A&S #A117 Oct. 2015 by Messe Frankfurt New Era Business Media Ltd. Taiwan Branch

OCTOBER 2015 PRODUCT EXPLORATION

VERTICAL SOLUTIONS

Finding the Right Prescription For Secure Health Facilities

PSIM: Critical Element in Safe City

The hospital industry is witnessing an increase in the need for security solutions, not just for safety but also to improve their functioning. But being a highly regulated industry, solution providers have to ensure they stick to the guidelines while providing the best integration systems.

In a safe city project, the command center acts as the brain. Operators charged with maintaining the security and order of the city are constantly on the lookout for unusual situations and, in the event of an emergency, must respond to it quickly and effectively. As such, they need tools with powerful incident management capabilities to aid them. PSIM, or physical security information management software, can be beneficial in this regard.

Data Plays Key Role in Incident Management for Safe City Data is generated by various sensors deployed throughout a city. With a good analytics solution, command center operators can gain insights into what’s going on now and what might happen in the future.

SPECIAL REPORT

Security as a Service Moves Beyond Residential Sector Contents................................P.14 Con OCTOBER O OC CTO TOB BEER 2015 220015 1 Ɣ www.asmag.com Ɣ ww Ɣ ww. w.as .as asma mag g..cco om

Editor’s Note .........................P.18 Edit Application Cases .................P.20 App Since its introduction, security as a service (SaaS) has been popular in the residential sector. But technological advancement and ease of use is increasingly prompting enterprise clients to opt for this mode of security.

Products of the Month ..........P.24 Prod Asia at a Glance.....................P.46 New Products ........................P.82 Companies in This Issue ........P.85 Com Show Calendar ......................P.86 Sho

a&s Asia, published by Messe Frankfurt New Era Business Media Ltd., is a monthly professional publication for channel players in the regional electronic security industry. It caters to importers, distributors, OEM/ODM searchers, systems integrators and

Rise of“Global Southern Belt”

OCTOBER 2015 Ɣ www.asmag.com

arlier this year in their latest book, two world-famous economic predictors, John and Doris Naisbitt coined the concept of a “global southern belt,” comprising Asia, Africa, and Latin America. They predicted that the countries in the global southern belt would become the world’s leading economies, with China playing a main role, by 2030. The world economy, which has been led by Western countries over the past three decades, would shift to countries in the global southern belt. Asia, accompanied with the economic power of China, will surely play a crucial role in the international market. I n e a r l y O c t o b e r, t h e U . S . announced its joining of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), becoming the 12th nation in this partnership. The other 11 countries a re A u s t r a l i a , C a n a d a , J a p a n , Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Vietnam, C h i l e , B ru n e i , S i n g a p o re , a n d New Zealand, which are expected to benefit the most from the partnership. Many companies from China, Taiwan, and South Korea are also relocating their factories to Vietnam, to take advantage of exporting their products to other countries with several tax cuts. Vietnam, therefore, has a promising future economic outlook, which will stimulate the significant growth of its security market.

When we look at the biggest economy in Asia, China, which is also the world’s second-largest economy after the U.S., has launched several new initiatives in the past few years, such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the BRICS Bank, and the “One Belt, One Road” initiative, to strengthen its influence throughout Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa, and Europe. Since the “One Belt, One Road” initiative involves more than 60 countries, it is expected to stimulate the trade in all these countries. The establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is expected to happen in 2015. It will definitely be a big kick-start to the regional economy if the goal can be accomplished. The members include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Thailand will play a central position to link all these countries together. With all these, in the longer future, we are more likely to see how Asia and also other countries in the global southern belt will dominate the world economy, replacing Western countries. The security market in Asia will eventually benefit from these economic alliances and partnerships. We are lucky to be in Asia to see the transition of two biggest economies, U.S. and China, and embrace more future growth and opportunities.

other product purchasers on product sources and identifies developments in video surveillance, access control, biometrics, intrusion alarm, intercom/video doorphone, home automation, and other fields relevant to electronic security.

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Dahua Technology Secures Safety of Grand Military Parade in China

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APPLICATION CASES

China recently staged a grand military parade in Beijing to commemorate the 70th anniversary of their victory in World War II, featuring hundreds of pieces of new military equipment and about 12,000 troops. Such a significant day required top-level public surveillance, traffic control, police, and fire administration to ensure “zero threat, zero danger.” Dahua Technology was the sole security surveillance provider for the event and positioned hundreds of HD security cameras on important locations such as the West Changan Avenue, west reviewing stand, and west of Tiananmen Square. HD bullet cameras and network positioning system were mainly installed on West Changan Avenue to capture every detail of the parade clearly through its 360-degree monitoring capability.

Arecont Vision Secures Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club

OCTOBER 2015 Ɣ www.asmag.com

The management team at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club (KGCC), Malaysia, was looking for a security system that could provide good video image quality and maintain resolution during live view and playback. Cameras needed to be protected from the elements while keeping costs low. Multiple camera models from Arecont Vision were chosen to provide video surveillance for the expansive facility that tied into a centrally monitored system. The

1.3-megapixel IP camera installed also has motion detection, image cropping, regionof-interest viewing, and forensic zooming features that can further improve overall security, while the 3-megapixel model is a day/night camera. Both use H.264 compression to minimize bandwidth and storage requirements while maintaining high quality images. The system also comes with environmental housings to protect the cameras from outdoor elements.

Source: KGCC

Australian City Leverages Genetec’s AutoVu LPR System City of Perth Parking (CPP) has implemented many initiatives to reduce its environmental impact. In order to go to ticketless gated parking, CPP sought license plate recognition (LPR) technology. CPP relied on OPS Australia, a local Genetec distributor and its integrator partners, and chose Genetec AutoVu LPR system. The AutoVu Sharp LPR camera automatically captures the license plate with a time and date stamp, a full color image of the vehicle, and prompts the boom gate to open/close upon entering/exiting. It then sends the information back to the Genetec Security Center platform, which is integrated with a DATAPARK parking management system and managed by operators from a central monitoring station. Apart from enhancing customer service and becoming even more “green,” the system has provided CPP with valuable tools to improve operations and help local law enforcement with investigations.

APPLICATION CASES

Asian Offshore Vessels Select Synectics for Surveillance Synectics has secured contracts to supply integrated surveillance solutions for three Asia-Pacific oil and gas vessels. Two LNG carriers and an FLNG facility in the South China Sea will be protected by Synectics’ COEX camera stations, and benefit from Synectics’ Synergy command and control platform. The LNG carriers will use PTZ and fixed COEX camera stations to monitor mooring space, cargo manifolds, deck operations, and vessel-critical infrastructure. Microphones will be integrated for process monitoring. The FLNG vessel will have over 60 COEX camera stations with cameras installed on both the hull and topside for monitoring production storage and offloading areas.

GKB Safeguards the First Green and Hybrid Condominium in the Philippines OCTOBER 2015 Ɣ www.asmag.com

Calyx Center is the first green and hybrid condominium located in Cebu City, Philippines. Calyx was looking for a high-definition surveillance system to protect its tenants. The system needed to be expandable and support multiple monitor stations for future applications. Additionally, the monitor stations need to watch

authorized cameras for privacy purposes. Due to budget limitations, Calyx needed to achieve features without investing a tremendous amount of money. GKB provided indoor IR dome network cameras and unlimited channels of client station software. The cameras provide 720p resolution high-definition surveillance.

can also unlock emergency doors for evacuation in the case of a fire.

