More Than Meets the Eye - Cloud Video Surveillance
- By Ralph C. Jensen
- Jun 01, 2018
With a multitude of cloud
providers vying for market
share to store your data and
provide cloud computing,
creating your own data center deployments
with associated hardware, networking and
storage systems, doesn’t generally top the list
of additional headaches one might pursue in
today’s world, unless you are Dean Drako.
Drako, the CEO and founder of Eagle
Eye Networks, provider of cloud-based video
surveillance solutions, based in Austin, Texas,
understands the Internet, networking and cyber
security. If Barracuda Networks comes to
mind, you would be right. He was the founder
of the global cyber security company that
specializes in providing cloud-based firewalls,
virus and spam protection—all delivered by
way of a cloud subscription service.
Although he could have outsourced his
cloud needs to the likes of AWS, Microsoft
Azure or Google, Drako chose to build out
his own cloud infrastructure to obtain the
needed layers of security, guarantee compliance
with local regulations, reach the necessary
price points and minimize video latency.
“One of the keys to building a successful
cloud and cyber business is owning the
technology and infrastructure from end to
end so you can deliver the best product,”
Drako said. “We deploy our own hardware
and storage designed specifically for video.
This also means we have the in-house skills
to clear any hurdle and solve any customer
problem or need. To provide the best global
solution for surveillance video, I could not
afford to take the risk of outsourcing our
cloud needs.”
Starting in North America, Drako grew
his cloud capacity worldwide to meet the demands
of the growing international business.
“As I see it, everything is moving to the
cloud,” Drako said. “Video and security
systems will be no different. ERPs, CRMs,
billing systems, email, collaboration services,
screen sharing; they have all moved to the
cloud. Video in the cloud has so many advantages
over being on premise. Once the
data is in the cloud you can do so much more
with it such as: redundancy, analytics, artificial
intelligence, big data analysis, sharing,
and more.”
Further Than the
Eye Can See
Since its inception in 2012, Eagle Eye has
launched data centers all over the world and
Drako has taken cloud video surveillance
application to an all-time high. While North
America was first in Drako’s sights, covering
the world was always the goal. In 2013 and
2014, Drako built out video surveillance infrastructure
in four data centers covering North
America and then turned his attention to Asia.
“Developing a channel and winning customers
in Asia Pacific at an early stage was a
real challenge and a benefit to the company,”
Drako said. “My experience has been that
the Asia Pacific market can drive a great deal
of innovation with their differing market
needs and demands. This kind of environment
is great for a technology company to
learn key internationalization lessons.”
Based on this business principle, Drako
launched two data center locations in Tokyo
and quickly became a recognized cloud video
surveillance brand in the region.
In late 2015, Drako moved the growth
focus to Europe and the Middle East. The
company’s first data center was launched in
London with plans that the region would
experience the same type of rapid growth as
North America and Asia Pacific. Unfortunately,
the 2016 calendar year showed lackluster
performance in the European market.
This prompted Drako to search for a bigger
way to enter the European market while remaining
true to the business strategy. Cloud
was going to take off in Europe; it was just a
matter of time.
In the summer of 2016, Drako hired security
industry veteran Ken Francis to serve
as president of Eagle Eye and run its day to
day operations. Francis formerly operated
global security manufacturing businesses
for the United Technology Corporation, GE
Security and Group 4, and was instrumental
in the development of their global channels
and go-to-market strategies.
An Eye on the Prize
After considering many organic and acquisitive
alternatives, Drako and Francis found
their diamond in the rough in Amsterdam,
The Netherlands. Amsterdam is considered
one of the startup hubs of Europe with numerous
technology companies succeeding or
failing based on the tangible value of their
services. In Amsterdam, they found the ideal
acquisition committed to Eagle Eye’s same
cloud strategy, including a focus on commercial
solutions and the development of purpose
built cloud systems. CameraManager,
was founded by Rishi Lodhia and Tijmen Vos in 2005, and shares a unique characteristic with Eagle Eye Networks.
