GEUTEBRÜCK looks beyond security to win out amid competition

Amid intense competition and price pressures in the security industry, GEUTEBRÜCK eyes various non-security and value-added applications as a way to win out in the market.
 
According to Katharina Geutebrück, CEO of GEUTEBRÜCK, demands for security are still there due to crimes and terrorist threats across the globe. However the year hasn’t been easy for the German video surveillance solutions provider due to price pressures and certain geopolitical factors. The company saw its biggest growth in North America, where more and more systems integrators and end users are moving toward value-added solutions, as well as in Asia, an emerging market where security has bigger growth potential.
 

Among the trends Geutebrück saw in 2017 were migration toward ultra-high definition, H.265, cloud solutions and analytics on the edge. But according to her, pure video surveillance — where the user uses cameras and NVRs to capture and record video — has more or less become commoditized. What’s going to drive the industry forward are applications that go beyond security, whereby video is integrated with metadata from other systems or devices to provide more business intelligence and insights to users. This integration and the development of tailor-made interfaces are two of the business domains that GEUTEBRÜCK’s international success is built on.

“Think about facial recognition systems, for example, being used for marketing purposes, recognizing gender, age and things like that so that I can adapt my advertising to who's standing in front of the camera. This is definitely coming up,” Geutebrück said.
 

Focus on logistics

One area that GEUTEBRÜCK has been focusing on is those with logistics processes — either logistics service providers or manufacturers with logistics chains — where video is used not just for security purposes but also for improving the end user’s business processes. “When you look at logistics operators … we link our system to their conveyer belt control and scanners that scan barcodes. By intelligently using that information we can completely track the parcels on the conveyor belt at any given moment. If someone then keys in the barcode number into the system, he'll get the whole journey of a parcel. That way, if it is missing or damaged, he knows immediately and he can see where it went missing, got damaged or where it went,” Geutebrück said, adding this is an effective use of security in non-security applications. “It’s the same technological base, it’s the same type of cameras, and it's the same software, but we use them in a more profit-oriented way. We help customers optimize their processes and reduce errors or cost for mistakes in the processes, and that helps add to their bottom line and get a return on investment. For some of our customers it’s a few months only.”

Another area where Geutebrück sees users becoming more aware of is the issue of cybersecurity, given rampant attacks against devices that are increasingly online these days. According to her, GEUTEBRÜCK ensures cybersecurity through device hardening as well as market education.

“Our own VMS has a proprietary video database which is secured against threats from the outside. We also do a lot supporting and educating of our SIs and end users. We monitor all of the hardware to see if there’s a security vulnerability. If there is we immediately contact/warn our OEM partners to have them closed, and we inform our users proactively of anything that's found, telling them this is what you can do in the meantime,” she said. “We do a lot of testing as well, working with a few institutes that analyze security vulnerabilities. We see that as vital to a security system.”