Axis Helps CEAT Tyres Achieves Remote Monitoring in India

HID Provides University With Access Control Solution in China The National University of Singapore Suzhou Research Institute (NUSRI), China, needed an access control solution that enabled real-time monitoring and role-based access level settings to manage staff access at key entry points and restricted areas. Leveraging NUSRI’s existing network investment, HID Global delivered a centralized, web-based IP access control solution by connecting HID controllers to the host computer via a TCP/IP network for remote monitoring, area control, and report generation. HID readers that support MIFARE credentials were also installed to help verify staff and students’ identity. The new system seamlessly integrates with video surveillance and fire alarm systems. In case of a door being forced open, tamper alarm, or unauthorized entries, the system can determine the incident type and indicate the door location at the central station. The system

The CEAT Tyres management was looking for an HD surveillance system that would help them to remotely monitor various divisions of the company. The goal of the installation was to supervise the R&D facility, keep track of materials at the plant, monitor employee behavior, and process compliance, all from a central location.Further, CEAT Tyres required high-definition (HD) cameras. CEAT installed five different models of Axis cameras to monitoring the entire R&D facility, office, and the manufacturing plant. The installation has been successful, allowing CEAT to centrally monitor all the facilities and ensure secure access to the R&D unit and consistent compliance of processes across locations. Real-time monitoring has reduced costs and dependency on manual monitoring.

Vicon Offers Standards-based

Open Platform Vicon Industries used to be the market leader in analog video surveillance equipment. Now, a year after corporate reorganization and under the leadership of a new CEO, the company is back to its old glory. BY Jill Lai

OCTOBER 2015 Ɣ www.asmag.com

icon Industries has experienced a dramatic change over the past year. The company acquired the early developer of megapixel IP cameras IQinVision, and a new CEO, the former Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Milestone Systems, Eric Fullerton, integrated the operations and business of both companies. After a year of restructuring and redirection, the company is ready to make a comeback in the security market. According to the company’s recent announcement, its revenues for the third quarter of fiscal 2015 increased 26 percent to US$11.7 million and gross profit margins also increased to 40 percent. This improvement is mainly due to the acquisition of IQinVision and also its new corporate strategy. Fullerton pointed out several megatrends in the industry, which mainly lead the future development of Vicon Industries. He particularly mentioned that commoditization has changed the dynamic of the security industry to focus more on systems and solutions instead of cameras only. That is why he would like to lead the company to deliver fully standardscompliant, open platforms and products for their customers. “We want our customers, especially in APAC, to have the freedom to choose a whole Vicon solution or buy only the products that meet their needs. The New Vicon does not have a company-centric approach, but rather believes in an end-user approach where we, as a team ecosystem, work to create dynamic end-user solutions that address real problems,” Fullerton said. Towards fulfilling its new end-user centric approach in the region, the company is investing in its APAC team and establishing a new Vicon headquarters here in Singapore.

INDUSTRY TREND IMPACTING THE COMPANY According to Fullerton, one major trend is the siliconization

Eric Fullerton, CEO, Vicon Industries

Now the big change is that Vicon started to open up our technology as well as our way of conducting business. This is the strategic way we will go forward.

Lawrence de Guzman, VP of Sales and Marketing, APAC, Vicon Industries

of surveillance cameras, which has impacted the whole security business. “Over the past couple of years, we have seen the functionality of complex megapixel cameras become integrated mainly onto chips. Chipset providers, such as Ambarella and Hisilicon, are able to deliver their customers megapixel and sophisticated camera functionality in silicon today. This means the camera industry has gone from innovating on the camera’s performance to being more like a camera OEM business.” “That is why many vendors are able to bring 12-megapixel [4K] cameras to market almost at the same time. This doesn’t mean vendors should get out of the camera business, but what we are suggesting is that the business nature of cameras is changing. It has become much easier to manufacture entry-level cameras and now it is not the camera making the difference, but the functionality, the software you put on it, and how you integrate it into a solution that makes the difference.” “Another trend is the slowing of innovation [in the security industry] or you can say the industry has been lacking innovation for the past few years. Now it is more about how you provide service; how you go to market, and how you package your solution. In a project with hundreds or thousands of cameras, the camera cost is not as important as before since the camera cost has become a smaller part of the total cost. Now, and going forward, it is more about interoperability, networking and

compliant is truly different from just opening a set of APIs for integration. When I arrived at Vicon, we did have the IP surveillance product line. However, we were all proprietary even though we did provide APIs for some integration. Now the big change is that we started to open up our technology as well as our way of conducting business. This is the strategic way we will go forward.”

FOCUSING ON ASIA DESPITE REGIONAL CHALLENGES

Vicon recently established its new APAC headquarters in Singapore.

solutions. Today the focus is the application or solution, and the value it brings to the business more than just surveillance.” A third trend is that the hardware and basic VMS functionality is commoditizing. According to Fullerton, in the past, a VMS vendor could charge end users around one fourth of the total camera cost for a VMS license fee. Now cameras have become much cheaper and customers can get the features they desire from them. Different market conditions are causing basic VMS to become very inexpensive or even free of charge. This commoditization of hardware and software is changing the dynamics of the industry.

STANDARDS-COMPLIANT, OPEN PLATFORM Commoditization of hardware and software is actually driving some of the recent consolidation we have seen in the industry. Learning from history, these companies eventually will become more proprietary in their technology approaches. “The tendency of this industry is that companies say they are open platform but actually they are using proprietary technologies. In my opinion, the one who controls a consolidation eventually will want to benefit from the synergy of merging two companies. If you embrace the synergy, then you start to become proprietary. So, my prediction for the industry is we might see more of the historical proprietary behaviors of the past which are not very good for end users. So, what I want to do with the New Vicon, is to deliver a 100-percent standards-compliant, open platform,” said Fullerton. All of Vicon’s products, ranging from cameras, VMS to access control systems, will be ONVIF compliant. “Our products are interactive to the devices complying with Profile G and any future profiles of ONVIF. If customers buy our access control products to integrate in a solution, then, I would say, they can freely choose VMS/IP cameras from other vendors. Or they can choose a whole solution from Vicon,” he continued. “In order to build a robust VMS to protect the interest of our end users, we need to be totally standards based. Being ONVIF

But global trends apart, the APAC region comes with its own unique characteristics. To Fullerton, thriving in this region takes a combination of resisting price sensitivity and bringing in a unified approach. “Asia is a price driven market and we have seen that quality is compromised and state-of-the-art functionality is lost when price is a factor,” Fullerton said. “Vicon strives to bring quality, state-of the-art products to the market and will compete on innovation, rather than price.” The company is making a bold move in the continent, with operations across the region. It will initially focus on verticals such as government, critical infrastructure, banking, and transportation, before entering a wider market. “Vicon is looking to be very active across the board in APAC, but will focus on some key locations where we can see immediate benefits from our strong partners in South Korea, Hong Kong/China, Malaysia, and Australia,” said Lawrence de Guzman, VP of Sales and Marketing of APAC at Vicon Industries.

FUTURE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT In terms of Vicon’s recent product development, in addition to upgrading picture quality (e.g., light sensitivity, and field of view) and releasing an updated version of their Vicon VMS, access control is also another sector that Vicon is developing. “What we built is a door control system with PIR, integrated with access control management software. It is all PoE driven and targeted at the market of controlling one to 2,000 doors. In the future, we will strengthen our access control management software to control even larger door counts and to integrate with different equipment, such as door locks and card readers, from other vendors,” he said. Finally, the company will launch several other improvements addressing customer needs and to keep itself cost-effective, according to Fullerton. In de Guzman’s words, Vicon aims on “not just adapting, but helping to build, shape and grow the APAC region and the future of IP video security.” And telling from its latest financial report, this new strategy is definitely proving to be a success.

Important Considerations in

Lens Selection

for Video Surveillance Systems Often it seems, lens selection is not given much attention, and at worst is an afterthought. Even when it is considered carefully, it is not always fully understood. Due diligence is important to avoid costly mistakes when designing video surveillance systems. OCTOBER 2015 Ɣ www.asmag.com

BY Andrea Iniguez, VP, Business Development, Theia Technologies

he following two case studies will be used to illustrate some of the most important considerations in lens selection. Both cases are from the public school sector. Both schools had defined goals, both did research, evaluation, and testing of the selected lenses before installation. Yet one project failed, while the other was a success. So what went wrong in the failed case? What made the difference in the successful application? We’ll dig into the details to find out.

