Don't Make This Mistake In Selecting Your IP Camera Vendors

By The Business Solutions Network

Last week I was at Synnex' (NYSE: SNX) National Partner Conference in Greenville, SC, where I found myself the first morning having a great conversation over breakfast with a network integrator. I asked him what he hoped to get out of the event and he told me he was looking to learn where to expand his business.

Since so many of our readers have expressed an interest in video surveillance, I asked him if IP video was on his list of things to look at, and he told me that it was at the top of his list of technologies to learn more about.

Here's the kicker: In talking a little more, it became apparent that he only knows about vendors in his networking world. That is, he mentioned Cisco and he told me that Barracuda has cameras under the CudaEye brand. Barracuda! The company well-know for spam and antivirus firewall appliances.

He had never heard of companies like Arecont, Axis, and Mobotix and wasn't aware of the camera offerings from companies like Honeywell, Panasonic, and Samsung, or other vendors I mentioned. Maybe CudaEye has a great product line, but there are market leaders to which he was oblivious.

This interaction reminded me that there are still many integrators in the initial stages of researching IP video surveillance. If you're in this spot, make sure you're reading Business Solutions, where we've been covering IP video surveillance from an integrator perspective for almost two years now. [free subscription, here]

Not only will each issue help you gain a better understanding of the opportunity and challenges, but you'll get an overview of many of the manufacturers who play in this space. I know that it's appealing to simply stick with your existing partners who might be offering video surveillance. But, you're really doing yourself and your customers a disservice by not researching the best in breed products available today.

Who knows, maybe the best solution is from the vendor you already partner with. Take no shortcuts, do the research, and find out.