Security Sales & Integration June 2021 - 49

There are, however, some bright spots, particularly
in the residential market (rated as the
No. 1 video surveillance vertical) as for most of
2020 home offices became the norm. The average
sales price for a home video surveillance system
rose severalfold and the number of cameras
per deployment increased by eight units (53%).
Pandemic aside, the research highlights other
top surveillance sector challenges and concerns.
Turning back to Cloud-based services, among
the leading issues were costs, business model and
demand. From the end-user perspective relative
to networked video surveillance solutions, cybersecurity,
quality of service and network complexity
were cited as the chief challenges. Meanwhile,
integrators say clients' IT departments run interference
on system deployments 77% of the time.
The third such study of its kind, the SSI 2021
Much of that is attributable to end-user clients'
shutdowns of offices and facilities along
with the associated layoffs, furloughs, and delays
and cancellations of security projects. When
asked directly about the effect of the pandemic
on the past year's video surveillance business,
nearly half the respondents rated it as being
moderate to enormous. Fewer than one in five
said it was not impactful. Furthermore, while
still exhibiting growth, as compared to recent
years the market is reported to have grown 37%
more slowly in 2021.
Even some of the areas where it was hoped the
pandemic might boost business have been refuted
by most of the survey's results. For example,
thermal imaging was broadly promoted to solve
the issue of monitoring people's temperatures
before they entered buildings, but no significant
bump was conveyed by responding dealers and
integrators. Cost and field accuracy as well as
nonsecurity-based alternatives were likely among
the sticking points that hindered wider adoption
through the dealer/integrator channel.
Cloud-based solutions was another segment
of the surveillance market that many anticipated
would accelerate due to COVID-19 implications
- in particular, enabling full offsite operations
for customers. Yet the Deep Dive data indicates
dealers/integrators offering video surveillance as a
service (VSaaS) declined by 12 percentage points
and those selling it experienced 42% less growth
than the previous year. One plus was per-camera
monthly storage fees climbed 8%.
securitysales.com
Video Surveillance Deep Dive was conducted
during April and included nearly 200 dealers and
integrators from throughout the United States
and Canada. In addition to the balanced geographical
footprint, the study also drew respondents
from a wide range of company sizes and
years in business. As well it spanned the residential,
commercial and industrial video surveillance
sectors - including projects, prices, margins,
verticals, challenges, technologies and more.
Presently, with the end of the pandemic in
sight and most industry observers expecting
a boom of pent-up demand, next year's Deep
Dive figures to blow some of the 2021 numbers
out of the water. In totality, in concert with
steadily declining costs and swiftly emerging
application use cases, video surveillance continues
to represent one of the world's most robust
market opportunities.
No one is in a better position to capitalize
than installing security dealers and systems integrators.
However, in an open, competitive field
and in the wake of the business ravages of the
pandemic, that will prove truer for some than
others. The greatest degree of success is predicated
on key factors like leadership, management,
marketing, talent, agility, efficiency, training,
customer service, vendor partners, etc.
According to the study respondents, ease of
installation, cost of hardware and brand recognition
to the customer are the top three elements
that help them sell more surveillance
products. The detailed information that follows
also includes dozens of verbatim comments given
equipment suppliers direct guidance on how
to best serve the video market.
Sponsored by
When asked
directly about the
effect of the
pandemic on the
past year's video
surveillance
business, nearly
half the
respondents
rated it as being
moderate to
enormous.
JUNE 2021 Security Sales & Integration 49
http://www.securitysales.com
Security Sales & Integration June 2021

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