our expectations. There’s nothing compared to it.”

— Sebastian Mehlum, Content Producer, Døves Media

“Døves means Deaf,” smiles Sebastian Mehlum, content producer at Døves Media, over a video call from his studio office in Norway. “We’re a sign language focused production company.” Based in Oslo, Sebastian & the team at Døves Media create an array of television shows, social media content & other video programming for the Deaf community. For over 40 years, Døves Media has produced accessible, inclusive media for people with hearing disabilities; from travel shows to sitcoms, talk shows to cartoons, every program in Døves Media's inclusive archive puts sign language in the spotlight.

Now, nearly five decades into business, Døves Media reached a turning point: Its media workflow wasn’t cutting it; it was just too slow, unorganized, and unprepared for another 40-plus years of content creation & media management. “As our tower of hard drives grew & grew, we started looking at servers for the office. But that's a big chunk of technology; it can even become obsolete,” Mehlum reflects. With shelves full of hard drives, organizing & accessing content at Døves Media became a nightmare, and every time Mehlum committed to a new project, he’d incur extra costs. “For every project, we would buy two, four terabyte hard drives for the recordings, then two more just for the backup; we've been buying… 16 terabytes of the storage for every project!” he remarks.

Seeking alternative ways to store, share & edit active media, Mehlum discovered Suite through his own research. “I found Suite via Google search, curious about how we could step away from traditional drives. Everyone at my office works on Mac, so we appreciate good design & user interface. That was the first appealing thing I noticed about Suite—the simplicity. Going through all the different server & service providers, trying to understand tech specs can be so confusing. With Suite, it’s just plug-and-play. It was easy as that.”

To adopt Suite’s cloud storage with “plug-and-play” ease, Døves Media started small, testing the cloud-native filesystem with an episode of its weekly news podcast. “It’s a production we film in the office studio with a green screen, and just a few people on-camera,” explains Mehlum. “We were really surprised [using Suite] for the first time, how it worked just like editing from a local hard drive.” Using mainly Adobe products Premiere Pro & After Effects, Suite’s cloud storage enabled Mehlum to centralize his team’s content in one location on the cloud—directly in the cloud-based Suite drive—enabling easier on-premise connectivity & remote accessibility to working files.

“We're all used to Dropbox, iCloud… these kind of cloud services, which don’t always work optimally [in post production]," says Mehlum. "We're used to meeting so many obstacles working with big files—that's why we're all so skeptical to... any cloud service. But your team proved us wrong. You really did. Everyone finds it easy to use. I even work from home with much lower internet bandwidth than we have in-office; I experience zero problems on Suite. ”

Unlike Suite’s cloud storage, which offers physical file security through redundant object storage, local SSDs & office-based servers are prone to any number of vulnerabilities, despite how nice it may feel to store your files on a server nearby. “The physical device can be… maybe more vulnerable than uploading to the cloud,” reflects Mehlum. “People aren’t aware of what a cloud service of this magnitude can provide. It's practically like using a hard drive.”

In many ways, he’s right: Suite’s cloud storage offers a new way of collaborating remotely that feels local. It mounts directly to your Finder window, and working files appear the instant they’re uploaded to the cloud. Apart from real-time file access, managing his network of in-house & freelance editors happens with greater confidence. “You always have the most recent files available. There's no duplicates, no copies of previous versions that you have to navigate through. Everything is updated, and in the right place. That's the biggest benefit for everyone.”

Looking ahead, Mehlum is ready for more—increased accessibility, better connectivity, faster collaborations. Suite Connect is one feature he’s most excited about. “It’s amazing… having the ability for external content producers to upload their media directly onto our Suite cloud.” Leaning on Suite’s dedicated Customer Service team also made an impact as Mehlum & his team started on the product. “With the good service you provide, it's no problem for us Europeans to stay a little bit late at work just to have a chat. We avoided the physical server because the UI, the possibilities… everything is too much. We want to focus on creating cool content, not being IT people.”

For a team that has dedicated itself to create inclusive content for over 40 years, Suite is proud to provide Mehlum & his team at Døves Media better way of working that enables streamlined collaboration from anywhere. Offering easier access to active & archive media, Suite's cloud storage provides better project oversight & centralized project management that make Døves Media efforts producing accessible content easier than ever. Setting an example with the content you create is one thing; setting an example with how you're working takes your leadership to the next level.

To read more Case Studies about Suite's cloud storage, click here.

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