24/06/2012
2013 tipping point for network surveillance
Wellington, Northamptonshire (UK)
IMS Research recently published a report, IP Trends in Security – A Survey of Systems Integrators and Installers, which found that currently 80 percent of North American systems integrators and installers purchase some IP-based video surveillance equipment from IT distributors, and that this was expected to increase to 90 percent of systems integrators and installers in three years’ time.
This finding compliments the fact that increasingly IT distributors are looking to add video surveillance products to their product range in the next 18 months. This could be good news for the traditional IT integrators who are also looking to enter the video surveillance industry, as they will already have the established relationships with their IT distributors. However, many IT integrators are not looking to their distributors for the security knowledge they lack but are instead going directly to the manufacturers of the cameras they are using.
The available bandwidth for these IP-based technologies is still a limiting concern. According to the State of the Internet Report, published by Akami, within North America, the USA has an average broadband speed of around 5.8Mbps, and is ranked 12th in broadband speed for the world. Despite the concerns with available bandwidth, broadband speeds are likely to continue to increase, leading to greater capability and greater expectations from the technology.
A key finding from the recently released IP Trends in Security – A Survey of Systems Integrators and Installers, is the influence IT managers have in the decision of what IP-based video surveillance products are chosen. IT managers were ranked ahead of other key influencers such as physical security managers, chief security officers and consultants in their ability to influence which IP-based video surveillance products are chosen.
One reason for this influence may be the fact that IT budgets are typically larger than the associated security budgets. Instead of security managers buying an IP-camera and speaking with the IT department about how to incorporate it into the network, increasingly the IT department will buy the security equipment from their budget and incorporate the device into their network.
The IMS Research’s report, IP Trends in Security – A Survey of Systems Integrators and Installers in Europe and North America – 2012 Edition, is published in two regional volumes, Europe and North America.