The introduction of cloud-based system architectures has had an indelible impact on video surveillance deployments around the globe. If the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us anything, it is that the ability to remotely access and manage security technology is going to be a must-have feature going forward for a sizable portion of the market and cloud solutions have been successfully providing this functionality for years.
However, even before the coronavirus brought the world to a standstill, cloud technology – be it true cloud offerings in which an end-user’s entire network is managed and archived in the cloud or a hybrid environment that incorporates both on-premises and cloud features – was already influencing a variety of other trends across the industry.
Earlier this week, Eagle Eye Networks, one of the pioneers of cloud surveillance technology, released the results of its recently conducted study showing not only how organizations are leveraging the cloud in day-to-day operations but also how their use of other camera technologies is changing. Here is a look at few of the data points analyzed:
Cloud vs. On-Premises Storage
Interestingly, one of the findings from the study, which examined 100,000 cameras connected to the company’s video management system in a wide range of vertical markets across all 50 states and 90 different countries, was how end-users differed in their preference of video recording location – on-premises vs. cloud – and the realities of where they are archiving footage today. While 61% of those surveyed said they would prefer a mix of cloud and on-premises storage vs. 39% who were comfortable with cloud only, the data showed that 63% of the company’s customers are already using cloud only storage, with 37% using a mix of the two.
“If you ask a customer if they want ice cream and cake for dessert, the answer is going to be yes, even though they may only like cake,” explains Eagle Eye Founder and CEO Dean Drako, who discussed the study’s finding in an interview this week with SecurityInfoWatch.com. “If you can have both, why not have the option for both, but in reality, cloud fits all of their needs far better than they feel comfortable admitting before they get into it.”
Video Retention
When it comes to how long most organizations keep recorded video, 30 days still seems to be the industry standard, as 42% of those with cloud storage setups were found to archive footage for this length of time. This was followed by 1-7 days (30%), 14 days (19%), 60 to 90 days (9%) and 1-7 years (1%). From a regional perspective, entities in Asia were found to keep video for the longest period (38 days on average), followed by the Americas (28 days) and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region (26 days). The worldwide average for cloud video retention was 28 days.
With regards to those who leverage on-premises recording, the study found that most end-users retained footage for 30 to 60 days (72%) with 90 to 180 days (26%) being the second most popular average. The periods of 7 to 14 days and 365 days-plus were both found to account for 1% of those using on-premises storage. The Americas had the highest average retention period for on-premises storage (37 days), followed by EMEA (17 days) and Asia (one day). The worldwide average was 33 days.
Drako attributes the higher average retention periods for on-premises recording to the fact that organizations often must buy more storage than they need when purchasing onsite hardware.
“The customer, when buying on-premises storage, needs to buy extra because if they have 15 cameras then they buy 7 terabytes, and for 20 cameras, they buy 20 terabytes,” Drako explains. “The increments you can buy terabytes in is not as granular as you might like…so you typically end up buying more than you really need and paying for it. Therefore, since you pay for it, you use it by keeping video a little bit longer.”
Uptick in Audio Recording
Though audio recording has long been a feature available on surveillance cameras, most end-users have opted not to leverage it for myriad legal and privacy reasons; however, the Eagle Eye study shows that organizations are increasingly deploying cameras with these capabilities, as the numbers of surveillance cameras with audio recording jumped from 3.3% in 2016 to 7.6% in 2020. Surprisingly, the region with the highest level of audio recording was EMEA (19%), followed by Asia (5%) and the Americas (4%). The worldwide average was 6%.
Drako says that this is likely driven by the fact that more people are getting comfortable with the idea of audio recording, as well as increased ease of installation combined with some of the needs borne out of the pandemic for things like curbside pickup. “It used to be that putting up a camera with audio recording meant installing an extra power supply and an extra microphone,” he says. “Now, a lot of the cameras come with built-in microphones so with just a push of a button you can turn on audio and start recording.”
Camera Trends
The study also found that camera resolutions have been on the rise steadily over the past five years, which given the greater availability of higher bandwidth internet connections coupled with falling camera prices, should come as little surprise. While 90% of the cameras connected to the Eagle Eye VMS were less than 2-megapixel resolution in 2016, that number decreased to 73% last year. Additionally, 21% of cameras in 2020 were found to be equal to 2-megapixel resolution and 6% were greater than that in image quality – compared to 9% and 1% respectively in 2016.
Also, unsurprisingly, the number of analog cameras has also seen a precipitous decline over the past five years, decreasing from 22% of all cameras installed in 2016 to just 6% in 2019. However, there was a slight increase to 9% last year, which Drako said was likely due to the pandemic and organizations opting to replace existing equipment rather than go through the expense and labor requirements of having an integrator install new solutions.
Similar to what has been reported by market research firms that study the video surveillance space, Eagle Eye also found that nearly 90% of the cameras connected to their VMS were from the 10 largest vendors by market share in the industry; however, 133 camera manufacturers were represented in total.
Looking to the Future
Although it was not examined in great detail in the study, Drako says he expects the evolution of artificial intelligence to have a significant impact on the industry in the years ahead as organizations increasingly expand video surveillance beyond traditional security applications.
“There is a trend towards using security cameras for more than just security,” he says. “They are being used for running businesses, remotely checking on how things are going, how busy they are, finding the peak times, people counting, and more. I would say the vast majority of cameras are focused on security; however, I think the percentage for other applications is growing, and it will continue.”
Joel Griffin is the Editor-in-Chief of SecurityInfoWatch.com and a veteran security journalist. You can reach him at [email protected].
