Editor: Lennart Alexandrie
d e t e k t o r i n t e r n a t i o n a l · 1 9
Pierre Racz and Martin Gren on stage together with moderator Lennart Alexandrie at the opening day of the security fair Skydd.
Dean Drako sent a video greeting (from
which the image is taken) where he
pointed out AI as the most important
video surveillance mega-trend.
Super-entrepreneurs on future trends in video surveillance
importance of considering the
geopolitical dimension, and avoid
sourcing from countries with
autocratic rule, for example relying
on manufactures with strong ties to
the government.
When choosing security
equipment that will be put on
the internet it is important to ask
yourself: can I as a customer sue a
manufacturer of cameras for faulty
engineering or for not disclos-
ing secret backdoors to access the
equipment? Pierre mentioned that
we've seen examples of hidden
backdoors, clearly implying Chi-
nese manufactures.
Martin Gren, on the other
hand, reiterated the wide scope and
constant challenge of cyber-threats.
Cyber security needs to be
treated as a constant ongoing
process and not as a checklist, he
stated.
On-prem still in demand
despite the rise of the cloud
Cloud services were also ad-
dressed during the panel session.
The rise of cloud services was
clearly acknowledged as a signifi-
cant development in past years.
Much is about timing.
Martin mentioned that Axis pio-
neered some of the earliest cloud
offerings, but on-prem solutions
still has a future.
It all depends on the needs
of the customers. A national
retail chain has similar require-
ments at each store, then the ob-
vious choice is a cloud solution.
But for other types of customers,
enterprise-type, there is still a
need to control both hardware
and software, Martin argued.
Martin Gren also mentioned
the European Union-wide Data
Privacy Act that requires aware-
ness as to where the data is physi-
cally stored.
This is made easier with
on-prem solutions and is made
more difficult when it is put an
unknown location in the cloud.
The needs of the customers
as guiding principle
Pierre Racz pointed to the cloud
as being merely a distribution
format. And just like Martin,
Pierre stressed the importance of
understanding the needs of the
customers.
For some customers the
most important thing might be
being able to watch video in real-
time, while for other customers
video recordings must never be
lost under any circumstance.
This provides room for vari-
ous solutions and distribution
formats depending on the type of
customers, Pierre stated.
Volume and niche as
business strategies
The video surveillance market is
getting increasingly consolidated;
consequently volume, capital and
skills are increasingly important
for manufacturers. Martin Gren
put it in more blunt terms.
If you wish to be in this
industry you need to be number
one or number two, or be a niche
player.
Martin Gren further elabo-
rated on this point.
At Axis we are now at the
8th generation of camera chips.
We spend $50 million dollars to
develop the next generation of
chips. Few companies possess the
skills and have sufficient capital
to make such investments.
Martin Gren also sees growth
potential for "beyond security"
applications for Axis as well as for
the security industry.
Our cameras can be used
for a range of other things than
security only. There are future
business opportunities to develop
smaller as well as broader soft-
ware applications for use cases
beyond security, Martin argued.
The role of the distributor
For many years the pure-play
security distributor has lost sales
volumes. Martin Gren and Pierre
Racz were asked the question
if they are about to go out of
business.
They will continue to exist
argued Martin. You can't simply
say that they will go away due to
technology developments. They
are still a part of it; they keep an
inventory of cameras, cabling,
other hardware, and software.
There is also a role to be played
by the installer in the future, of
course someone needs to make
the installation but also offer a
point of contact to the customer,
Martin stated.
Pierre Racz agreed.
The distributor is not going
away. Twenty years ago, it was
suggested that the brick-and-
mortar stores would go away.
They still haven't. The same
applies to distributors I am
thinking about the management
of logistics, payments but also
dealing with taxation. In the US
each state sets their individual
sales tax which is hard for a big
manufacturer to manage. And it
is even worse for smaller compa-
nies. Here the distributor has a
role to play.
Component shortages
the light in the tunnel
The final topic of the panel con-
cerned the shortage of compo-
nents and supply-chain issues.
It's been a challenge, but we
are starting to see the light in the
tunnel. But I do think we will
continue to experience supply-
chain disruptions in the future as
well, Martin concluded.