Trends in Video Surveillance

Two senior analysts from IMS Research’s Video Surveillance and Security Services group share their thoughts on trends impacting the video surveillance industry

• By Gary Wong, Jon Cropley
• Dec 01, 2011

Gary Wong comments on the trends to network video surveillance equipment, PSIM and VSaaS.

The transition from analog CCTV equipment to network video surveillance equipment continues to be the major overarching trend within the video surveillance industry. In a recent press release, IMS Research forecasted that by 2014, network video surveillance sales would overtake analog sales in terms of revenue. Despite current global economic uncertainty, largely due to the Eurozone crisis, IMS Research believes that the industry will still ‘tip’ in 2014.

Other notable technology trends in 2011 have been Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) and Video Surveillance as a Service (VSaaS). That is not to say that neither of these technologies were not present in 2010—or even 2009—but both have gained significant market attention and mindshare over the last 12 months.

Looking at PSIM first, the last 12 months have seen significant shakeup in the PSIM market with acquisitions, partnerships, and new and repositioned products. Examples include Honeywell partnering with Boeing, Verint acquiring Rontal Applications and ADT acquiring Proximex. Because developing a PSIM software solution is highly capital and labor intensive, IMS Research expects that acquisitions and joint ventures will continue through 2012.

According to the in-depth PSIM software study, which IMS Research conducted at the start of the year, the PSIM market will exceed $1 billion in revenue by 2014.

As the transition from analog to network video surveillance accelerates, VSaaS is becoming increasingly topical. In essence, VSaaS moves video surveillance storage from local locations to the cloud— either as a mirror or as the sole storage location—and enables users to access their video surveillance content on demand. While we have seen increasing numbers of vendors begin to announce and release VSaaS services, we have yet to see any significant traction.

Let me clarify the term “significant;” IMS Research estimates that in 2011 VSaaS services in the Americas generated less that $7 million recurring monthly revenue (RMR). However, the outlook for VSaaS services remains bright; by 2020, IMS Research forecasts that the market for VSaaS in the Americas will exceed $1.5 billion.

Jon Cropley comments on trends in the market for video content analysis (VCA ) software.

VCA software is still used mainly for security applications. However, a major trend is the increasing use of VCA software for business intelligence. A number of different applications are being deployed and developed including people counting, dwell time, customer-not-present and queue-line analysis.

These applications are being used to improve the effectiveness of business operations and generate an increase in revenues.

One important aspect of business intelligence analytics—or video business intelligence, as it is often called—is that systems that are not 100 percent accurate still provide value.

In security applications, end users cannot afford to miss a potential security breach. However, business intelligence algorithms can provide reliable trend information despite not always counting every person who enters a retail or commercial location. Many established suppliers of VCA software for security are now offering business intelligence algorithms. At the same time, suppliers focused primarily on VCA for business intelligence have emerged, such as BVI Networks, Scopix, and VideoMining.

IMS Research has recently published a report on the VCA market. It forecasts that the market for VCA in business intelligence applications will grow at an average annual rate of more than 30 percent over the next 5 years.

Another major trend in the market for VCA software is that of video surveillance manufacturers embedding applications and offering them as standard features for no additional charge. For some time, many of these manufacturers have been embedding in their devices low-end applications such as video motion detection and camera tamper as standard features. More recently, some of them have started to embed other applications such as virtual trip wire and offer them as standard features.

IMS Research forecasts that the number of video surveillance devices including basic VCA applications as a standard feature will increase. However, it also forecasts that there will remain a market for chargeable VCA. A charge needs to be applied to recover the high cost of developing many of the higher-end VCA algorithms.

It is unlikely that suppliers will amortize this cost in an increased price of every device they sell. This is because only a small proportion of cameras are actually monitored. Most record the video and only view an event after it has occurred. Furthermore, many VCA applications are quite niche. The majority of customers would, therefore, be paying for a feature that they would not use.

This article originally appeared in the December 2011 issue of Security Today.