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heavy investments not connected to
the core business.
Standard offer or not?
It is of course important for the sup-
pliers to have wide standard offers
based on SaaS, but custom solutions
are also needed. Here the supplier's
creativity comes into play. In both
cases it is all about creating offers
based on an understanding of the
customer's business and the needs
that have to be met. This can be done
in many different ways, but the most
important thing is to always have
the customer's situation as the main
focus.
Inevitable development
As SaaS provides a more cost effective
and improved solution for prevent-
ing crimes and increasing security, it
is able to offer an unused and largely
untapped potential and is, accord-
ing to many, an inevitable evolution
for the security industry in the search
for solid and healthy customer offer-
ings.
When the supplier takes care of
the infrastructure the customer does
not have to worry about hardware and
software, cost for personnel, admin-
istration and service. Also, with the
use of cloud services, resources can be
shared, which means a more cost effec-
tive solution for everyone involved. n
Video surveillance
at the forefront
The fact that it is the suppliers of
camera systems who have seen SaaS
as a good business opportunity
is mainly explained by the rapid
development within network video.
With IP remote monitoring, scal-
able technology was made possible,
and also the use of IVA making
cameras intelligent. It is within
these areas where there exists great
business opportunities.
Specialist packaging
There are different ways of offering
SaaS solutions, and companies are
choosing different paths, although
all paths consist of working with
concepts where the customer
chooses services based on needs and
where the supplier is responsible for
the entire infrastructure, of course,
all included in the monthly cost.
One particular model is to offer
functions for different uses, for ex-
ample stationary or patrolling guard
services, remote access, talking
cameras etc. Another focus could
be on services for different vertical
markets, for example schools, pub-
lic transport or the building sector.
Both models however, use the same
main concept of SaaS where services
are offered on a monthly cost basis,
eliminating the customer's need for
tomer can concentrate on its core
business, while the supplier uses
its specialist knowledge to handle
the security for the customer a
win-win situation.
Hybrid deals dominating
This is already done within the
video surveillance segment, but
business is still carried out through
a hybrid solution of product sales
and service sales. The customer
buys technical systems and com-
ponents and the supplier offers
remote services, based on the cus-
tomer's needs and what the system
can generate. Images are usually
handled by a monitoring centre
and different actions are carried out
based on different scenarios which
the intelligent cameras react to.
The entry of network cameras
with remote surveillance and
scalable technology has brought
entirely new ways to increase
security in all types of applica-
tions. Network technology and
intelligent video analysis is also
a needed in order to effectively
make security supplier's offers
service based.
SaaS and video services
As a supplier, offering video servic-
es through a SaaS solution means
taking care of a camera system,
from A to Z. The supplier handles
installation, operation, service
and camera surveillance through
a manned camera monitoring
centre all at a monthly cost for
the customer. In this way the cus-
More and more suppliers of security systems realise
that future prosperous business awaits in the service
sector, and not in traditional product sales or charging
by the hour.
Packaging security as a range of services instead of
offering customers a heavy investment in product is
utilising Security-as-a-Service.
The perhaps most obvious sector for this migration
is video surveillance. Here, the process towards SaaS
has already begun, both technically and economically
speaking.
By Lennart Alexandrie
Video surveillance
the service process is already up and running
New series of detektor
articles on security services
The future of the security market including techni-
cal solutions will be all about suppliers delivering an
infrastructure from which functions and services are
generated, packaged and priced. These are points that
most market analysts agree on. But what does this mean
for the security suppliers and customers? During 2013
Security-as-a-Service (SaaS) will be a reoccurring topic in
Detektor International. In this issue the focus is on video
services.
security-as-a-service