Skye Cloud are changing the game for website traffic and security

West Ham & Skye Cloud

As London’s fastest-growing cloud services provider, Skye Cloud ensure businesses receive an agile IT platform that is easy to manage and budget for.

With head offices situated in London and Kent, Skye Cloud has seen an average growth rate of 40% year-on-year since its establishment in 2012.

In the cloud computing sector, the service offerings of Skye Cloud, the specific terminology and concept used can be somewhat tricky to understand unless you are involved in the industry. However, the general person is highly likely to use a variety of cloud-based applications during day-to-day activities unknowingly.

Cloud computing involves delivering a variety of IT services over the internet, ranging from networking, computer and storage resources to software and application. Therefore, when an individual streams their favourite tv shows on Netflix, opens an app on their phone, or shares files over the internet, they are directly interacting with cloud services.

Through its services, Skye Cloud provides companies with access to the core infrastructure, features, functionality and files of a cloud network, without having to purchase, store or maintain the system on their own devices or premises.

The benefits for organisations to jump on board with Skye Cloud include:

  • Centralised storage location – Cloud storage is instrumental for organisations whose staff require access to the same information and data to do their work. Enabling new means of collaboration and efficiency amongst colleagues. Users can rent cloud storage at a low price rather than using expensive external hard drives.
  • Cloud backup resiliency – The reliability inherent with cloud backup solutions comes from holding multiple copies of files and storing data in alternative locations. This layer of resiliency ensures that data will not be misplaced in the event of an unexpected outage or at a provider’s data centre.
  • Disaster recovery solutions – The cloud provides a fast, cost-effective disaster recovery solution, to protect a company’s data in the case of an unplanned catastrophic event.
  • Cost saving – Companies can save as much as 40% annually by migrating virtualised workload instances in the cloud, as costs are directly in line with usage.
  • Consistent updates – The software is continuously being improved and evolving to increase things like speed, capability, security, efficiency, and reliability.
  • Business continuity and business intelligence – an organisation can rely on the cloud to keep its data and applications active even if a disaster physically impacts the business.
  • Improved collaboration – Cloud collaboration tools offer benefits to employees, such as file versioning or real-time editing at any time. They can access data, applications, and services remotely from any device.
  • Increased capability – The cloud can increase or decrease, depending on what the business needs.
  • Performance and speed – Organisations can access high-performance hardware and software to improve their operations.
  • Data security – All clouds offer some degree of encryption, deterrent, and compliance, but private clouds remain the most secure from outsiders.

As a relatively recent collaboration, Skye Cloud has been West Ham United Football Club’s Official Virtual Private Server Network partner since 2020. This partnership has been extraordinarily valuable for the football club, with the organisation having a large following base demanding always-on access to live content, online merchandise and ticketing 24/7.

The Club’s fanbase banks on the website providing live updates and club news throughout the year. During a regular season, West Ham brings in an average of 58,000 home fans, with every match demanding a 10x spike in website visitor traffic, meaning the website needs to be able to perform as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Skye Cloud has enhanced the way the Club’s website operates, covering everything from organisational cyber security to software updates. Ensuring no lapses in website performance, Skye Cloud has partnered with Cloudflare, providing a secure and highly responsive match-day website experience.

As a result of the collaboration between Skye Cloud, Cloudflare and West Ham United, not only has the partnership eliminated lost merchandise and ticket revenue due to site outages and poor load times, but it has also significantly cut cloud hosting costs, with 93% of match-day requests offloaded to Cloudflare, coping with 10X traffic surges absorbed and crucially maintaining 100% uptime.

By bringing Cloudflare on board and managing the website traffic so efficiently, Skye Cloud has been able to pass savings on to West Ham United as reduced hosting fees. Thus being beneficial to all parties.

A recent addition to Skye Cloud is their new 321 service wraparound.

This new service has been specifically designed to allow the creation of a bespoke cloud solution to run on public, private or hybrid cloud, whichever suits consumer and business needs more conveniently.

Skye Cloud promises a bespoke cloud solutions strategy for the customer, followed by the company’s tried and tested migration process. The customer will be introduced to a commercial and technical account manager from day one and can expect face-to-face support, every time.