They both built their own cloud. They don’t use or license
anyone else’s cloud. Not Amazon. Not Google. Not Microsoft.
By acquiring the Amsterdam-based business, Eagle Eye immediately
benefited from both a geographic and a product perspective. In
addition to the CameraManager platform, Lodhia and Vos had developed
an exciting new 4G camera solution, Nubo, which operates
independently and also integrates nicely with the CameraManager
platform for cloud management. The CameraManager and Nubo
products are designed for the reseller seeking a private labeled camera-
to-cloud video system. CameraManager is already the choice of
several of Europe and the Middle East’s largest alarm systems providers
and is now coming to North and South America.
“Combining our business with Eagle Eye Networks was an incredible
opportunity,” Lodhia said. “Eagle Eye is growing rapidly in
North America and Asia; we were the perfect fit at the right moment
for Europe, and Eagle Eye got a second cloud platform for the program
dealer segment.”
In Amsterdam, the Eagle Eye data center resides in a non-descript
Tier 4 data center facility, encircled by a steel fence with concertina
wire on top of it. Inside the datacenter a visitor gets the ultra-high
security impression as they are processed through multiple biometric
checkpoints and mantraps to eventually gain access to an impressive
bank of servers and storage machines.
The Amsterdam Eagle Eye office is only a few miles away, and
is easily accessible to the data center. As many as six team members might be found at the center at any given time to ensure that the facility
is humming along quietly and efficiently. The Amsterdam-based
Eagle Eye staff is responsible for Europe, the Middle East, Asia and
India. That will grow as other data centers and offices are brought on
line. Eagle Eye Europe is currently working on expanding operations
in Germany and France.
One of Eagle Eye Networks’ channel partners, Fortezza Security
Systems’ Stefan de Haas works just outside of Amsterdam, but has
plenty of work in the city. He said offering “true” cloud video surveillance
and being able to provide cyber security in the offering makes
all the difference.
“Our goal as a security company is to protect the infrastructure
and update constantly,” de Haas said. “We monitor what’s happening
with our end user’s networks, engage with them and manage their
security protocols. We work closely with Eagle Eye to ensure that
we are offering the latest cloud features, and that our customers are
taking advantage of the cloud to save money and get better service.”
Engineering the Cloud
Everything that Drako and his team are doing is what they characterize
as “True Cloud.” According to Francis, “a True Cloud system is specifically
engineered for cloud computing and, offered as a pay-for-whatyou-
use subscription model. It affordably and securely provides scalable
system capabilities that can’t possibly be achieved in on-site systems.”
In terms of what’s next for Eagle Eye Networks, Drako says the
company has a few areas of focus to continue geographic expansion;
South America and the Caribbean states. He also describes what
sounds like yet another large investment in the company’s future;
based on machine learning and AI (artificial intelligence).
The application of artificial intelligence to video surveillance,
specifically, AI applications need the global data centers to provide
the necessary computational power and AI applications are being developed
to improve the data centers themselves. So, data centers are
both serving and being served by artificial intelligence.
“Our goal is to be the global provider of choice for video surveillance
in the security industry,” Drako said. “We fully expect to expand
to mobile camera solutions, act as the premier provider of cloud video
surveillance and manage all of this safely and cyber securely.”
Ambitious? Perhaps.
Drako is meeting these goals by building out a global infrastructure
well in advance of selling products or services. With a global
infrastructure, localized languages for each country, and local support
and data centers, Eagle Eye is able to comply with local video
surveillance regulations and provide a local product. Local integrators
can latch onto cloud video surveillance by offering an end user
a secure remotely accessible cloud solution and gaining recurring
monthly revenue.
In the minds’ eye, data center, video storage and all that comes
with it, including AI, deep learning, and machine
learning are all fitting nicely in a security
package. Technology is changing fast in the video
surveillance space. You better start moving to
the cloud.
This article originally appeared in the June 2018 issue of Security Today.