International. Milestone Systems, the open platform ip video management software (VMS) company, held its XI annual MIPS (Milestone Integration Platform Symposium) conference for partners in Scottsdale, Arizona, February 23-25 (Talking Stick Resort). The event brought together 520 attendees and 60 exhibiting companies at the Community Technology Expo, who explored the latest ideas and solutions to improve security and optimize business processes.
The first day prepared participants for action, to the beat of arizona rhythm connection drums, before CEO Lars Thinggaard and director of sales and marketing Kenneth Peterson welcomed Milestone's distributors, system integrators, end users, software solution partners, camera manufacturers and storage providers. Officials referenced the community's use of Milestone's open platform to magnify the power of the partnership for faster innovation and a truly customer-oriented approach.
"What lies ahead is a different picture. In the economy of the future, companies will deliver the most value through collaboration. The products of the future are solutions and to get the solutions they want, customers will combine products from different suppliers. This requires a technology that makes it easier to use combined solutions and bring greater innovation. Hand in hand with our open platform community, we are moving into this future, setting the agenda and changing the rules," said Lars Thinggaard, president and CEO of Milestone Systems.
Topics addressed by speakers, industry panelists and attendees of interactive group workshops highlighted how Milestone's new initiatives mark a transition from products to solutions, with the intention of promoting continuous interaction through the global open platform community of partners and customers. Representatives of Stone Security, Milestone's diamond partner, spoke about "the commitment to the community", illustrating the growing success they have had, thanks to the open platform, with a video of the annual university conference organized by the company, an event where customers from the education sector make contacts to share their technological experiences.
A lively panel, made up of industry representatives, spoke about the impact that the business of mass commodification has had on the part of Asian suppliers, who offer products at a lower price. Camera manufacturers Axis, Arecont Vision, Samsung and Sony extolled higher value success criteria such as adequate technical support, integration APIs, more innovation and the importance of partnership. Product reliability becomes stronger with verification testing, certification, and ensuring increased durability, especially in high-priority security facilities. The advent of an "anthill" of low-end competitors to the market was noted, because the Internet, a great promoter of sales, has also become its enemy, making it possible to acquire products that do not include any guarantee or technical service, such as those provided by top-tier suppliers.
A panel of Milestone solution partners shared with attendees an interesting range of perspectives from all sectors of the security industry, different ways of understanding future trends. These panelists shared their views on what's coming for the industry: reflections on expectations for 4K resolution, network edge recording, the advancement of cloud technology and its potential impact, the storage of big data, and the collection of information with video analytics tools.
David Taylor, executive architect at IBM, said: "The cloud will allow installers to offer a service model, but how to extract all the data? Standardization is needed to manage such a large volume of sensors, and the rapid pace at which changes are occurring demands an open platform approach. The changes are going to happen and it is better that they are prepared or the implementation of those changes is going to be painful for them. For me, the open platform is like a palette to create."
Rob Lydic, global vice president of sales at ISONAS, said: "No man is an island, the old monoliths are disappearing. Partners need to work together for a valuable feedback loop that allows them to deliver better solutions to customers. They want options, they don't want to get trapped."
Lee Mehler, Vice President of Global Solutions at Anixter explained: "Open protocols have broadened the discussion to the global arena. They are the roadmap for the future."
On the last night of the conference, the Milestone Partner Awards, the awards that recognize the most outstanding performance in sales, marketing, technology, collaboration and innovation during 2015, were announced:
- Regional Partner of the Year – Latin America: Prosegur
- Regional Partner of the Year – North America: Stone Security
- National Partner of the Year : Convergint Technologies
- Distributor Partner of the Year – Americas: Anixter Inc./Tri-Ed
- Distributor Partner of the Year – United States: ADI
- New promise of the year: Netech, a PRESIDIO company
- Camera Partner of the Year: Axis Communications
- Camera #5,000 with Milestone support: Bosch AVIOTEK
- Technology Partner of the Year: INTEL QuickSync Video
- Integrative Partner of the Year: IMRON Corporation Access Control
- Solution Partner of the Year: Snap Surveillance
- Outstanding Merit in Public Safety: Phoenix City Police
- Installation of the year: Quicken Loans/Rock Security