CASE STUDY 1: NEW JERSEY HIGH SCHOOL The school described their problem as a safety issue. They had unacceptable aggressive student physical behavior they did not want to escalate into violence, as well as limited theft. They thought an improved video surveillance system would help with deterrence as well as post-event response. Their existing video surveillance system was composed of analog cameras they considered “high resolution,” but not high enough resolution for use with wide-angle lenses that they felt would cost effectively meet their coverage needs. They did not have or wish to have pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ)

cameras as they had limited staff and would not have enough time to control and monitor such equipment. The goals they identified included having forensic quality identification at entry and exit points, people recognition in parking lots, and forensic quality identification in an unusually shaped hexagonal central hallway. The school security staff conducted an extensive online search for products to meet their needs. They felt that upgrading to megapixel cameras would provide them higher image resolution and still allow them to use wide-angle lenses to cover wide areas. They looked for megapixel cameras and did a comparison of numerous camera brands, models, and features. They discovered that not all megapixel cameras could meet their needs. In addition, they researched wide-angle lenses looking for coverage of their wide areas; they consulted local integrators for advice. They evaluated lens samples from four lens manufacturers. They found most wide-angle lenses they tested presented a severe fisheye effect. And to their surprise they found that some of the lenses tested resulted in a fuzzy, or “blurry image,” even when using a 5-megapixel camera. After the research and evaluation, they selected two 8-megapixel, 360-degree multi sensor

cameras, one each for the cafeteria, and another for the computer lab. They also selected 34 5-megapixel cameras, 11 of which were outdoor domes, six were indoor domes, and another 17 were 5-inch indoor domes. They chose 18 25-degree horizontal field of view lenses, and eight 90-degree lenses. In addition, they selected 12 135-degree horizontal field of view, low fisheye distortion lenses from Theia Technologies — six to cover their hexagonal hallway, two to cover the parking lot and an open field area, one covering the front entry, two covering the corners of building wings, and one more covering two temporary buildings. They achieved the results expected when the project came in 30 percent under budget, they were able to achieve what they considered great resolution with the selected equipment in the designated placements, with excellent image fluidity, and fast response time. The administration was fully satisfied and planned to upgrade other schools in the district as well.

CASE STUDY 2: SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOL Similar to the problems outlined in the New Jersey high school, the safety of students and staff was the primary concern for the administration at this school. Their existing video surveillance system consisted of 170 analog cameras. The system did not provide enough resolution for wide-angle lenses and a legally acceptable description of individuals. They also suffered from poor system reliability, with frequent breakdowns, and down time. In addition, the system was complex and costly to maintain and monitor. As to be expected, the administration’s goals were to achieve greater spatial coverage than with their existing analog system, improved image clarity, increased system uptime, and a more manageable system size. With a new system they expected to be able to zoom in to get legally acceptable descriptions of individuals from 60- to 70-feet away, and have wide and continuous coverage; they also did not want any PTZ cameras. Their approach was a little different. The school district hired a consultant to design a system to meet their needs. The consultant met with the school to understand their needs, selected the equipment, sought the advice of manufacturers, and conducted testing. The consultant specified the system, reducing the camera count from 170 analog cameras to 43 megapixel cameras, and 43 wide-angle, low distortion, 5-megapixel lenses, also from Theia. The result: The cameras and lenses were purchased, installed, and shortly thereafter the lenses were returned. What went wrong?

IMAGE RESOLUTION VS. FIELD OF VIEW As powerful as megapixel cameras combined with megapixel lenses can be, there are physical limitations of the technologies that get ignored, resulting in the creation of unrealistic expectations.

Hexagonal Hallway The unique hexagonal hallway in the New Jersey school was a challenge. According to the project manager Nick Steele, Salem City School District, Salem, New Jersey, U.S., “Every installer we contacted said the angles were way too aggressive in the ring and wanted us to double our cameras and halve the angles at the very least. The same for the parking lots. We actually got into a few heated arguments with a few vendors and installers. We did the math, and we knew the brand new (BrandX) 5-megapixel camera could pull it off, we just had to find a lens that could prove them all wrong.” “We went searching and the only thing that met our specs was the Theia lens. Jaws dropped when they saw the pictures; not only did we get the massively wide angles we needed, but we did it without the fisheye everyone told us was impossible to avoid, and every single dot in the 5.1 million-pixel image is fully utilized and warp-free,” he added.

Image of the hexagonal hallway ring taken with a 5-megapixel camera and Theia SY125M lens.

One important, but often neglected consideration is the trade-off between image resolution and field of view. With any given combination of camera and lens, the native resolution from the camera is spread over the entire field of view of the lens, affecting pixel density and image resolution. The widest field of view allows you to cover the widest area, but does not allow you to see high detail, while the narrowest field of view permits capture of high detail, but at the expense of wide area coverage.

One Size Does Not Fit All The images above show the difference between using analog technology and a standard lens (left) vs. digital megapixel technology and a Theia lens (right).

Another important consideration in systems design is tailoring,

Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos:

Fertile Grounds for Growth BY Emily Lin

EMERGING SECURITY MARKET

OCTOBER 2015 Ɣ www.asmag.com

The opening of local markets led to an influx of investments and projects, and close on its heels, a corresponding increase in demand for security goods and services in the region. According to Biswas Surajit, VP of Sales for ASEAN at Robert Bosch SEA, the security market in this region has been growing steadily, with the current security market size in Myanmar amounting to an estimated US$12 million at a CAGR of 15 percent for the period 2013 to 2017; Cambodia follows at $4 million and Laos at $1.5 million, with a CAGR of 10 and 7 percent, respectively. It is expected that this growth will continue in the near future. “As the market is relatively new, the starting point is low and the demand is high; thus, the CAGR could hit as high as 50 to 60 percent or even more depending where the start point is,” said Sunny Kong, Director of Sales for Asia at Milestone Systems. Governments have also started rolling out basic city surveillance projects. Myanmar announced that it will upgrade Yangon’s 154 traffic lights with models that have cameras. Laos currently has 200 cameras on the roads of Vientiane and have plans to add more. In Cambodia, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) agreed to fund the upgrading of 69 traffic lights in Phnom Penh, and an additional 30 more cameras at busy intersections. Analog video surveillance systems currently dominate the market in this region, mainly due to its low cost and ease of installation. Poor IP infrastructure in the region as well as inadequate technical knowledge limits the installment and configuration of more advanced systems. Generally speaking, video surveillance projects are all tied up with the basic infrastructure projects in these three countries. The banking sector is showing signs of increased security needs. “Finance sectors, like banks, are beginning to pay attention to how they can beef up their systems to deter crimes,” commented Kong. “Banks have plans on equipping their ATM machines with more features to provide forensic evidence after malicious acts of thefts and robberies.”

OPENING THE DOORS TO TRADE GROWTH Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar are all gearing up to join the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) at the end of 2015, the aim of which is to combine the economies of 10 Southeast Asian countries into a single competitive market and accelerate economic growth by increasing the free flow of goods, services, investments, and skilled labor in the region.

These developments would be complemented by the One Belt, One Road initiative proposed by the Chinese government in 2013: a network composed of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st century Maritime Silk Road that will connect Asia, Europe, and Africa to further promote trade and infrastructure. To this end, the Asian Development Bank, Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the Silk Road Fund was established to initiate projects that will help transform the economies of the countries along the belt by funding infrastructure, industrial, and transport infrastructure projects. One such project is the North-South Economic Corridor project that has already resulted in an increase in business between China and the Great Mekong Subregion. A key part of this initiative is the construction of a Pan-Asian Railway that will connect the southern part of China with Singapore, which would end in Thailand before splitting into three lines traversing Laos, Myanmar, and Cambodia.

