Bosch shutting down sales, marketing for Azena platform
Bosch Group confirmed Wednesday that it is shuttering all active sales and marketing efforts for the Azena open camera platform and limiting its development to maintenance and support.
Fabio Marti, a spokesperson for Azena, said the company’s partners were informed directly about the decision and there was no public announcement this week; however, the company issued a statement to SecurityInfoWatch saying Azena will refocus its operations on Bosch internal business, “while ensuring that all contractual obligations towards all other Azena ecosystem partners and customers will be fully honored.”
Marti added that market developments underlying the Azena business plan did not materialize as expected and the company is now looking to leverage developed software components throughout the Bosch organization. Meanwhile, development for the Azena Application Store, Azena Device Management Suite, Azena Developer Portal and Azena integration tools will be limited to maintenance only, and “no features will be added to these going forward.”
Development for the Azena Camera OS will be limited to maintenance only as well and support will continue until the end of 2025.
Lack of Demand
In a direct “FAQ” communication with partners that was published on IPVM.com, Azena explained, “there are many viable use-cases and business models for smart video analytics solutions as offered by Azena’s development partners, but the current dynamics in the market do not provide the foundation for running the Azena platform in its current constellation as an open marketplace for video analytics software.”
Azena’s FAQ also said market demand for smart video analytics beyond traditional security use-cases has increasingly moved towards vertically integrated end-to-end solutions.
“The pandemic, supply chain shortages and geopolitical constraints have impacted the smart video surveillance in various ways, so that projected market developments underlying the Azena business plan did not materialize as expected,” the document reads.
Exit Strategy
Azena wrote that it would work on a transition plan, “many details of which will only be fully defined in the coming weeks.”
The company said licenses for apps are between customers and app developers and remain intact, and technologies and IP developed by Azena will be leveraged within Bosch.
“If partners are interested in acquiring usage rights for some of our technology, Azena will work with them to find a mutually acceptable solution,” the company wrote.
For companies publishing apps on the Azena Application Store, the company said that as of now existing customers can still buy apps on in the store and new customers can still register and buy apps; and new products can still be offered – but the company is working on a transition plan that will be fully defined “in the coming weeks or months.”
Azena added it will continue to support the Azena operating system for cameras until end of 2025. For companies that offer video devices that run on the Azena system, Azena said it would “work with partners to achieve an acceptable transition where that is needed.”
Quick Rise and Fall
The Azena platform consists of an open operating system for cameras and an Application Store with nearly 100 artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled video analytics apps. It enables smart cameras to simultaneously run multiple apps directly on the device. Integrators can add or change apps on one or multiple cameras as needed and use any of the 15 cameras from six different manufacturer partners in a variety of form factors.
The Application Store features apps that address more than 40 different use-cases in at least 25 different vertical markets, ranging from traditional perimeter security, retail loss prevention and occupancy management to stadium security and even aquaculture.
The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bosch, was originally known as Security Safety and Things but rebranded itself as Azena last year. It is headquartered in Munich, Germany, employs around 100 associates worldwide, and has been on the market since September 2018.
“Systems integrators play a crucial role in connecting the video analytic edge devices on our platform into the larger system landscape for a truly data-driven approach to security, operational intelligence and automation,” said Hartmut Schaper, chief executive officer, Azena during last year’s announcement.
John Dobberstein is managing editor of SecurityInfoWatch.com and has more than 13 years of experience in B2B media.
