VistaScape, an Atlanta-based provider of a technology suite that mixes video analytics with a unique graphical and geospatial view of a security system, was fully acquired by Siemens Building Technologies.
The acquisition was first announced on September 21, 2006, just before the ASIS International show, and according to VistaScape CEO PJ Lynch Jens Michael Wegmann, president of the security systems division for Siemens Building Technologies, the move made was one that benefited VistaScape by giving it the strong marketing, research and development muscle that existed within Siemens (in fact, Siemens was doing similar research on analytics at the time). For Siemens, it gave the company direct input into an enterprise security systems integration platform.
In an earlier story on SecurityInfoWatch.com, Siemens made it very clear that their acquisition of VistaScape would by no means preclude the VistaScape technology from being readily available to competing integrators. In the U.S. security space, Siemens Building Technologies largely operates as an integration firm, while in the European market, the company is known for a suite of product offerings, making the company more of a vendor/product manufacturer.
"True security is a paramount goal for our customers," said Jens Michael Wegmann, global head and president of the security systems division for Siemens Building Technologies, in a statement announcing the acquisition. "But there comes a point in security system design when more can actually become less. A large facility may spend millions on 'more' -- more cameras, more personnel and more fences -- but the investment won't net a gain in actual security. With VistaScape's core enabling technology, networks of surveillance devices can be deployed for maximum effect, and monitored more effectively by fewer security staff, which frees resources for further enhancements to the overall system."
VistaScape is probably best known for its SiteIQ product, which links data from a variety of sensors and cameras along with a security policy or rules engine, and then delivers the information in a graphical, 3-D view of the site. The company is online at www.vistascape.com.