OUTLOOK Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos are clearly still making its way toward economic stability and growth. However, with the abundance of new economic opportunities opening up in the near future, it is reasonable to be optimistic about the future of these three countries and its positive implications on the emerging security market in this region.

MYANMAR

Emerging from years of military-socialist rule, Myanmar made vast strides in 2011 with President Thein Sein at the helm, heading economic and political reforms that resulted in the lifting of many of the economic sanctions imposed on the country in 2013. Since then, the economy has significantly grown, with a GDP of 8.5 percent and a FDI record high of $8 billion in 2014, according to figures from the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration.

TOURISM-RELATED INFRASTRUCTURE Tourism has always been a key economic driver in this country, attracting more than three million tourists in 2014, according to the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism. Following the Tourism Master Plan that was finalized in 2013, the government of Myanmar intends to carry out 38 projects amounting to about $486.6 million over the next few years aimed at improving tourism-related infrastructure and services in the country. Projects on the table include the construction of a new international airport at Hanthawaddy, scheduled to begin in 2016, and the ongoing expansion of Yangon International Airport. An e-visa system was introduced at Yangon International Airport in December 2014 and its trial success has led to plans for its installment in other airports as well. As tourist numbers are expected to increase to five million this year, the hospitality sector is opening up, with 31 foreign investor companies granted permits to open hotels in six different areas, including Yangon, Mandalay, and Bagan. The Ministry of Construction is also looking over bids for the upgrading of the Yangon-Mandalay Highway, which involves the addition of four more traffic lanes and installation of guard rails, fences, and video surveillance to improve safety on the 587-kilometer expressway.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS Previously considered to be one of the least-developed telecommunication markets, Myanmar experienced a 46.9-percent growth this fiscal year and now boasts a mobile penetration rate of over 50 percent with double the number of active users in 2015 compared to the year before, based on reports by TeleGeography, a telecommunications market research and consulting firm. This came as a result of a partnership agreement inked between state-owned Myanmar Post and Telecommunications and Japanese companies KIDDI and Sumitomo in 2014 and the entry of international telecoms groups Telenor Norway and Ooredoo of Qatar into the market. Jimmy Ma, GM of GD Guardian Trading believes that developments in this sector will greatly influence the security industry since this will allow for remote viewing of video surveillance footage on phones and similar devices.

Tips for Doing Business in Myanmar Forging relationships with local companies would be key to entering into this emerging market. “For now, the only way for foreign companies to do business in Myanmar is through investments or partnerships with local systems integrators as there is no e-commerce. They would have to find local partners in big cities like Yangon and Mandalay or it would be extremely difficult for them to penetrate the local market,” advised Jimmy Ma, GM of GD Guardian Trading. There are also several things to consider product-wise, “Products should be weatherproof or heat-resistant to endure the hot weather and priced competitively.”

2015 has been a good year for Vietnam, with socio-political stability, and preparation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the security industry is expected to pick up its pace to further growth along with the improved economy. BY Lisa Hsu

OCTOBER 2015 Ɣ www.asmag.com

ietna ietn tn nam am has rec ecen ntl tlyy b co be com mee an aatttr t acti acctitive ve fore fo reig reig gn iin nvest vessttme ve men ntt deest sttiinat inat in atiio ion du due to a lesss he heav aavviilly regula laateed bu busi siness ss envi en nvviiro on nm meen nt aan nd mo m re flexi x bl xi ble la labo bor laws la aws ws. GD GDP in n Vieetn t aam m exp xpan and nde ded 66..8 peerc perc rcen rcen nt in n the h th hiird rd qu uaart rter ter er of 2001155 ove ver th the he sa same same me per erio iod io od o off th hee prreevi vo ou us yyeear ar. More Mo reeov over ver er,, Go ollldm dm d man n Sachs acchs hs for orec ecas ast th hatt Viiet V Viet etnam’ nam na m’’s eeccon onom om o my, whi hich h cur u rreenttlyy rank ra anks nkks 5555th n th in th he wo orlrld, d wili l rraan d, nkk 17t 7th th in 20225 w in wiith tot otal al GDP D risin isin is ing to o US$ S$4550 bi b llllio ion io n fr from om o m $18 186 billllio bi ion att pre rese ese sent nt. Viiet V e na nam’ mss to tota taal fo ore reig ign ig diire r ct inv nvesstm t en nt ((FFDI DI)) iin n the firs the th fiirrsst mo mont nth o off 201 015 rreeac acheed $66633.44 mililliliion $6 $663 on, on n, a 67 67.1 7.11 peerrce c ntt incr in nccrrea easee com omp paare red tto o the he saam me p ririo pe riod od lasst ye year ear a . Ja Janu Janu nuar uaarry ssaaw a to tota ota tall of 44 neewl wlyy re regi g st gi ster ter ered e FD DII prro oje ject cs worrt wo rth $3 $3922.22 miilllil o on n, up up 855..5 p peerrccent een nt compar co mp paarreed d to th th hee ssaam mee per erio iod io od in in 201 0 44.. A so Al so, o, aass on nee of th the 12 12 mem mb beer ssttaatteess of tth he TTrran anss--Pa Paci Paci ciffiic Pa Parttn neers ers rshi sh hiip (TPP (T TPP P ) ag agreeem emen entt,, Viieetn etnam tn nam m wiilll b bee ab blee to eexxpo port rt go oo od dss wiitth zzeero ro tar arififf arif ff raates rate ttees to to a brro oad der er maarrke rke keett,t, wh hiich ch wililll crea cr eate te faavvorab raab ble le con ond diitiions on o ns fo for th the cou co un nttrry. y Sec ecur u itity d deemaan nd d in Viet Vi etna n m iss alsso titied ed to th the he devveelo de l pm pmen men e to off for oreeiign orei ig gn nin inv nvveesstteed d con onst stru tru ruct uccttio ion ion

an nd pro op per e tyy pro rojeect cts. s. For o tu t naate t lyy, tth he gr grow owth ow th h of fo fore reig re ign ig n bu b si sine neess ness ssees es an nd go gove vern rnme meent nt inf n ra r sttru ruct cttur ure de ure devve velo lopm pm men entt has has st stim mul ulat ated ed the seeccu uririty mar arke ket.t ke

