The Business Solutions Network

For some time now, I’ve been advising IT integrators to add IP video surveillance technologies to their line cards. After all, you own the relationship with your customer, IP networking is old hat to you, and (more often than not nowadays) IP solutions require integration with the systems you’ve already put in place.  Continue Reading..

Today's answer to the above headline is "I don't know." However, by the time our May issue rolls around, I'll know. You see, I've been up to my eyeballs working on this upcoming product review for Business Solutions. So far, it's shaping up to become what I think will be a very valuable comparison.  Continue Reading..

Today, I began assembling the editorial for an upcoming issue of Business Solutions. We did a call for thought leadership where we asked industry experts to weigh in on the biggest topics for key verticals. When it came to retail, a common theme referenced was the "-as-a-Service" business model. Not surprising, really.  Continue Reading..

One of the hottest topics at the recently-held RSPA INSPIRE conference was the services model. Understand, I'm not talking about offering services to your customers. Rather, I'm referring to combining your offerings (hardware, software, security, support, payment processing, remote monitoring, etc.) into bundles for which you can charge your customers a monthly fee. Let's call it POS-as-a-Service (or P-a-a-S?).  Continue Reading..

During a recent security-related conference, one of the speakers said to the audience that if they couldn't "speak IT" they wouldn't last very long in today's sales conversations. So true, however, I'm not sure if many IT integrators really understand how strong their position is -- or could be.  Continue Reading..

If you've got customers with junky old analog CCTV surveillance systems looking to upgrade to IP, but cost is a factor, you should take a look at 360-degree panoramic cameras. Why? Imagine one megapixel camera mounted in the center of a room that captures video in all directions. Unaltered, these cameras produce recorded video that looks like a mirror ball (i.e. a sphere of warped video). However, after image correction (de-warping the...  Continue Reading..

While at the Mobotix partner conference earlier this week, attendees got a crash course in video quality. If you aren't hip to the latest in video surveillance, you might be in for a shock. According to Dr. Magnus Ekerot, CEO USA for Mobotix, 90% of today's surveillance recordings are in CIF format. That is, 288 lines of resolution. If you're wondering what valuable evidence you can capture at that resolution, it isn't...  Continue Reading..

Today, I spent the day surrounded by current and future Mobotix integrator partners. If you don't already know, Mobotix is a manufacturer of IP video cameras and related solutions. One thing that really struck me in speaking with various partners is that there's a definite level of excitement that comes across when they speak. I often don't find such enthusiasm when I talk with resellers of other technologies. So,...  Continue Reading..

Here's what you're looking at. Both charts depict a $10,000 sale. The cost of goods is $6,000. In the top example, after you pay out the commission and take out some other costs, the sale nets you $2,560 immediately. In the next two years, you'll get some additional revenue from maintenance. After it's all said and done, after three years, that $10,000 sale yielded $3,480.  Continue Reading..

Hello from Curacao (pronounced cur-a-sow) in the Caribbean! I'm here at RSPA INSPIRE 2013 where day one of the event's education just kicked off.  I've really been looking forward to the education here at INSPIRE since I first spoke with Tom Bouwer, the event's three-day keynote speaker. In a pre-event article, Bouwer piqued my curiosity with his topic: ownership thinking. This morning, attendees at the...  Continue Reading..