Cloud-based video surveillance solutions, more commonly known as video surveillance as a service (VSaaS), is a facility where a customer pays on a regular basis to view live or recorded video-surveillance data off-site to the location of the camera.
Cloud-based video surveillance solutions, more commonly known as video surveillance as a service (VSaaS), is a facility where a customer pays on a yearly, quarterly, or monthly basis to view live or recorded video surveillance data off-site to the location of the security camera. The video surveillance data can be stored either off-site or on-site to the location of the security camera.
Read more in our Cloud video surveillance and Hybrid Video Surveillance Guide (Updated 2021)
Being a relatively new option, the industry is yet to come up with a standard categorization system for this segment, but according to Aaron Dale, Analyst for Video Surveillance at IHS, it can be broadly classified into two types.
1. Branded video surveillance as a service provider
A branded VSaaS provider is any company that supplies an own-brand solution to an end user. This includes solutions that have been rebranded.
2. Video surveillance as a service solution & infrastructure provider
This includes companies that provide a ‘white label’ VSaaS solution to a branded VSaaS provider. Typically all of the revenue generated by this company comes from sales of the white label solution. However, some companies may also sell a VSaaS solution directly to the end user.
The analysts at IHS further breaks down the market in terms of where the video is stored.
However, note that in all cases the video is managed in the cloud, which qualifies solutions that have no off-site storage as ‘cloud-based’ or VSaaS. Also, a VSaaS provider may offer several solution types to suit the needs of the end user.
3. Fully hosted video
Hosted video surveillance is a service where the video data is stored off-site to the location of the security camera. The video is either stored at the provider’s own datacentre, or at a datacentre managed by a third party, such as Amazon or Microsoft Azure. Video data is transferred from the security camera to the datacentre over a wide area network (WAN). Dropcam is an example of a VSaaS provider who offers a fully hosted service
4. Cloud managed video
Managed video surveillance is a service where customers pay for the ability to manage and view the video remotely. The video data is stored at the physical location of the security camera and may take the form of any video surveillance storage, but often consists of a digital network recorder (DVR), or network video recorder (NVR).
5. Hybrid video
Hybrid solutions are a combination of managed and hosted video surveillance. Often this service involves on-site storage of all the video surveillance data with back-up of all or part of the video remotely. Examples of VSaaS providers who offer a hybrid video service include Logitech and 1000eyes.
Read more: directory of 30+ VSaaS / cloud video surveillance and ACaaS / cloud access control providers