Milestone’s 10th Annual MIPS Conference Emphasizes Partnership
‘Winning Together – The Power of Partnership’ was the theme during the 10th annual Milestone Integration Platform Symposium.
As many as 500 distributors, systems integrators, end users, software solution partners, camera manufacturers and storage providers were in attendance at the 10th annual Milestone Integration Platform Symposium (MIPS).
LAS VEGAS ― Open platform solutions with a diverse team of suppliers and innovative integrators make up the secret sauce that when baked serves up the 10th Milestone Integration Platform Symposium (MIPS) 2015, this year held Feb. 24-25 at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. The binding agent in this cake mix is business growth for all participants in this unique security solutions ecosystem.
Milestone CEO Lars Thinggaard opened the proceedings and answered the question that was on everyone’s mind from the last MIPS: Would Milestone complete an IPO in 2014? The acquisition by Canon answered the question for the industry, but took a much different direction than the business gossip mills were generating. While Thinggaard declined to provide in-depth commentary, he shared the strengths that Canon brings to the security party. The message was that Canon respects allowing companies to operate autonomously to grow their business. There is some evidence that suggests this may be the case. The future will write this chapter over time.
RELATED: Canon and Milestone Discuss Acquisition in SSI‘s Exclusive Q&A
Milestone’s new chief of marketing & sales, Kenneth Petersen, shared his background and future direction of his team. The message was investment in marketing campaigns and sales teams, and listening to all of the ecosystem customers that make up Milestone’s world and bottom line. He whipped the crowd up with a new acronym to bond the team and then led a wolf pack howling at a full moon. Who said the security industry is conservative?
Christian Bohn, vice president of alliances for Milestone, moderated the State of the Industry panel that included: Arecont Vision Executive Vice President Scott Schafer, Axis Communications General Manager Fredrik Nilsson, Bosch Security President of Sales for the Americas Brian Wiser, Samsung Techwin Vice President of Sales for North America Tom Cook and Sony Senior Vice President of Business Development Matt Soga.
Everything went well, with the panel being polite and professional and not all that interesting until the competitive and business cultures kicked into gear. Then the volleys began as well as the fun and real insights. Among the topics of discussion: the future of the industry and ideas on 4K expectations, recording at the edge, cloud technology progress and its potential impact. Lots of posturing and positioning ensued, but informative nonetheless.
The theme of the two-day conference was “Winning Together – The Power of Partnership.” Speakers, industry panelists and interactive breakout sessions highlighted the topic to show how the Milestone VMS open platform enables ongoing innovation and efficiency.
In keeping with its partnership theme, Milestone announced its 2014 Milestone Partner Awards. Winners included:
- National Partner of the Year: Johnson Controls
- Distributor of the Year: Anixter
- Technology Partner of the Year: EMC
- Integration of the Year: ISONAS
- Solution Partner of the Year: SICK
- Camera Manufacturer of the Year: Arecont Vision
- Regional Partner of the Year: Continental Computers/WLANmall
- Installation of the Year: Mainline Information Systems, WinStar Casino
During the event, the Utah Transit Authority, hhgregg appliances and electronics retail chain, Iberdrola power utilities management, a major metropolitan police force, and Hyatt Hotels presented the solutions that meet their security and business challenges. Each speaker illustrated how the IP networked video systems built with the Milestone open platform are reliable, flexible, and scalable as their needs change and grow.
“The constantly growing number of Milestone Solution Partners illustrates that winning through partnerships is the key to solid growth through the freedom of choice provided when doing business with our open platform,” Thinggaard said. “The multi-faceted expertise throughout our global ecosystem is enabling the industry to continually improve safety and security as well as efficiency in business operations.”
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About the Author
Paul Boucherle, SSI Contributor
Paul C. Boucherle, Certified Protection Professional (CPP) and Certified Sherpa Coach (CSC), is Security Sales & Integration’s “Business Fitness” columnist. A principal of Matterhorn Consulting, he has more than 30 years of diverse security and safety industry experience including UL central station operations, risk-vulnerability assessments, strategic security program design and management of industry convergence challenges. Boucherle has successfully guided top-tier companies in achieving enhanced ROI resulting from improved sales and operational management techniques. He is a charismatic speaker and educator on a wide range of critical topics relating to the security industry of today and an accomplished corporate strategist and marketer whose vision and expertise in business performance have driven notable enterprise growth in the security industry sector.
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