PR ROM OMISING G VI VIET ETNA N ME ESE SECURITY MARKET ET As an emer As e gi g ng n marke k t, Vietn ieetn nam am’s nee eed d fo f r seecu uririty ity con ontititinu nues nu ess to o gro ow acro cro oss sevver eral a secto orss, an nd ed duc u attio on is req quire r d to boo re oost st grow owth th h in thee priv riv ivat atee se at sect ctor or.. In n 200114, 4, saf a etty an and seecu curirity ty eq qu uip ipme ment me ent was worth wa th $$11433 miilllil on o in Vi Viet etn et nam, a $10 milillililion na on inc ncreeasse cco omp mparred ed to 20012 1 , an and d th he nu n mb m erss arre expe expeect ex cted to co cte onttin inu nue ue to gro row w as as devveellop lop opme ment me nt of fo f re reig ig gnn in inveest s ed ed con onst stru tru r ct ction an nd prrop p per erty tyy pro roje oje ject c s ex expa pand nd d, acccco ord rdin ing g to to th hee U.S .S. S. Co omm m er erci rci cial ial al Ser ervi rvi vice ce. ce “A App ppliica catition on n of seecu curiririty tyy and d sur urve veiilillance ve ncce ar aree a hu ugee neecces essi ssiittyy for de fo deve velo lopi lopi p ng ng cou ount n ririees nt es suc uch as a Vie i ttn n nam am m. Beeing ing a new new ma ne mark rkkett, Viet Vi etna etna et n m ha has as lilimi miite m ted im implem impl pllem e en enta tation ta tati on for o sec ecur urritity u ity an a d su surv urv r ei eillllllan ance an ce,, ce such as in ban su nking king ki ng or go gove vern ve rnme meent m nt sec e ur urititty. Seccur urititityy fo or en ente teerp pririsee mana n ge geme m nt nt or pe p rs r onal on use se is sttiilllll on a min inor or scale or caalee with itth ba bassic sic an and d s mp si mple le app p lilic ica cattiion cati ns. s. For the hese se reaaso se ons ns, V Viiet etna nam na am iss exp xpec ecte ted te d to be ap po otent ten te nttia iall aan nd weell growi nd ro owi wing ng mar arke k t ffo ke or th the se the secu curiririty ttyy ind n us u tr try, y,” sa s id Qu Q uy Dang Daang Ngo goc, c Dep c, eput utyy Di ut D re rect ctor or at Na N m msso on n Tec e hn nollo og gy. y. The n Th naatu ture ree of th t e se s cu curirty marke arrke kett in n Vietn ieetn tnam am is d am drrasstitica callyy call diiff d iff ffeerren nt in in thee nor o th h an nd d sou uth h. No Nort Nort rthe heern Vie ietn tnam am m foc ocus uses es on gove vern nme ment n pro oje j ct cts, s whi s, hile le sou outh t er th ern n Vi Viet iet etna naam maain n i lyy con onsi sist si sts st ts o com of mm meerc rcia i l pr ia proj ojec oj e ts ec t . “T “The h nor he orth th her ern n pa partt of Vi Viet e naam is et i lar a ge g ly domi do mina mi n teed by na by govver en nm men nt pr proj ojec oj ects ts thaat dr drivves es the he gro rowt wth wt h of o thee vid vi ide deo eo su surv rrvvei eiilllllan ance ccee mar arrkeet,t, whi hile lee the gro rowt wth h in n thee sou o th is laargel rg gel ely drriv iven ive en by fo follllo lllow owin ng ve vert r iccal alss lilike ke ent ke nter ertaain er nm meentt, educ educ ed ucat cat a io ion, n and nd maalllls. s Lar s. arge ge amo mount off fo orrei e gn invvestm tm meen nt come co ome m s in into to o th hiis th thriririvi v ng ng city ci ityy,” expla xpla xp l in ned ed Sun unn nyy Kon ng, g Dirirec eccto ecto t r off Sal ales e in A es Assiaa at Mi Mile lest ston one on Syssttem Syst Sy ms. IIn n th hee pas astt,t, com mp paan niies gen eneer erall eral ally al ly foc ocus used ed sol olel ely el ly on the he mar arkket ket ke in n eitithe theer th thee nort no ort rth h or or sou uth of Vi Viet e na n m. How owev e er ev er,, du duee to the he

Dinh Thi Thu Ha, MD, Vantech Do Duc Hau, CEO, Techpro

competitive market, companies are expanding to cover both regions, opening offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to increase local manpower. “Bosch Security Systems Vietnam has been able to balance our share in the growth between the north and south of Vietnam. We have also increased our sales growth in central Vietnam, since the establishment of our branch office in Da Nang in 2012,” said Terence Ng, GM of Vietnam and Cambodia at Bosch Security Systems.

WHAT’S TRENDING

The building sector has grown exponentially with multiple projects under development, which will provide opportunities for security.

When it comes to trends in Vietnam, demand for higher resolution is growing regardless of the region. Especially since the riot that broke out last year, demand for clearer footage is high. Moreover, given the current significant development of industrial zones, retail, and mixed-use buildings in Vietnam, there is significant demand for access control equipment. Users seek multifunctional products to maximize their investments. For example, fire alarm systems are also incorporated with surveillance or door-entry systems. Do Duc Hau, CEO of Techpro, has also seen the need to be more integrated in order to fulfill security demands. “We are moving from simple product sales to system sales with our valueadded services such as software development and system integration. We are confident to propose our total solutions to a big-scale project with multi-security technologies such as access control, video surveillance, alarm systems, anti-terrorism, and parking control based on an integrated management platform which can help users manage their system effectively,” he said.

PSIM: CRITICAL ELEM In a safe city project, the command center acts as the brain. Operators charged with maintaining the security and order of the city are constantly on the lookout for unusual situations and, in the event of an emergency, must respond to it quickly and effectively. As such, they need tools with powerful incident management capabilities to aid them. PSIM, or physical security information management software, can be beneficial in this regard.

DEMONSTRATION

OCTOBER 2015 Ć&#x201D; www.asmag.com

TRAFFIC JAM

ENT IN SAFE CITY BY William Pao

CHEMICAL PLANT EXPLOSION

WATER MAIN BREAK

ity command center operators deal with incidents, emergencies, and issues on a daily basis that can be quite complex to tackle. “Ranging in size and scope from traffic accidents, water main breaks, power outages, and criminal activity to mudslides, typhoons, and earthquakes, any and all of these events create a strain on emergency management personnel,” said Gary Nestler, Global Solutions Leader for Emergency Management in Smarter Cities at IBM. Against that backdrop, PSIM, which collects data from disparate sources within the city, analyzes it, and guides operators on what to do next, can be an effective incident management tool that helps authorities prevent, monitor, and respond to incidents or emergency situations. “PSIM provides a clear, intuitive operating platform for multiple systems from differing manufacturers and enables interaction between these systems,” said Stephen Smith, MD at Integrated Security Manufacturing. “The system presents operators with information and task lists to ensure that each incident is dealt with using the same process automatically, without the operator having to consult with their standard operating procedure manual.”

PSIM FOR SAFE CITIES While PSIM, as its name suggests, deals with information management from a physical security perspective, its role in a safe city application entails more than merely detecting or responding to fires, break-ins, or theft via integration with physical security systems such as video, access control, intrusion detection, and fire alarms. “Physical security is not the same as public safety — think managing a heated public demonstration or an active shooter that has exited a university campus. Nor does physical security equate to operational effectiveness —

Data

Plays Key Role in Incident Management for Safe City Data is generated by various sensors deployed throughout a city. With a good analytics solution, command center operators can gain insights into what’s going on now and what might happen in the future. BY William Pao

OCTOBER 2015 Ɣ www.asmag.com

ccording to statistics by Gartner, by 2020 25 billion connected devices will be in use. This will inevitably result in a proportional rise in the amount of data generated. “The world is undergoing a dramatic transformation as it transitions from isolated and often proprietary systems to ubiquitous Internet-enabled things. They are capable of generating data that can be analyzed to extract valuable insights and information,” said Todd Matsler, Segment Marketing Director for Channel Acceleration Division at Intel, the leading CPU maker whose business now also covers the provision of data and Internet of Things solutions. Indeed, data plays a key role in a safe city project, where administrators are constantly scrambling to find meanings behind this data and see if patterns can be observed and future events that have the potential to impact citizens’ lives can be prevented. Data analytics solutions can come in handy and help them in this regard.

HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIRED These solutions usually combine the infrastructure that lays the groundwork, the hardware that processes the data, and the software that makes everything work together. “For hardware, we provide entry blade servers. We also have the analytical solutions which convert massive amounts of data into actionable intelligence. An example is our intelligent video analytics software,” said Gary Nestler, Global Solutions Leader for Emergency Management in Smarter Cities at IBM, which

has transformed from a hardware manufacturer to a provider of total solutions covering analytics, data management, cloud computing, and e-commerce, among others. As for Intel, it further provides the core that does the processing. “Our solution offerings include Intel’s large family of microprocessors — from Quark processors to very high performance Xeon processors. Intel platforms from Atom to Xeon provide hardware accelerators for media performance which is critical in a safe city environment,” Matsler said.

