Martyn Ryder, VP Sales and Marketing at Morphean, looks at how knowledge of the cloud, networks and systems is unlocking business opportunities for physical security professionals
We are living in turbulent times. The opening up of the global economy following Covid has led to huge pressure on supply chains, competition for raw materials and a cost-of-living crisis with inflation and energy prices running at their highest rates in decades. And with skills shortages and recruitment challenges adding pressure to already stretched business models, companies across Europe have many hurdles to face. This all amounts to an urgent need to rethink how we do things and to enable us to live and work smarter.
Businesses are increasingly turning to the power of technology, and insights unlocked from data to help drive greater efficiencies across a wide range of business operations. For security companies, the world of cloud and the integration of systems presents not only better security for their customers, but can simultaneously lead to better use of resources, the mitigation of rising salary costs and the multiplying of revenue streams. But first it’s essential to build knowledge of this new world and to understand how to make use of the opportunities it presents.
Sustainable revenue growth
Cloud physical security is based on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) revenue model, which means that customers are charged per device per month, allowing contracts to be leveraged as a sustainable revenue source. The ongoing relationship with the end-user opens up an avenue to upselling more features, with applications such as people counting, AI intrusion detection and virtual concierge providing a continuous revenue stream and meeting evolving customer needs. In addition, the ability to carry out remote maintenance simplifies delivery and ultimately saves money.
In contrast, a traditional security system typically requires large upfront investment from the customer, with the addition of recurring costs for video backups, system updates, manual server maintenance and the energy use associated with running and cooling servers. In addition, the value of the technology continues to depreciate, becoming redundant after a lifespan of as little as 5-8 years, and requiring a whole new system to remain sufficiently protected.
A cloud solution, maintained by hardware upgrades and software updates, facilitates simple plug-and-play capabilities so that components can be easily upgraded or scaled to meet the fluid, dynamic requirements of the modern business, and to keep the system current. Customers only pay for what they need, when they need it, making cloud more affordable and representing real value for money. For the security business, making the switch to cloud represents recurring revenue and more predictable budgeting.
Security and operational benefits
As physical security continues to evolve, customers will increasingly seek solutions that fit their industry-specific requirements which will often include the streamlining and automation of security and also the optimisation of business processes. Cloud allows insights to be unlocked from visual data that would otherwise be invisible to the human eye. With a dedicated platform that can be accessed from any computer or mobile device, decision makers, armed with meaningful metrics based on real-time data about their company operations, can make more informed decisions.
From the perspective of the physical security business, migrating to cloud allows them to deliver a solution that meets the evolving needs of the customer while representing significant savings and better use of people and resources within their own business. Often, the shortage of workers results in highly paid, highly skilled engineers being employed to carry out simple tasks. With cloud, a skilled professional can set up systems remotely from their own premises for a number of customers, not only saving money on fuel but also completing several customer jobs in the time that it would take to set up just one system at a client’s site. More business is sold and deployed faster, representing a better return on the salary investment of the individual.
The value of trusted partnerships
In order to unlock the full value of cloud, businesses will need to enlist the services of security practitioners who understand the converging world of physical security, cloud platforms and the capabilities of networks, systems and software. Innovative technology, partnership and collaboration can help companies operate much smarter and more securely. For security businesses, developing knowledge and understanding of the cloud and how it functions opens up a world of wide-ranging possibilities based around the very latest innovations.
A trusted partnership between likeminded companies across the supply chain can create joint business growth through the reselling of a wider range of security products based on the SaaS model. And as customers increasingly carry out due diligence to determine the integrity of vendor, technology and supply chain, so security professionals who seek partnerships built upon high levels of trust are much more likely to achieve long-term success.
The challenges facing businesses are not going to dissipate any time soon, and continuing to do the same is not going to alter the outcome for the security business. Limiting negative impact requires creative thinking. It’s clear that cloud physical security will become the default setting for video surveillance in the professional security industry; positioned as not just business security, but rather a business opportunity.
Discover more: Download our guide to cloud physical security
Martyn Ryder, VP Sales and Marketing, Morphean SA
Morphean is a Swiss technology company with a strong presence in more than 12 countries worldwide. Founded in 2009 and with over 60 partners across Europe, the secure Morphean platform informs decision making and drives efficiencies for all organisations by generating unique and actionable insights from a multitude of data sources. With expertise across retail, transport & facilities management, among others, the company is recognised as a leader in secure service platform delivery through the use of cloud and AI technologies. The platform helps firms prepare for the future by keeping their ‘Eyes Wide Open’ to the intelligence gathered from a variety of network connected devices.
