Feature Article: The Battle Over Video Surveillance Business

By Mike Monocello, Business Solutions magazine.

There's a technology trend going on right now that might feel familiar to you, especially if you were around in the early days of VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). Integrators Kyle Paalmanv and Tyler DeBruler remember. Their company, NuWave Technology Partners, was founded just as VoIP was gaining popularity. Back then, business systems like phones, faxes, and copy machines operated in their own silos. Indeed, phone systems had no interaction with a computer network, and phone system installers had little to no interaction with, or competition from, network integrators.

Today, analog video security dealers are facing a similar future — either learn networking so they can sell IP video, or lose the business to a new breed of security integrators. There's no denying that network-savvy companies like NuWave are adding video surveillance to their line cards. As history looks to repeat itself, Paalman clearly recognizes that IP-based video cameras are really nothing more than another device on the network. With that in mind, network integrators like NuWave are well-positioned to begin winning security business.

What took place in the phone industry — a switch from analog/TDM (time-division multiplexing) systems to IP (i.e. network)-based systems — put analog/TDM dealers in a tough spot. Either adapt and learn networking, or go extinct sticking with analog. History shows that we did, indeed, see an influx of networking integrators (NuWave was one of them) breaking into the VoIP business and winning deals from traditional phone dealers. There were also a lot of stubborn analog-only phone dealers who closed shop when the industry left them behind. The same thing happened in the printer, scanner, and fax machine business as MFPs (multifunction peripherals) gained popularity and became yet another device on the network.

Before NuWave could begin winning security business, a few key things had to happen.