In addition to West Ham United, for the past 10 years, Skye Cloud has assisted over 30 charities and companies, saving them up to 25% on their annual IT budget.

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LaLiga and CANAL+ strengthen anti-piracy alliance across nearly 50 countries

LaLiga and CANAL+ have strengthened their partnership with a new anti-piracy agreement covering almost 50 countries. The deal spans Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa and Haiti. It brings together the league’s anti-piracy capabilities with CANAL+’s technology, intelligence and enforcement resources. The move reflects a growing commercial priority for sports rights holders. Protecting live content has become essential to protecting the value of broadcasting deals.

LaLiga and CANAL+ will share intelligence and coordinate their response to illegal distribution networks. They will also work on joint investigations and enforcement activity. The partnership builds on an existing relationship between the two organisations. CANAL+ distributes LaLiga content across multiple international markets. The new agreement now takes their relationship beyond broadcasting.

The partnership creates a joint focus on protecting the underlying value of the rights being sold. While broadcasters invest heavily in football rights, illegal streaming undermines revenue and weakens the commercial proposition of legitimate broadcasters.

LaLiga’s latest figures highlight the importance of audiovisual income to professional clubs. Broadcast revenue across Spanish professional football fell 5.2% to $2.3 billion (1.43 billion Euros) in the 2024/25 season. Commercial revenue reached $2.4 billion (1.58 billion Euros) and became the largest revenue source.

Piracy therefore represents a direct business risk. Illegal access can reduce the value broadcasters place on future rights packages, ultimately affecting the money flowing back into clubs and competitions.

LaLiga and CANAL+ are responding by pooling resources. For CANAL+, the agreement also protects its investment in international sports rights. The broadcaster operates in nearly 70 countries and has expanded its relationship with LaLiga alongside its international growth. For LaLiga, stronger enforcement can help protect the value of its global media proposition.

The partnership also carries implications for the wider sports industry. Rights holders increasingly need technology, legal expertise and cross-border cooperation to tackle illegal distribution. The message is clear. Winning a rights deal is only part of the commercial battle. Sports organisations and broadcasters must also protect the content once it reaches the market.

LaLiga and CANAL+ are betting that closer cooperation can make that protection more effective. This agreement may provide a model for other leagues and broadcasters facing the same challenge.

Global Institute of Sport brings AI-powered football analytics into the classroom

Technology has for a long time shaped how football clubs analyse players, prepare for matches and make decisions, and that technology is now officially entering the classroom.

The Global Institute of Sport (GIS) has partnered with Impact Soccer to bring AI and computer vision-powered football analytics into its programs.

The partnership will give GIS students hands-on access to advanced analysis technology, and help students understand how artificial intelligence is changing the modern football industry.

Turning Match Footage Into Data

Football analysis has traditionally relied on coaches and analysts watching hours of video, but that process can now be sped up by artificial intelligence.

Impact Soccer uses computer vision and AI to analyse football footage, with its technology able to turn player actions and movements into structured data. The system can also analyse what happens away from the ball. It’s possible to connect YouTube content or upload your own, which Impact Soccer then analyses.

Preparing the Next Generation

Not every important action involves the ball. Players constantly move into space, create passing options and make runs that affect defenders, but these actions can be difficult to measure manually.

Impact Soccer’s technology aims to quantify this off-the-ball influence. Its Impact IQ platform analyses player positioning and movement to provide more information about their impact on the game.

For students, this creates new ways to study football. They can look beyond simple goals, assists and passes and explore how movement and positioning affect a team’s performance. This allows GIS students better access to information that ensures the coaches of tomorrow can make more informed decisions. The partnership is also beneficial for tomorrow’s administrators: sporting directors and scouts also able to gain a broader reading on players where they may or may not spend their club’s finances.

Adding the Next Layer

Football clubs continue to invest in data and technology. Computer vision can track players. GPS systems measure movement. Video analysis helps coaches study matches.

AI is now adding another layer. Students entering the industry will increasingly encounter these technologies in their daily work, and this prior experience during their education can help prepare them for that environment.

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