Evaluating a buy vs. build multi-DRM solution

The DRM dilemma

As digital content consumption grows, protecting intellectual property from piracy and unauthorized access is more critical than ever. Digital Rights Management (DRM) solutions provide the security framework needed to encrypt content, control access, and enforce licensing rules. Content owners and streaming service providers often face the challenge of maintaining their own in-house DRM solution versus relying on their party multi-DRM services.

This decision impacts cost, flexibility, scalability, and long-term business strategy. As they evaluate their content protection needs, technical capabilities, they must also consider regulatory requirements and scalability of the platform before choosing to build their own custom-built multi-DRM solution instead of subscribing to an off-the-shelf cloud service.

Let’s explore both options, their benefits, challenges, and how to determine the right choice for your business.

Challenges of building your own multi-DRM

Building an in-house multi-DRM solution from scratch could potentially provide greater control and customization. However, it requires significant technical expertise, infrastructure, and long-term maintenance.  There are several challenges associated with building an in-house solution:

• High development costs—Developing robust multi-DRM infrastructure requires significant investment.
• Time-consuming—It can take months or even years to develop and refine an in-house multi-DRM solution.
• Continuous updates & security patches—multi-DRM solutions constantly evolve with new security threats and device compatibility issues.
• Requires a dedicated team—An in-house security team must handle maintenance, troubleshooting, and compliance.

Why use third-party services?

Subscribing to a multi-DRM service provider reduces time-to-market, minimizes maintenance overhead, and ensures compliance with evolving industry standards. Here are four key reasons why:

1. Faster deployment & lower initial cost

Instead of spending months developing an in-house solution, content owners and streaming services can immediately integrate with a cloud native multi-DRM platform. Third-party multi-DRM vendors handle the heavy lifting security requirements, allowing streaming services to focus on content delivery rather than security infrastructure.

2. Multi-DRM compatibility

Different platforms use different DRM standards such as Google Widevine (Android), Apple FairPlay (iOS), and Microsoft PlayReady (Windows). Leveraging a 3rd-party multi-DRM service ensures seamless compatibility across devices, without the need to develop separate in-house DRM backend systems for each device type.

3.  Advanced security features

Established multi-DRM providers offer best-in-class security measures, including:

• Dynamic licensing and revocation for content access control
• IP protection and Geo-blocking features
• Piracy monitoring and detection

These security layers reduce piracy risks and ensure compliance with Hollywood-grade content protection standards.

4. Reduced maintenance cost & continuous updates

A third-party multi-DRM provider handles regular security updates, patches, and compliance changes. This eliminates the burden of maintaining an in-house DRM team, making it an ideal approach for streaming services to optimize technical staff and security resources.

Key factors to consider when choosing your multi-DRM partner

Making an informed decision requires a holistic evaluation of business needs and technical constraints. When considering digital rights management solutions, several critical factors must be carefully weighed before proceeding.

Cost and budget considerations play a significant role in the decision-making process. Building a multi-DRM platform requires substantial upfront investment. Conversely, subscribing to a multi-DRM service eliminates development costs.

Because building DRM solutions can take months or even years, it can potentially delay product launches and market entry. Subscribing to a multi-DRM service allows for faster integration and deployment, accelerating the timeline to protect content. Organizations should carefully consider how quickly they need to launch their content protection strategy and avoid potential delays.

Moreover, creating and maintaining a multi-DRM solution from the ground up requires ongoing security updates and regulatory compliance monitoring to remain effective. Using a multi-DRM service ensures compliance with industry standards such as GDPR, DMCA, and Hollywood content security protocols. Companies must realistically assess whether their in-house team can keep pace with evolving security threats and changing regulations.

Finally, maintenance and support requirements present ongoing challenges regardless of the chosen path. Creating multi-DRM platforms from scratch necessitates a dedicated team for troubleshooting and support issues as they arise. Using a 3rd party multi-DRM service typically provides 24/7 customer support and automatic updates, reducing the internal burden. Organizations should carefully consider 3rd party solutions to avoid costs associated with resources for managing ongoing maintenance on in-house solutions.

Scalability and future growth considerations

As streaming services expand their digital content offerings, scalability becomes a crucial factor in the decision process on how to protect content security with the streaming platform.  Although a custom-built multi-DRM system could potentially enable tailored optimizations and integration with proprietary infrastructure, it requires significant investment in infrastructure, security updates, and IT resources.

Without a dedicated team to handle server scaling, compliance updates, and new device integrations, an in-house multi-DRM solution may become difficult to maintain across multiple platforms and global markets.

On the other hand, a reliable multi-DRM cloud service that is designed for seamless scalability, enables content owners and streaming services to quickly adapt to rising traffic demands, new content formats, and evolving security threats.

Third-party multi-DRM service providers handle backend infrastructure, cloud-based load balancing, and multi-DRM compatibility, ensuring content is protected across various devices and geographic regions. This approach minimizes operational overhead while keeping security up to date. Choosing a multi-DRM service that can scale efficiently ensures long-term content security, compliance, and uninterrupted user access, even as streaming services expand and evolve their offering.

Conclusion

Choosing between building an in-house solution or subscribing to a 3rd party cloud service depends on many factors including technical capabilities, budget, and long-term strategy. Building an in-house multi-DRM solution requires significant investment in development, maintenance, and security updates.

In contrast, buying a pre-built DRM solution provides faster deployment, scalability, and continuous compliance support, making it the preferred choice for most businesses. Ultimately, the right decision should align with a streaming services’ content protection needs, growth ambitions, and ability to adapt to an evolving digital landscape. If you’ve decided to take the leap and are considering different pre-built offerings, be sure to take a look at our latest checklist, Essential multi-DRM selection process.