d e t e k t o r i n t e r n a t i o n a l · 3 3
Security News Every Day
www. securityworldhotel.com
Security News Every Day
www. securityworldhotel.com
also seen that the transition to HD has
occurred. Analogue is still competing with
HD, but, I believe, analogue doesn't stand a
chance.
Whatīs your opinion on Securityasa
Service and hosted video?
The security industry is very conservative.
Itīs one of few markets where analogue tech-
nology still has such a big market share today.
That makes it hard for new ideas such as Se-
curity-as-a-Service to grow. It isnīt happening
as fast as we would like, but itīs definitely on
the rise. The logic for it is obvious. Everyone
wanting a surveillance service must have it as a
service. Just putting up a camera and hoping it
will solve all problems isnīt very smart. When
this can be combined with edge storage the
value will be very attractive as you have both
local and remote storage of your video.
Will it change the market?
No, all security companies already sell a
"service" and I think they could improve the
performance of that service with video as a
service.
More and more companies are running
their own camera monitoring centres.
Yes, and when the big security companies
such as Securitas and G4S really start to adapt
to network video they will be able to equip
their personnel with smartphones or tablets,
and when an alarm is triggered they will have
video access in their hands. They will be a lot
more effective than they are today.
What will the market be like in the future?
I have a strong belief in our business model.
The traditional security distributor will have
a tough time. I also believe in a transition to
more modern IT related distributors.
And the technology?
Moore's law canīt be stopped. It shows how
much more CPU can be put in a camera over
time, and then itīs all about figuring out what
do to with the increasing CPU. There are also
things that donīt follow Moore's law, for exam-
ple the camera lens. I love to compare a surveil-
lance camera to the human eye, and there are
areas where each of them is still better. Putting
a 20 megapixel sensor on a lens is not an issue,
we have done that for years. But we want it to
provide an image quality corresponding to the
specifications, and that is not easily done today.
Will the HD standard remain
for a long time?
Yes, I think so. But not as long as 70 years
like the analogue standard. n
Today youīre a board member at Axis, what
else do you do?
I do a mixture of things. During the last year
I lectured a lot about network video. I also do
camera testing a great deal and I still get very
upset when a camera doesnīt work as it should.
On my business card it says Director, New
Projects. Within that unit we produce new
products that do not necessarily belong to the
category of network video.
Rumour has it that Axis is going to target
the access control market.
They would have to be products that are
related to security in some way and suited to
being sold through our sales model of distribu-
tors and system integrators. Access control is
something that some of our partners want us
to do, but the access control business is quite
different and no decision has been taken yet.
The same goes for alarms and several other
products, but we have to make careful evalua-
tions before entering a new market. One of our
big advantages today is that we are focused on
networked video.
How involved are you in product releases?
I usually bring home one of each new model
and install it in my house or in my summer
house. If you want to see the latest Axis cam-
eras you should visit my summer house.
Are you sometimes involved from the very
beginning of a new product?
Sometimes, it varies. I have been very much
involved in edge storage, which is when you
store images locally in the camera. We have
seen it with Axis Camera Companion and I
think it will be a game shifter in the indus-
try. The VMS wonīt be eliminated, it will be
needed regardless of where video is stored. But
with Axis Camera Companion the installation
becomes a lot easier and this technology will be
used to address the camera market for smaller
installations, for example a small shop. It will
take a while before it has itīs break through,
but I think it will be a game shifter just like
the network camera. Finally we can get rid of
the DVR!
Which are the biggest trends in
the market today?
Edge storage and hosted video. We have
the interview
MartinGren,co-founderofAxisandtheSecurityEntrepreneuroftheYear:
"The security industry is very conservative"
There is nothing
better than work-
ing with Axis and I plan to
continue with that.