Technology Trends
As IP defines the future of security, technology developments are reshaped as well. PSIM, VCA and cloud-based services are three things that will influence the industry, if not the world.
PSIM
PSIM as a term is relatively new, but has gained greater recognition in the past five years. Today, PSIM is in the early growth stage of its product life cycle, having passed through the development and market introduction stages but not yet reaching maturity, Hussain said.
Several criteria mark the early growth phase. First, increased sales have resulted in cost reduction from economies of scale. “Globally, the number of PSIM deployments have increased significantly over the last year,” Hussain said. “There are currently in excess of 400 deployments worldwide, and this number increases every week.”
Second, there is greater competition in this space. While not all solutions offer the same degree of integration, it reflects the market's need for true PSIM solutions, Hussain said.
Intelligent Video
The rise of HD imaging makes intelligent video all the more relevant. While more pixels may not necessarily make the algorithms more accurate, basic motion detection could significantly reduce storage costs by only recording in HD when something happens. If nothing occurs, the camera can record at a lower resolution.
VCA does not occur in a vacuum, as it requires some way to report an event. “Our view is that the algorithm is only half of the equation,” Holtenhoff said. “The ability to get benefit out of that is a VMS that leverages metadata.”
Analytics help make data more usable, processing information from cameras and storage. “What you have is a big warehouse of data, without the ability to search through the data or analyze it in real time,” Holtenhoff said. “It's like going to the library to find a book on Shakespeare, but there's no coding tool.”
Intelligent video is clearly a trend, enabling a camera to count people or monitor traffic. “You have one product, and if the processor is smart and flexible enough, you can generate multiple uses,” Clocher said. “One analogy is in the morning, I use my iPhone to listen to music, then call my customers when at the office, then in the evening my kids turn it into a gaming console. Finally, I use it to read my favorite newspaper. It's exactly the same for cameras. It can be for security; then you have an intelligent app in the camera. You can then differentiate and add features to the camera, thanks to software. This is what's happening today.”
Cloud
The cloud concept is simple enough to understand, but devilishly tricky in the details. Present iterations are mostly private cloud offerings from vendors teaming up with alarmmonitoring companies for hosted video, access control or more holistic management solutions.
While there is palpable excitement, not everyone is convinced the cloud is the way to go. “Cloud and hosted services are OK for consumer business models, but not for professional ones,” Santambrogio said. Megapixel video over a wide-area network would not be practical, limiting use for enterprise users.
In his experience, customers prefer on-site storage for bandwidth and privacy reasons. “People don't like to store this kind of data in an unsecured data center,” Santambrogio said. In sensitive markets such as Italy, privacy would be the main argument against public cloud deployments.
The hype about cloud is offset by practical concerns. “Cloud is talked about, but the adoption rate is not as broad as people are saying,” Holtenhoff said. “There's a lot of pulp, but it hasn't delivered yet.”
While the kinks are being worked out, there is no denying that cloud deployments reduce upfront equipment cost. “We absolutely believe in a future with more video surveillance being delivered as a service based on a hosted model,” Mauritsson said. Axis will continue to roll out its hosted offering in more markets through partners.
CNL was among the first vendors to offer SaaS in 2004, which required a significant upfront investment in time and effort. “We still see them as an option for a large number of organizations, but this is still a real challenge for the enterprise-level solutions we are deploying through our channel partners today,” Hussain said. “There are no major technology barriers in the way, but how to operate, who will operate and how to deploy are still significant unknowns that need to be decided for this to become a reality.”
Honeywell has launched private cloud services in the U.S. through its various offerings. “Cloud is a technology trend for the central service model,” said Jerry Jia, Technology Director for APAC, Honeywell Security. “Every day, millions of events from customer panels go through the Honeywell private cloud.”
For Sielox, its hosted access control services have been a sustainable business model, especially for the company's business partners, said Karen Evans, President. Managed platforms eliminate the need for full-time IT professionals or investment in new hardware.
Cloud will figure prominently in the future. “A lot of excitement has been generated in the area of Web connectivity of field devices, such as sensors, based around the much discussed concept of the Internet of Things,” said Clemens Krebs, Head of Marketing Communications for Bosch Security Systems. Key standards bodies include the IP Smart Object Alliance and the Internet Engineering Task Force.
As the security industry shifts from explosive growth to a steadier pace, it is buoyed by companies committed to the long term. The recession proved that smart companies in step with customer needs and a continued R&D investment could help survive lean times. Security will also evolve into a business asset, creating lasting value. Overcoming the IP learning curve will be mandatory for success in the future, which in turn offers tremendous benefits. Convergence, change and customer service are the way forward for those willing to win.