Canon and Milestone Discuss Acquisition in SSI’s Exclusive Q&A
Its acquisition of video management systems leader Milestone Systems positions Canon as a big-time player in the new IP world.
What is the significance of Canon Europe being the acquiring entity as opposed to the Japan- or U.S.-based operations?
Leurs: The acquisition being done by Canon Europe is in line with our three regional core strategies that have been launched by our CEO, where basically we’re building R&D competence within the regions. Of course, Milestone being headquartered in Denmark, there’s the proximity but also the cultural fit. The sales and marketing fit is the main reason this acquisition was executed by Canon Europe.
What makes Canon a good home for Milestone?
Karl Erik Traberg: We think this means we will be able to further accelerate our business and focus more on that. Milestone is an open platform company that is all about open platform technology and an open business model around that platform. We are also an open company culture in t
he way we work with our partners – our solution partners, channel partners and other ecosystem partners. All of that is what drives the success of Milestone. Canon has recognized this is a very successful business model and wants us to continue operating as a standalone company inside the Canon group. So we will continue with the Milestone brand, the Milestone offices, the business model and the go-to-market approach. We saw that as a unique opportunity, at the same time as where we think we can accelerate the business longer term.
Milestone Fast Facts
- Founded in 1998 in Copenhagen, Denmark
- International offices number 13
- Employs nearly 400 people
- Annual revenue is EUR 54.6 million (2013)
- Channel partners total 8,000; Manufacturer Alliance Partners 100+; solution partners 1,000+
- Deployed in 100,000+ installations
- Compatible cameras top 3,000
Milestone’s vision for the past eight years has been that we want to drive the convergence of video surveillance and business systems. So we are thinking beyond security. We think the industry is going through basically three phases. There’s been the technology focus with the transition from analog to IP and that is still going on strongly. Right now we think the industry is in a phase where it’s a lot about video integration and solutions. And then longer term, we think there a phase is coming where security systems will combine with business systems to create more business value. Pursuing that opportunity we think is a better opportunity for us now, with such a strong backing from Canon.
And I suppose this acquisition will afford Milestone the advantage of tapping into more R&D through Canon?
Leurs: We will support Milestone in the delivery and development of their ambitions, with the required resources on the R&D side where possible, definitely.
Traberg: We’ve seen the massive transition from analog to IP. We’ve seen a lot of integrations and advanced type of use of IP video. We see the low end of the market is coming full force now with NVRs and low channel count video management software solutions. The expansion opportunities beyond that, if you think about the consumer space and other areas, for the future being enabled by video are tremendous longer term.
You mentioned Milestone remaining a separate entity within Canon. What changes, if any, will be evident in products branding?
Traberg: Milestone will continue with our own brand and continuing the business as it is today. We’ll not be co-branding or do any significant integration of products or OEM and rebranding and things like that.
What about something like a Canon camera being labeled, “Milestone built-in” or similar? Might that happen?
Traberg: It depends. Last year, we launched a really exciting multiplatform software package called the Milestone Arcus that can be embedded in different devices, basically anything that has reasonable CPU power. We’ve made announcements with EMC Lenovo and Veracity and ISD and others. There’s definitely potential, also together with Canon, of embedding this software into Canon cameras and bringing them to market. That’s definitely a possibility as well as going along the same lines as how we’re working with other partners.
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About the Author
Scott Goldfine
Scott Goldfine is the marketing director for Elite Interactive Solutions. He is the former editor-in-chief and associate publisher of Security Sales & Integration. He can be reached at [email protected].
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