With more and more end-users considering video surveillance as a service (VSaas), SIs may have to think how they can reorient their business to suit customers’ requirements.
Given the frequent technological advancements in the industry, systems integrators (SI) are often forced to rethink their business strategy to move forward. Whether it's the change from analog to IP or the increased practice of integrated security solutions, SIs need to be constantly updated with the latest technology and creative in ensuring it's beneficial to them.
It's not any different with the latest trend of cloud-based video surveillance solutions. With more and more end-users considering video surveillance as a service (VSaas), SIs may have to think how they can reorient their business to suit customers’ requirements.
According to Aaron Dale, Video Surveillance Analyst at IHS, when it comes to cloud-based surveillance systems, SIs are uniquely positioned to capitalize on the growing popularity of recurring-revenue model, as they are already used to monthly payment systems. Both SIs and manufactures could take advantage of this market by creating strategic partnerships.
Clearly, most vendors understand the importance of SI’s role in their business and hence make sure that they make strategic provisions that would benefit the latter.
“We share a big part of the margin with system integrators, who are doing the selling job. We provide a complete white brand, from website, sell flyers to mobile applications to our partners,” said Nicolas Dupre, CEO of Acoba. “As we offer the recurrent billing platform for free, our partners have nothing to do, just selling!”
Matthew Connolly, Director of CudaEye Sales at Barracuda, indicated that his company provides strong pre-and post-sales support to SIs. “CudaEye is part of the Barracuda’s portfolio of products and services,” Connolly said. “CudaEye partners receive pre and post-sales support from Barracuda including, lead referrals, web demos, comprehensive documentation, printed data sheets, and industry-leading live telephone support. CudaEye partners generate recurring revenue through annual service renewals.”
Perfecting the recurring revenue model is seen as a priority by other service providers too. Martin A. Renkis, CEO of Smartvue said that the company’s solutions provide a proven recurring revenue model, as well as a central management system for integrators.
To other large manufacturers like
Axis Communications, the role of SIs goes beyond recurrent revenues to integrating their wide range of products with the modern, rising trend of cloud-based surveillance.
"Axis Video Hosting Service (AVHS) gives the opportunity to our Video Service Providers to offer a service to a market currently dominated by smaller sized analog systems," said Nafis Jasmani, Regional Business Development Manager for South Asia Pacific at Axis Communications.
"Through AVHS, our Service Providers get the opportunity to generate new recurring revenue streams and add new value to their offering with the easy integration to existing systems such as access control and intruder alarms."
With the increasing number of cloud-based video surveillance providers, companies are also forced to come up with unique selling points to differentiate themselves. For SIs, this could mean more options and opportunities. With further developments in tranmission and related technologies, the interest in cloud-based systems could only increase in the future, and for SIs, it's a good time to consider entering this segment.