Two of the most talked about European trends last year were strengthening cybersecurity and growing acceptance of cloud solutions. Nearly every security player, big and small, offer solutions to address these issues.
Two of the most talked about European trends last year were strengthening cybersecurity and growing acceptance of cloud solutions. Nearly every security player, big and small, offer solutions to address these issues.
In terms of market size, the public cloud market in Europe is expected to grow at a rate of 22 percent for the next three years, according to a report by International Data Corporation (IDC). While cloud adoption in Europe has lagged behind the U.S., security players note an obvious increase in interest for cloud solutions.
Increased interest in cloud also goes hand in hand with better cybersecurity. Thanks to laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), companies are even more aware now of the need to protect privacy and provide better security.
Benefits of cloud solutions
Security companies see a lot of opportunity for cloud solutions in Europe, as well as the rest of the world. “With cloud technology it actually enables organizations to invest in technology and keep abreast and keep at the forefront of the latest technology. Because you’re not necessarily invested in the capital cost of equipment upfront, all the time,” said Daren Lang, Regional Business Development Manager, North Europe at
Axis Communications.
Lang added that cloud solutions are not necessarily just about streaming lots of video to the cloud and storing it there. “That’s not what we are talking about. We are talking about management of devices centrally, having that delivered as a service,” he said.
The flexibility of cloud solutions make it a good fit for multi-site facilities, such as retail. Cloud allows users to connect multiple sites, check the health of the devices on those sites.
Many companies are also seeing huge growth in cloud adoption in the retail market. “There’s a lot of benefits to it. One of the biggest is the level of security you can have in the cloud infrastructure. It’s reducing costs, which, in today’s retail space when we talk about box retail is becoming more and more of an issue,” said a major VMS company.
Moving to cloud solutions can help multi-site businesses eliminate certain costs such as on-site hardware and hardware maintenance, while at the same time having the security of cloud. This then allows business to better leverage their investment in other areas.
Choosing how much to store in the cloud
Choosing how much to store in the cloud varies greatly amongst users. Some customers prefer all security data to be stored in the cloud with nothing on site. More traditional users might prefer that all data is stored on site. Then there are those that choose a hybrid solution where data is stored on both the cloud and local storage devices.
In terms of cost, Lang noted that constant streaming to the cloud might still be too expensive for many businesses and unnecessary. “I think local storage is still the best way to go when you’re talking about storing large volumes of data and just, when required, taking the required bits to the cloud as you need,” he said.
The VMS company also noted that its more traditional customers choose a hybrid approach. “They may do some local and then some cloud until they become trusting of it. Traditionally all of my video is stored here, I know it's there. When that box is gone, I don’t know where my video is. It's in the cloud. But it's moving to that approach. It's building that trust level.”
Avigilon promotes its cloud solutions
Avigilon launched its Blue device last year. “This unit would sit with the customer and they would connect either Avigilon cameras with analytics or third-party cameras that are already in existence, even old analog cameras can be connected through an encoder,” explained Paul Such, VP of EMEA Sales at Avigilon. “What we do with that is we store some critical alarms and we will stream alarms to the cloud; the cloud is with Microsoft Azure.”
The system is easy to install and runs on a recurring-monthly-revenue (RMR) model, which allows systems integrators to earn monthly revenue from the end user. For end users, it is also more cost-effective than having traditional NVRs or even larger video recorders.