There have been times when cloud video surveillance was a hard sell. Bandwidth management, cost of Internet lines and the fact that video surveillance was solely the responsibility of the physical security department definitely contributed.
Rishi Lodhia, managing director for Eagle Eye Networks in EMEA, has been through it all. He started in the security industry fifteen years ago with a cloud solution and encountered a lot of pushback in those days. “In the end, the same thing happens across all industries. As a disruptor, you’re first being downplayed before you’re taken seriously. The same thing happened in the car industry. Fifteen years ago, a diesel or gasoline car was your go-to offer if you wanted a reliable, value-keeping car. Now, within fifteen years, a diesel car has become the dinosaur in the car industry, overtaken by electric and hybrid cars. And the same thing is happening in video surveillance now that the barriers for adopting cloud have been taken away and the analytics and computing power cannot be rivalled in premise-based solutions.”
A number of factors are driving the video surveillance trends in 2021. Innovation from companies like Eagle Eye Networks and partners are meeting the demands of customers for their video surveillance systems to provide business insights in addition to security. Combine the promise of AI and cloud video surveillance with the volatility, instability, and remote work environment of 2020, and we have an environment where people are looking for their video surveillance and security systems to deliver more business value than ever before. The acceleration of cloud adoption and use of analytics to provide improved security and drive business improvements will make 2021 a transformative year for the industry.
Video surveillance and security trends for 2021:
• Customers are asking for cloud: The shift to the benefits of cloud in the video surveillance space are powerful and undeniable, including major cost savings, heightened data security, remote access and maintenance, flexible storage and retention, scalability, increased stability, and disaster recovery.
• Analytics and AI turn security systems into business solutions: Video surveillance systems are not just for security anymore, they’re also a valuable tool for business intelligence (BI). While AI has been talked about for several years, its deployment has lagged. This year, we’ll see AI move from the lab to practical adoption.
• Compliance requirements are constantly evolving: As video surveillance becomes a more widely adopted tool across industries and continents, and more industries are using video for compliance purposes, regulating its use is becoming more prevalent.
• IT departments more engaged and owning video surveillance: IT leaders have not only gotten involved in the video management system, they’re actually owning it. As part of their IT strategy, corporations are leveraging video for business process improvement while reducing unnecessary operational overhead.
• Demand for open, integrated systems: An open and connected ecosystem makes it possible for businesses and developers to integrate any number of applications on a single video management system (VMS) platform. The platform handles all the heavy lifting of interfacing with the cameras, recording video, securely transmitting and storing video to the cloud, and making video available for use in the integrated applications. The days of vendors ‘locking’ users into their cameras or touting ‘hybrid’ systems (which require upgrades to vendor hardware to get new features) will not be accepted.
• User experience as a key factor to adopt solutions: The user is the king. Ease of use, intuitive user interface, low latency connection, compatibility across several devices… formerly rocket science but at the reach of anyone now.
In short, exciting times are ahead for cloud video surveillance and Eagle Eye Networks. Eagle Eye Networks is adding 100 people to the team across the world. Recently, industry leader David Barr joined the company as enterprise sales manager in EMEA. Furthermore, the company is expanding rapidly in Asia Pacific and Latin America. For the Middle East and Africa, Hadi Rayess joined as senior sales director and Mike Matar as senior sales engineer.
“In my twenty years of experience in the security industry, the convergence to cloud in video surveillance is a game changer and can be compared to the shift from analogue to IP cameras,” says Lodhia. “Eagle Eye Networks is a frontrunner when it comes to cloud video surveillance with data centres across the world and a cybersecure-by-design platform. In addition, the fact that Eagle Eye Networks can work with over 3500 camera models and operates as an open platform is giving benefits to the industry compared to systems that are closed and require dedicated hardware. The Middle East and Africa don’t have many legacy systems in place and can benefit directly from jumping to the cloud for safe and flexible video surveillance.
“To announce this launch in the Middle East and Africa is yet another step in the growth path of Eagle Eye Networks. From our Amsterdam office we have been able to spread the cloud video surveillance message across the EMEA region for a long time, but it is great to have local people on the ground now that can onboard local resellers and end users that will benefit from the advantages of our solution. When I hear that even police forces are delighted with our solution as they don’t have to use a USB stick anymore to download video from a local recorder, but immediately get the video via WhatsApp or email, then you know you are on the right track.
“Cloud is becoming the standard for video surveillance and I am looking forward to seeing how the new economies of the world will adapt to this quickly,” says Lodhia.
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