The surveillance market has changed dramatically over the last 10 to 15 years. Whereas once, all that was needed for people to secure their business was a simple CCTV system to give them that much-needed peace of mind, today the needs and possibilities are far more complex.
Organizations are now looking to advance video analytics systems that can monitor customer behavior using video cameras and data analytics software, meaning their businesses can not only monitor customer behavior and reduce crime, but also mine the data for marketing purposes. For example, retail businesses are able to analyze where certain types of shoppers go in the store, where and what they’re likely to buy and how much they are likely to spend. Using this data, companies can better target their customers, all while keeping their business safe and secure.
It’s not just fixed surveillance cameras that are advancing the market though. What was once thought to be little more than a toy, the potential of drones is increasingly being realized, becoming one of the surveillance industries’ most ground-breaking tools. At Seagate we’re already taking on the challenge of drones through our recent partnership with DJI to create the Fly Drive, allowing drone users to efficiently back up their photo and video content on location, thanks to an integrated and easy to use MicroSD card slot.
21st-century surveillance
One of the key drivers behind the advancement in technology such as drones is that the surveillance industry needed to change to keep up with the demands of the modern world. Criminal behavior continues to evolve which means the wider surveillance industry, including its technology partners, has had to respond by improving the capabilities surveillance systems offer, moving to a truly 24/7, real-time, always-on model.
Because of this, using a single camera and tape recorder just won’t cut it in the modern era of 21st-century surveillance and businesses need to be considering a whole lot more than they previously did just a few years ago. To implement the sophisticated surveillance systems of today, businesses must fully understand what they aim to achieve and know what technology and hardware they need to get the job done.
Getting your hardware right
If a retailer wants to monitor customer behavior and analyze this data at the same time, this will take a powerful back-end system to make it a reality. That means organizations need hard drives that are robust enough to take the repeated workload and offer the sophistication of complex data analysis. One such drive is Seagate’s SkyHawk AI which allows security applications to continuously record video on a 24/7 basis and read and write data while dealing with the complex data sets needed for analysis. What’s more, backed up by SkyHawk ImagePerfect Firmware, your surveillance system will be protected by reducing data errors and allowing for images to be stored without pixelization.
Unlike other industries, the storage of surveillance footage doesn’t happen inside your usual data center, but usually in the buildings that are being surveilled. Because of this, your data needs an added level of assurance that if it were subject to damage, accidental or otherwise, your data can be retrieved and restored to new. Solutions like Seagate’s Rescue Plus offers businesses this assurance and makes sure nothing goes awry.
What’s apparent, however, is that the surveillance industry is changing in a much more sophisticated and complex way than in previous years, reflected in the fact that the global video surveillance market is expected to reach an estimated $39.3 billion by 2023.
For businesses to take advantage of the increased benefit that surveillance can give them, they’ll need to take into account a lot more than what surveillance camera they’re going to use and look further into the hardware that’s required for the specific job at hand. Organizations must find the right strategic partner and identify what storage portfolio is suitable for their needs, whether it be a stand-alone drive or a complete RAID system. By doing this, you can ensure that you’re ready to take advantage of the benefits of modern surveillance and analytics applications in order to positively impact your employees, customers and business.
About the Author: Danny Lim is the Global Head of Seagate’s Video Surveillance Segment and is responsible for leading the team’s business development initiatives. He has over 15 years of experience in product management, ecosystem alliances and business development in the video surveillance solution and distribution market
