Latin America. Data protection, video analytics and resource optimization will be key to generating new business in video surveillance, according to Hanwha Techwin. The company also observes that the end customer is increasingly aware of the different characteristics of video surveillance solutions.
In Hanwha Techwin's report on the main predictions and trends for the global and regional video surveillance industry, it emphasizes that they will lean towards greater specificity and specialization of a niche that has been characterized by the offer of a variety of generic solutions. Fundamental aspects will be the evolution of the cloud for all aspects concerning storage, but also a greater effort by manufacturers to develop more secure solutions from the encryption of security information, but also with a lower consumption of network resources.
"While we're not talking about entirely new trends, we'll see the industry continue to focus more on solutions than products; there will also be increased pressure for camera analytics, software and open platforms... I think that everything related to the cloud is going to grow more and speaking of companies I think the environment is going to change a lot over the next few years taking into account the entry of more Asian companies into the market," said Fernando Tomasiello, Vice President of Sales and Operations of Hanwha Techwin for Latin America.
The executive also highlighted the importance that cybersecurity will have for the CCTV industry in 2018 and said: "Every time I am in front of the end user I try to highlight the importance of cybersecurity, because many times it is something that is not seen and therefore it is not given due attention; unfortunately, in some cases Latin America leans towards what is cheaper, not what is safer. So I think in some applications there is still a lot of room for improvement."
To have an overview of the aspects that will mark the path of the CCTV industry, both globally and regionally, Hanwha Techwin has grouped them into five fundamental areas of analysis, where some perspectives for Mexico and Mercosur are also presented:
A focus on easy-to-integrate solutions rather than mere products
- Mexico is a typical example of this trend in which the market is looking for more solutions than products, projects in which beyond installing simple cameras can offer integrated electronic security solutions, as explained by Ian Martínez, regional sales manager for Mexico of Hanwha Techwin.
- This is also observed in Mercosur, a region where the premise of "managing all security systems under the same platform" is gaining strength every day. This indicates that for 2018 it will be of the utmost importance to have a solution that can integrate several systems or that can be integrated with others. Derived from this, alliances between manufacturers will play in favor and tip the balance when selecting a brand.
- Colombia has not been oblivious to this trend and the demand for fully integrated solutions is already being recurrent in certain vertical markets, according to Nelson Rodríguez, Sales Distribution Manager of Hanwha Techwin for that market.
Consolidation of demand for video analytics
- In Mexico the need for video analytics is not new and it could almost be said that this part of the industry is in full maturation stage. Manufacturers that do not have robust video analytics solutions will give way as the market looks for technological proposals that add more information for the different areas of the company.
- In Mercosur, even in 2017, analytics played an important role when deciding on one brand or another, as users are increasingly requiring more information from video systems. This is because users have realized that with a camera they can obtain a lot of useful information for the management of their business or company. "It could be said that for the coming year analytics will continue to set trends and to the extent that they are more accurate and simple to implement, users will opt for this type of solutions," said Alberto Muñoz, application engineer at Hanwha Techwin for Latin America.
- Regarding Colombia, Nelson Rodríguez said that there will be an increasing need to implement analytical systems and specialized developments for this segment, something that could be observed during 2017.
Consolidation of demand for efficient solutions in the consumption of network resources
- This is one of the areas where the evolution of the CCTV industry has been seen the most, according to Fernando Tomasiello, given that with all the existing compression protocols in the market, great improvements have been seen compared to bandwidth consumption. It is also one of the areas of constant work by manufacturers who are always looking for the ideal solution.
- In Mexico, reducing bandwidth consumption and protecting corporate infrastructure will continue to be one of the top concerns of end users; in that sense, a saving in bandwidth consumption will be crucial to meet the needs of users, as indicated by Ian Martínez.
- In Colombia, the banking, retail and industrial sectors are the ones that most demand efficient solutions in the consumption of bandwidth where the premise will be to continue offering video of the best quality without this implying greater consumption of network resources.
Demand for application-specific solutions (cameras for low-light applications, for example) will continue to rise globally.
- End users want to see how security operates and increasingly, more informed and tech-savvy, they will ask for solutions that ensure 24/7 protection of their businesses. It is no longer enough to watch, but the need is to monitor permanently.
- In Mercosur, these characteristics are increasingly valued by users and this is partly due to the knowledge that users have acquired over the years. "Manufacturers that manage to offer the best performance in adverse conditions will be victorious the moment the user or integrator selects the equipment for a solution," Muñoz explained.
- Colombia confirms this trend and in this market will continue the demand for cameras for specific applications such as thermal visualization, longer range infrared and PTZ systems more evolved in terms of zoom, IR and resolution, according to Nelson Rodríguez.
The storage in the cloud of the information generated by the cameras is going to begin to open field in Latin America.
- Solutions that allow end users to save on hardware and infrastructure costs will be positioned as alternatives in the global CCTV market.
- In Mexico, according to Ian Martínez, there is interest in the subject and curiosity, although a little familiarity is still lacking. However, for this year it is believed that interest will grow as costs are reduced due to the possible entry of new suppliers.
- In Mercosur, in-the-cloud solutions have been used more by the large corporation than by small and medium-sized companies, but Alberto Muñoz believes that this could change in 2018 by stating that "for this year it is likely that medium-sized companies will begin to test these solutions."
- However, in Colombia, according to Nelson Rodríguez, the adoption of cloud storage will be a trend more in the medium and long term, since it is still necessary to work more intensively to gain the trust of the end customer and improve even more in computer security, while reducing the costs of storage in the cloud.