DATA ANALYZED These solutions can process and analyze a wide range of data — including structured ones like databases and spreadsheets that confine to specific data models — as well as unstructured ones. These are from “physical sensors like video surveillance, social sensors like Twitter, mobile phones, and others like GPS, building sensors, and IoT sensors,” said Koh See Kiat, Business Development Director of Global Safety Division at NEC. “Prioritization of sensors depends on the operational needs of the users.”

them. In the end, it predicts when the same thing might happen again. Data analytics allows us to gain insights into the future and take proactive, preventive action,” said Eric Leung, Enterprise Solution Senior Manager for Taiwan at Dell, which is now one of a few computer vendors providing end-to-end solutions that address users’ home and business needs.

CO-WORKING WITH PSIM Eric Leung, Enterprise Solution Koh See Kiat, Business Senior Manager, Taiwan, Dell Development Director, Global Safety Division, NEC

PREDICTIONS AND ACTIONABLE INTELLIGENCE In the event of an emergency, data analytics predicts the event’s impact on the city and provides actionable intelligence, telling operators what they should do next. “Our solution builds models that provide cascading impacts on critical assets, performs simulation to provide a ‘what if’ operating mode to simulate actions and responses before they are implemented, and accelerates collaborative responses through unified dashboards, near real-time missionspecific alerts and notifications, decision support analytics, and mobile accessibility,” said Nestler. “Modeling, correlation, data mining/business intelligence, and real-time analysis seamlessly provide the intelligence to create a dynamic, geospatial, and common operating picture, as well as analytic-based insights that speed decision making and time-toaction.” Even more, data analytics can calculate, based on previous incidents or patterns already established, the likelihood of an event happening in the future, allowing authorities to become proactive and take action before it happens. “At first, data analytics tells us what’s happening and how often it happens. Then, it correlates the data and sees if there are any causal relationships between

Today’s data analytics solutions co-work with PSIM, an incident management tool that, when deployed in a safe city environment, alerts command center operators of ongoing events and guides them on what to do. “We have successful integration to PSIM applications through our analytics platform,” said Koh. “These are ONVIF standards-based solutions from our partners and enable numerous analytics per video stream per camera. That is optimization and good ROI.” “PSIM mostly deals with response — that is, alerting operators of certain events and helping them take action. But we focus on the long-term forecast, predicting what might happen in the future so operators can take appropriate action now,” Leung said. “From our perspective, we enhance and optimize PSIM.”

WHAT MAKES DATA ANALYTICS GOOD According to Matsler, a good analytics solution should have various features. “These include world-class security as the foundation, automated discovery and provisioning of edge devices to ease deployment, data normalization through protocol abstraction to improve interoperability and aggregate data before sending it to the cloud, and broad analytics infrastructure from edge to cloud to turn data into actionable insights,” he said. A good data analytics solution must be flexible, agile, secure, and responsive, Nestler said. “If the solution cannot adapt to new situations and incidents quickly, while ensuring the emergency management community has continuous availability to a safe and secure platform, then the solution, no matter how functionally ‘good’ it is, fails,” he said.

Performance As opposed to other IT products, it is more difficult to measure the performance of data analytics solutions in terms of processing speed. “It all has to do with the complexity of analysis,” Leung said. “If you just want a simple execution of command, then our typical configuration of solution can process 1 GB to 2 GB of data in one second. If you want to do model-building on what is likely to happen in the future, the process may take one to two minutes, or even five. It really hinges on the user demand.” “We focus on ‘right time’ versus real time because this approach is linked to customer outcomes and not some artificial measure of speed,” Nestler said. “A good example is responding to readings from sensors, which are naturally fluctuating and will cause over-correction and damage. Using analytical techniques, and more data/time, in many cases will lead to better, more consistent results.”

DATA MATTER With the Internet of Things taking off and becoming a global phenomenon, data analytics will only become an even hotter topic in the years to come. Against this backdrop, future safe cities will further take advantage of data and find meanings behind them to make themselves smarter and safer, in the process enhancing citizens’ quality of life.

According to Gartner, 25 billion connected devices will be in use by 2020.

As the Going Gets Tough,

Distributors Look to Manufacturers for Support The recent market changes have pressured distributors across the globe to make some critical changes in their business strategies, including moving on to new low-cost suppliers. In this context we evaluate the current status of relationship between distributors and manufacturers, and how this can be improved. BY Prasanth Aby Thomas

OCTOBER 2015 Ɣ www.asmag.com

here are no two ways of looking at it — the security industry is going through a tough phase. From manufacturers to distributors and systems integrators, the pressure to adapt to market changes is becoming more and more evident. Some attribute it to the macroeconomic slowdown, others are more specific to pinpoint regional issues that have hurt demand. And although its impact has been felt across the board, the segment that’s been seeing major pressure on the bottom line is the distributors. This is especially true for those who give/sell products to installers on credit. On their part, distributors have attempted several strategies to hedge the risks, notable among them being selling low-cost Chinese products. This strategy has lowered the total cost of a typical security system, according Victor Yugai, CEO of Russia-based distributor VideoSCAN, and helped to widen the market volume. And although there have been some concerns on the quality, the general trend seems to be that more distributors might look to China for supply. It is in this context that a manufacturer-distributor relationship becomes significant. Along with appropriate strategies, distributors and manufacturers now need to rethink how their relationships can be made more fruitful in the new business climate. It would be fair to say not enough research has gone into this topic so far. Nevertheless it remains a critical factor that could have a lasting impact on the industry.

DO DISTRIBUTORS GET ENOUGH SUPPORT FROM MANUFACTURERS? It is imperative that manufacturers and their channel partners understand each other well. While several industry players acknowledge this, the dynamic nature of the current economic climate necessitates dealers and producers to continuously reach out to each other. “In our opinion, several obligatory conditions have to be fulfilled for the

Given the difficult market conditions, it is imperative that manufacturers and distributors understand each other well.

manufacturer and the distributor to work successfully on the local market,” said Yugai. “Prompt and transparent communication between the parts, adaptation of an existing solution to the client’s requests, consistent quality, and acceptable solution cost for the market.” Yugai added that since an effective solution cannot be the cheapest one due to objective reasons, only collaborative hard work of manufacturers and their representatives helps to secure a footing in the market. Jorge Bardales, President of the Central America-based Tecnología, Acceso y Seguridad (TAS) elaborated on this point further, indicating that manufacturers should be aware of the target market situations and be active in attracting the end users. “Frequent visits to the countries are very important, along with help in taking customers to visit factories, and understanding the market and their needs,” Bardales said. A distributor who has managed to receive such keen support from

their principal is the Israel-based Web2See. Alon Salpeter, CEO of Web2See said his company is the registered distribution partner for Milestone Systems’ VMS and has maintained a close relationship with the manufacturer for many years. Since Milestone does not directly sell to the resellers and prefers to go through the distributor, Salpeter’s company feels quite protected by this business model. “We have a contact person in Milestone under the title Country Manager through whom all the communications between distributor and manufacturer go through (or with his awareness),” said Salpeter. “He also spends time coming over for seminars, meeting with clients, and sets goals and targets for the distribution channel.” The country manager is also involved in project pricing and is very aware of competition and takes part in negotiations with clients. Such an approach from the manufacturer goes a long way in supporting the distributor to enhance their business.

