Security as a service goes beyond residential to large-scale projects

Security as a service (SaaS) is increasingly becoming popular across the globe mainly due to lower costs, flexibility, and the options to use services like high-end video analytics that may require massive computing power.
 
Yet despite its potential, until recently the market for security as a service was mostly restricted to the residential sector. But with improved technology and better customer awareness, this is set to change.

Non-residential markets interested in SaaS

Understandably the demand for this option outside the residential sector is beginning with the small and medium business (SMB) sector. Aaron Dale, Analyst for Video Surveillance at IHS pointed out quick service restaurants as an example of a potential SaaS end user. 
 
“Video surveillance as a service (VSaaS) is a popular solution in the SMB market as it facilitates a seamless link between multiple sites over a wide geographic area,” Dale said.
 
SMB’s interest in services is largely due to the fact that it helps them avoid the expenses upfront. Sébastien Boeynaems, Marketing & Sales Manager in Benelux at the Belgium-based reseller of Panasonic Cameramanager, Sabelco, said that instead of paying large sums for cameras and recorders, they can pay monthly for a camera-cloud solution and always have the latest technology.
 
Roshan Punnilath, Head of Operations at the Saudi Arabia-based Mega Security Services added that the interest is also because the organizations don’t need to appoint staff to maintain their security services locally, thereby reducing expenses.

From SMBs to larger organizations

 But then as the technology has evolved from its initial days, larger organizations have begun to take an interest in SaaS.
 
“SaaS can be useful for chains of outlet or shops, companies who have warehouses, multiple service center workshops, and anyone who needs centralized monitoring and security management for their premises,” Punnilath said.  
 
Other resellers have also pointed out that a potential customer for SaaS is large multinational corporate organizations with several branches but have limited staff.
 
“For example, many of these companies have a limited or off-site IT staff for their different locations, which causes them not to have a physical IT employee on-premise to address immediate issues or concerns,” said David English, VP of Sales & Marketing at Southeastern Security Professionals (SSP), a dealer of Brivo. 
 
Pat Camman, Director of Business Development at Acme Security Center, a reseller of Eagle Eye Networks, agreed that this segment is also popular with small offices.
 
“Professional service organizations that need access control for their employees and visitors as well as security cameras for the ID of possible criminal activity,” Camman said.

Large-scale projects for service-based security

The potential of this segment is increasingly being realized as customers including those from the government sector are opting for it. Dale pointed out that China is leading by example in this.
 
“Governments or local authorities [in China] are drawn to the billing model offered by security as a service as they can spread the cost of a solution over time,” Dale said.
  
Lim Chiaw Sin, GM for China Security and Contracting & Operations Leader for Asia at Tyco added that his company is seeing interest from verticals such as banking and finance, transport (aviation and rail), high-tech industrial, and mixed-use development. According to Dang Trinh, Operation Manager for ICT, a dealer of Barracuda Networks, the education sector is also getting interested because they are typically looking for simple-to-manage and easy-to-access solutions.
 
Nicky Stokes, MD of systems integrator (SI) ISD Tech agreed to this trend as he cited an example of his company’s recent implementation of Brivo’s cloud-based access control systems in several projects including a multinational software company. 
 
“Within the past 12 months we’ve completed international rollouts for a US-based oil and gas organization, and Silja Europa, a large off-shore gas exploration ship,” Stokes said. “It’s organizations that are looking for rapid deployment of access control that also gives them the ability to quickly scale up as their businesses expand, as well as those looking to manage access more cost effectively.”
 
But, of course, when it comes to such large-scale projects, there is a need to make sure the data is double protected as the risks could be higher. Camman added his recommendation of hybrid SaaS solutions for this.
 
“For larger manufacturing clients we would recommend a much larger onsite storage in addition to cloud storage for redundancy on highly critical infrastructure where explosions, loss of life, hazardous conditions could occur, and the cost effectiveness for cloud storage for sensitive areas,” Camman said. “Eagle Eye Networks cloud-based VMS supports both these models.”

The future of security as a service

Of course, growth of SaaS doesn’t come without its fair share of concerns. Apart from the data security issues, technical uncertainties, cost and reliability issues, there are also some challenges that are unique to specific regions.
 
For instance, Punnilath said in Saudi Arabia some customers prefer SaaS with data hosted within the country, so that in the event that the customer is not happy they can easily take legal action against the service provider.
 
But these are only some minor stumbling blocks in the way of SaaS’ growth. In fact such issues are in line with developments in other technological fields, where cloud-based storage and computing are becoming more and more popular. As the technology evolves, these concerns would fade too. In short, it is only a matter of time before we see SaaS as one of the main offering for security companies.