Time waits for no one, and the time of Internet protocol (IP)-based video surveillance has arrived. Therefore, systems integrators can’t afford to wait any longer — they need to start tapping into this market now.
Research forecasts abound that predict the IP surveillance market generating ever-surging revenue streams across sectors large and small. The research firm Frost & Sullivan is expecting that by 2012 the worldwide IP surveillance market will generate revenues surpassing $6 billion. The federal government alone is sinking more than $40 billion annually into homeland security measures, including massive subsidies for the development of new technology.
The need to engage in sophisticated video analytics and quickly share real-time data over IP-based surveillance systems is attracting a lot of attention from Uncle Sam. Large retail chains, critical infrastructure, gaming, education and manufacturing concerns are among the early adopters, as well.
Who could blame a systems integrator for being just plain giddy with thoughts of tapping into such a bountiful business opportunity?
But hold on. Here are two truths presently flooding the realm of IP video surveillance: hype and significant practical and technical challenges.
Issues like lack of awareness among end users, installation complexity and resistance from physical security installers/dealers are said to be stunting the expansion of the IP surveillance market.
It can be tough at times to grasp reality amidst the frenzy of conflicting messages and market realities.
To make sense of it all, Security Sales & Integration engaged several industry experts to evaluate this IP-based video sea change. Following are frank answers to pressing questions such as: What strategies can systems integrators employ to seize credible revenue opportunities? How long will hybrid systems prove profitable for systems integrators? What are the most significant challenges systems integrators face moving forward to ensure survivability?
Industry Forecasters Are Optimistic About the Future
Undoubtedly, a migration from analog to digital to IP-based solutions is occurring. Advances in camera and surveillance technology, increased public and private security concerns, and a host of security-related market drivers are fueling the propulsion.
There is no shortage of analyst prognostication that says market tectonics will continue to shift inexorably toward greater IP surveillance application. In the years to come the momentum is expected to only amplify the world over.
“The IP video market is the future of security video globally,” says Joe Freeman, CEO of J.P. Freeman Co. and author of SSI’s monthly “By the Numbers” column. This will be especially true, he says, for “large organizations in which the cost of operating a security program is a concern, along with the desire to achieve more remote control.”
There is seemingly no end to the possibilities of IP video commerce as analog and legacy systems are upgraded and eventually retired. An urgent question for the systems integrator to ask, amid all of the talk of hot-ember potential, is how fast will wholesale change come to the security surveillance marketplace? And are you prepared to do business in the new frontier?