DISTRIBUTORS’ WORRIES ON MARGINS AND ATTEMPTS TO COUNTER THEM MarcusA ng, VP, Sales and Business Development, ADP Securegroup RustuAr seven, GM, Tesan Iletisim JorgeB ardales, President, Tecnología, Acceso y Seguridad FarzadHar andi, Sales Director, Pooya Fara Negar Technology

In tandem with the weak global economic conditions and the dwindling demand in the security market in particular, a major concern that has hurt sentiments has been the sliding margins. For distributors, the lower prices of products have indeed brought in more customers from different sectors, but this has come at weaker profit margins. To counter this situation, distributors are looking towards different strategies, with and without support from manufacturers. Yugai said that their business

Maintenance Warranty Change With IP How

and

BY Israel Gogol Gogol, Freelancer

OCTOBER 2015 Ɣ www.asmag.com

All would agree that product warranty and maintenance contracts are important; however, in reality, they are usually given second priority after price and performance. Nonetheless, warranty and maintenance are areas of opportunity to provide added value for both end users and channel players. 62

echnology changes the way we do business. In recent years, the surveillance industry has been shifting from analog to IP cameras, cloud technologies are gaining pace, and more sophisticated software applications are being introduced. These technology changes have also influenced offerings in terms of warranty and maintenance contracts. Systems integrators and distributors have been pushed to acquire new skills, change their offerings to give added value to end users, and make sure users

don’t suffer from system downtime. “The warranty and maintenance prism of view is totally different from the distributor position to the systems integrators’ and the end users,” explained Mehdi Moukite, CEO of Melint, a valueadded distributor in the Middle East. “From the end-user point of view, the most important is that the product is working properly with the expected features. From the distributor level, the only responsibility is the warranty of the products. This includes guaranteeing a certain level of service locally in the market, such as making sure there are

spare parts available, or a policy of full replacement. Distributors should also have a good relationship and continuous communication with the vendor through regular reports and tracking material returns.” Over the years, changes in technology have also brought changes in warranty terms and how distributors need to adjust their level of service. “For example, an electronic board of an access control controller or an IP camera is not easy to repair locally. Most of the electronic parts are built with miniaturization, efficiency of space, and electrical optimization in mind. Electronic boards today are thinner and smaller and with more components included in each one. This leads many companies nowadays to offer a warranty with immediate replacement of the product. The difficulty here is to manage and finance a stock for that,” said Moukite. In the case of Melint, technology changes have also prompted the company to offer its own repair service and not just deal with returns to the manufacturer. “We have a continuous maintenance program allowing our technical team to learn and improve their skills in repairing products, mainly electronic boards, even after the warranty period. It’s a key service in our offer, and most of our customers appreciate it,” he added. The growing complexity of equipment together with ongoing price decrease of equipment might change the security industry similar to consumer electronics. Today, when a home appliance or cell phone breaks, it is sometimes cheaper to buy a new product than to repair the old one. “I believe that the future will make maintenance and warranty easier. This is for two main reasons: the price decrease (easier to buy than repair), and also the quality of components and technological innovations improving the reliability of the products. For example, since the

Mehdi Moukite, CEO, Melint

Nicholas Yap, Director, Client Relations, ICD Security Solutions

introduction of power over Ethernet (POE), a lot of warranty issues coming from defective power supplies don’t exist anymore,” said Moukite. Warranty is very straightforward, as it is mainly on installed product quality. If a product fails during an agreed period of time it is replaced; maintenance is more of a relationship between the end user and the service provider. Maintenance programs continue after the warranty period and are considered a part of the product’s life cycle. This is an important client experience management process. As such it has many opportunities for delivering added-value and upselling offers. “Maintenance is more demanding now, not just in service response time. The need for extensive geographical presence across the locale is also more demanding. Clients want cost-effective and better management in service and quality,” said Nicholas Yap, Director of Client Relations at ICD Security Solutions. To better answer these demands, Yap emphasized the importance of centralized management platform (CRM system) deployment for clients’ service cases management, as well as a proactive routine preventive maintenance (RPM) to make sure systems are running properly and problems are identified in advance, otherwise, “when a client calls you with an issue, it is usually too late,” he added. RPM should include system checks to ensure functionality of both devices (hardware) and programs (software). This includes checking cables and batteries, data back-up, firmware and software updates, and customer training (at the operator level and the administrator level). To bring added value to the maintenance contract, ICD also provides free consulting as part of its maintenance service, “We provide free consulting for the client in issues such as future expansion, product life span, software

How to Choose a Maintenance Service Provider? Before choosing a maintenance service provider, Nicholas Yap, Director of Client Relations at ICD Security Solutions recommends asking the following questions and using the answers as a benchmark for comparison and decision making. • How will this service provider manage my cases? Does it have a centralized management platform? • How fast can the service provider respond to a call? Do they have extensive coverage in the region closer to my facilities/office sites? • How extensive is the provider’s inventory back-up? This is important to provide immediate replacement ement and minimize downtime. • How well can the account manager communicate with me? Will they also inform me about the latest technologies, products being discontinued, and possible replacements?

Since its introduction, security as a service (SaaS) has been popular in the residential sector. But technological advancement and ease of use is increasingly prompting enterprise clients to opt for this mode of security.

SECURITY AS A SERVICE MOVES BEYOND RESIDENTIAL SECTOR BY Prasanth Aby Thomas

ecurity as a service (SaaS) is increasingly becoming popular across the globe mainly due to lower costs, flexibility, and the options to use services like high-end video analytics that may require massive computing power. Yet despite its potential, until recently the market for SaaS was mostly restricted to the residential sector. But with improved technology and better customer awareness, this is set to change.

OCTOBER 2015 Ɣ www.asmag.com

NON-RESIDENTIAL MARKETS INTERESTED IN SaaS Understandably the demand for this option outside the residential sector is beginning with the small and medium business (SMB) sector. Aaron Dale, Analyst for Video Surveillance at IHS pointed out quick service restaurants as an example of a potential SaaS end user.

Sébastien Boeynaems, Marketing & Sales Manager, Benelux, Sabelco Pat Camman, Director, Business Development, Acme Security Center

“Video surveillance as a service (VSaaS) is a popular solution in the SMB market as it facilitates a seamless link between multiple sites over a wide geographic area,” Dale said. SMB’s interest in services is largely due to the fact that it helps them avoid the expenses upfront. Sébastien Boeynaems, Marketing & Sales Manager in Benelux at the Belgium-based reseller of Panasonic Cameramanager, Sabelco, said that instead of paying large sums for cameras and recorders, they can pay monthly for a camera-cloud solution and always have the latest technology. Roshan Punnilath, Head of Operations at the Saudi Arabia-based Mega Security Services added that the interest is also because the organizations don’t need to appoint staff to maintain their security services locally, thereby reducing expenses.

FROM SMBs TO LARGER ORGANIZATIONS But then as the technology has evolved from its initial days, larger organizations have begun to take an interest in SaaS. “SaaS can be useful for chains of outlet or shops, companies who have warehouses, multiple service center workshops, and anyone who needs centralized monitoring and security management for their premises,” Punnilath said. Other resellers have also pointed out that a potential customer for SaaS is large multinational corporate organizations with several branches but have limited staff.

“For example, many of these companies have a limited or off-site IT staff for their different locations, which causes them not to have a physical IT employee on-premise to address immediate issues or concerns,” said David English, VP of Sales & Marketing at Southeastern Security Professionals (SSP), a dealer of Brivo. Pat Camman, Director of Business Development at Acme Security Center, a reseller of Eagle Eye Networks, agreed that this segment is also popular with small offices. “Professional service organizations that need access control for their employees and visitors as well as security cameras for the ID of possible criminal activity,” Camman said.

LARGE-SCALE PROJECTS FOR SaaS The potential of this segment is increasingly being realized as customers including those from the government sector are opting for it. Dale pointed out that China is leading by example in this. “Governments or local authorities [in China] are drawn to the billing model offered by

Finding the Right Prescription For BY Prasanth Aby Thomas

OCTOBER 2015 Ɣ www.asmag.com

obust security systems are a must for any health care facility, not just for patients’ safety but also ffor staff t ff and d expensive i medical equipment. This has become all the more significant of late, as the hospitals look to expand their reach and provide round-the-clock service. Governments across the globe have recognized this, coming up with guidelines on standards to be set. In the U.S. the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has been the key law in this regard. “The overall demand hasn’t been any higher than it’s been the past two years in the United States,” said Greg Love, VP of Sales at AMAG Technology, adding that from a security standpoint, he has seen an increase in level 1 trauma centers located in inner city areas. Patients in such trauma centers are often gunshot victims, and better security systems are necessary to protect

those vi vvictims ictim ctims and ho ospita ittal al sta aff ff ffrom rom alleg ged hospital staff alleged perp rp pet etrato orss w h m ho ay wan ay an nt to to ccause ausee m ore ore perpetrators who may want more ha arm rm. harm. D Dem emand iiss n ott ju jjust stt in n th he U. U S.. tho hou ugh. ug h. Demand not the U.S. though. A di tto St Nib bb li k Global Gl b l Director Di t for f Healthcare H lth th h According Steve Nibbelink, Security & Healthcare Alliances at Schneider Electric, demand for health care security solutions comes from strong construction markets. “The demand in healthcare is in the new construction market in the Middle East, while other regions around the world (Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific) there is less construction and more retrofit / upgrading of facilities,” Nibbelink said.

