On the company's 16th birthday, security equipment manufacturers, distributors, channel partners and integrated solution partners gathered to learn, share and brainstorm about the latest in video technology.

Milestone Systems CEO Lars Thinggaard opened the event, stating: “Video enabling is happening now and being used for more than just security as integrations with analytics, biometrics, RFID and all kinds of business metadata are being incorporated into operations to realise innovative new efficiencies and more strategic approaches. This is something Milestone defined years ago in our mission and vision. With our international ecosystem of partners, we are well positioned to take advantage of this major business opportunity."

Eric Fullerton, Milestone Systems Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, spoke on the topic Why Compromise?  “Video is becoming mission critical for value-added purposes in all vertical sectors, as a tool for daily business. Open platform IP video fosters deeper integrations that bring more value than any one company could do alone, and our ecosystem proves this concept. The scalability and flexibility appreciate over time - compared to proprietary systems that depreciate and require ‘forklift’ upgrades to replace them entirely, rather than building on a future-proof foundation. With Milestone there is no need to compromise."

Top camera manufacturers revealed their perspectives. Samsung Techwin CEO Cheol Kyo Kim related a vision for ‘Change’. His name, which means ‘Golden Bridge’, describes the positive spirit of his leadership to help drive change in his organisation, including a realignment and new connection with partners such as Milestone Systems. He also talked about bridging the market needs of those moving from analog to IP video technology, highlighting the increasing importance of video analytics, HD efficiencies, mobile access and encryption. He said open platform architecture enables integrations that create new markets.

Also presenting were Executive VP Bernhard Schuster from Bosch Security Systems, and Johan Lembre, Director of Corporate Sales Projects for Axis Communications. A camera panel discussion with these companies included executives from Arecont Vision and Sony, exploring future trends like the cloud and edge recording.

Video enabling access control was the theme of another panel discussion with participants from Axis, Isonas, Keyscan and Open Options. They talked about IP-based access control integrations with VMS and optimal functions from operative and technical perspectives, defining many benefits for both customers and installing channel partners.

A very lively storage debate weighed options for handling the growing needs of video and big data - and it was clear that these can have very different requirements when it comes to the hardware for storing the evidence, sometimes needed long after an occurrence. RAID and direct-attached setups did not seem to win the battle for video data, but big or small installations have different needs. Companies waging the alternatives were EMC Isilon, HP Autonomy, IBM, Seneca Data and Veracity.

The MIPS Technology Showcase illustrated 48 examples of interoperability with the Milestone open platform from Manufacturer Alliance Partners and Solution Partners in every facet of security implementations available today: video analytics and synopsis, access control, storage, laser scanners, geospatial positioning, network management, command centre display walls, and more.

The second day of the event ended with a Gala Dinner and awards ceremony.