Katharina Geutebrück, CEO, Geutebrück Eryl Jones, MD, Assa Abloy Security Solutions

COMMON CHALLENGES TO COUNTER IN HEALTH CARE Identifying the common threats and concerns is the first step to providing the best solution. According to Katharina Geutebrück, CEO of Geutebrück, there are quite a few of them in hospitals. “There is a long list of threats — theft, vandalism, property damage, sabotage, kidnapping,” said Geutebrück. “But also the internal organization is at risk: there are drivers like understaffing as well as ill-treatment of patients and legal claims.” Sheila Stromberg, Director of Healthcare End-User

Analytics for Better Health Care Services

Secure Health Care Facilities Strategies at HID Global feels that threats can be broadly divided into those concerning the safety of staff, patients, and visitors, and those to the security of patient information and other data. The most important challenge could be general nature of hospital buildings and their operation. “Physical security threats can be difficult to combat because of the modern hospital’s typically large campus size and often geographically dispersed nature of many facilities,” Stromberg said. “It’s also difficult to support secure access from affiliated doctors who may work with many different institutions, requiring them to carry multiple badges for all the locations they visit.” Then there is the issue of visitors. Even if precautions are taken to counter issues such as unauthorized access, managing visitors is a sensitive issue. “Visitors are a challenge — some may pose a threat, all must be protected, and the challenge is more difficult during ‘after hours’ periods and in critical areas such as labor and delivery floors and pediatric wards,” said Stromberg. “On the information security side, threats to patient privacy take many forms, and safeguards must extend to electronically prescribed medications, as well.” To Nibbelink, a single major threat in this vertical is violence towards health care providers. Health care staff are the victims of workplace violence. To counter this issue, Nibbelink suggests hospitals to train caregivers to detect early warning signs of workplace violence, and ensure their policies and procedures address the process to deal with this behavior and the penalty for such unacceptable behavior. Perhaps the most important factor is not to figure out who is vulnerable, but the nature of threats that would rise at any time. Greg Hamm, VP of Sales & Marketing at Delta Scientific pointed out the concerns that exist in today’s world. “A common threat at health care facilities is terrorists attempting to break through the entrances to military hospitals, gang-related entrances to urban hospitals, and

Video analytics have become an integral part of security solutions across verticals today. According to Katharina Geutebrück, CEO of Geutebrück, it plays an extremely crucial role in hospitals since it can identify problems and raise alarms automatically. “Think of monitoring seriously ill patients after surgery or coma patients, not just in intensive care, but also centrally at the respective station,” Geutebrück said. “Intelligent video analysis is objectoriented, and is thus able to recognize, observe, and follow objects in an image. This makes it possible to automatically activate video playback when an alarm occurs, for instance when a seriously ill patient attempts to leave the bed.” And it’s not just useful in the hospital’s mainstream operations, but also in the administrative matters like parking spaces. “License plate recognition can help the security team identify those who leave the parking garage without paying, or people parking in handicap stalls who should not be. Video analytics can also be used for access control; it recognizes an authorized license plate and opens the parking gate,” said Greg Love, VP of Sales at AMAG Technology.

Video analytics is not just useful for security, but also for maintaining day-to-day operations at hospitals, like parking management.

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SURVEILLANCE PAGE NO.

ADVERTISER

MAJOR ITEM

COUNTRY

E-MAIL

AXIS COMMUNICATIONS AB

NETWORK VIDEO SOLUTIONS

SWEDEN

contact-sap@axis.com

5, 7

DAHUA TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.

SURVEILLANCE

CHINA

overseas@dahuatech.com

DYNACOLOR INC.

IP CAMERA / NVR

TAIWAN

info@dynacolor.com.tw

FLIR SYSTEMS CO., LTD.

SURVEILLANCE

HONG KONG flir@flir.com.hk

FUZHOU FRAN M&E TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT CO., LTD.

DOME COVER

CHINA

sales@fjsmt.com

HANGZHOU JUFENG TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.

AHD DVR / CAMERA / IPC / NVR / HOME SECURITY

CHINA

oversea_sales@jufenginfo.com

HDPRO CO., LTD.

CCTV

KOREA

sales@hdprocctv.com

HI SHARP ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.

CCTV / DVR / MONITOR / IP CAMERA / HD-SDI / TVI / AHD TAIWAN

sales@hisharp.com.tw

BACK COVER, 9

HIKVISION DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.

SURVEILLANCE

CHINA

overseasbusiness@hikvision.com

IDIS CO., LTD.

SURVEILLANCE

KOREA

sales@idisglobal.com

INODIC INC.

CAMERA

KOREA

sales@inodic.com

MACROVIEW SYSTEM CO., LTD.

SURVEILLANCE

KOREA

sales@macroview.co.kr

MEERE COMPANY INC.

CAMERA

KOREA

sales@cube-eye.co.kr

OB TELECOM ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.

FIBER OPTIC TRANSCEIVER

CHINA

overseas@obtelecom.com

INSIDE BACK COVER

PANASONIC SYSTEM NETWORKS CO., LTD.

VIDEO SURVEILLANCE

JAPAN

28, 29

PIXELPLUS CO., LTD.

SEMICONDUCTOR

KOREA

kahn@pixelplus.com

QNAP SYSTEMS, INC.

NVR / VMS

TAIWAN

nvr@qnap.com

SHENZHEN COMMANDER TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.

CASING

CHINA

sjw@yjdcase.com

SHENZHEN NANFANG HANBANG TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.

NVR, IP CAMERA

CHINA

sales@hanbangoverseas.com

SONY ELECTRONICS ASIA PACIFIC PTE. LTD.

NETWORK MONITORING SOLUTIONS

SINGAPORE

pro.info@ap.sony.com

SYNOLOGY INC.

STORAGE

TAIWAN

jeffreyh@synology.com

11, 41

VIDEOTEC S.P.A.

IP CAMERA / SOFTWARE / VIDEOSERVER

ITALY

info@videotec.com

WEBGATE INC.

DVR

KOREA

support@webgateinc.com

INSIDE FRONT COVER, 1

WESTERN DIGITAL TAIWAN CO., LTD.

SURVEILLANCE STORAGE

TAIWAN

patrick.lo@wdc.com

XIAMEN LEADING OPTICS CO., LTD.

CCTV LENS

CHINA

sales@leadingoptics.com

ZHEJIANG DALI TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD

CCTV

CHINA

sales@dali-tech.com

ACCESS CONTROL PAGE NO.

ADVERTISER

MAJOR ITEM

COUNTRY

E-MAIL

CHIYU TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD

ACCESS CONTROL / TIME ATTENDANCE

TAIWAN

sales@chiyu-t.com.tw

FUJICA SYSTEM CO., LTD.

ACCESS CONTROL

CHINA

export@fujica.com.cn

HID GLOBAL

CARD, CARD READER

USA

asiasales@hidglobal.com

VOIM TECHNOLOGIES INC.

FINGERPRINT

KOREA

sales@ten-bio.com

PAGE NO.

ADVERTISER

MAJOR ITEM

COUNTRY

E-MAIL

ETHERWAN SYSTEMS, INC.

TRANSMISSION

TAIWAN

info@etherwan.com.tw

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