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A Cloud is on the Horizon

Security and video surveillance users have typically been slower to adopt cloud technologies. Not anymore. 

By Eric Olson, Product Marketing Manager, Arcules

Over the last few years, the demand for cloud video services has seen a significant growth, driven by innovation and an interest in outsourcing the management of business applications. This trend will steepen in 2023 as more enterprises move workloads to SaaS applications. At the same time, organizations are outsourcing these services to free up IT expertise to focus on more strategic initiatives. 

Although slower to jump on the cloud bandwagon, the security market has experienced rising demand for cloud-based video services over the past few years. This growth has been driven by a growing number of cloud-deployed IoT and video solutions. While many environments still consist of on-premises solutions, the benefits of the cloud are too appealing to ignore.  

Why? The cloud delivers new efficiencies while reducing the complexity of video management, but businesses need to be faster to embrace the  power of SaaS. Advancements in how the cloud is used to manage video streaming and capture are improving, and the benefits of moving video management to the cloud far outweigh the drawbacks. From single-site locations with a few cameras and scaling up to multi-site operations with thousands of devices, video cloud services are easy to use, cost-effective, and proven to provide significant value to security leaders. It is essential for organizations seeking a proactive and reliable video security strategy. In my opinion, it will continue to be a significant trend as we look to 2023. 

Why is 2023 the year of the cloud for security? Let's explore the reasons. 

Digital Transformation 

Many organizations have adopted a "cloud-first" strategy, and are increasingly interested in exploring whether a workload can run and be managed in the cloud. 

The challenges of managing hardware have always been complex, so most businesses are solving the problem by moving away from on-premises systems and focusing on a cloud-heavy, edge-light strategy. Video was historically left as an outlier for many reasons: bandwidth, data security and reliability mostly. 

But data is being stored and delivered vastly different than it was 20 years ago. Google Cloud Platform, Amazon AWS, and Microsoft Azure are the norm. SaaS subscriptions allow customers to flexibly turn services and capacity on and off depending on specific requirements. 

Organizations are preferring the stability and predictability or a service-based financial model, where they can easily budget their security costs as repeatable periodic expense, and reduce forecasting challenges. 

Migration of a video surveillance workload to the cloud and further depopulating the corporate data center will provide a massive advantage for companies investing heavily in their cloud strategy.  

The Power of Choice 

It's become clear by now that cloud-based services are the future for a wide variety of organizations. As more and more companies move to adopting SaaS for video, this process should not be done without a strategic approach. 

Organizations must consider their current technology needs, goals for security and business operations, and the future of the business itself - all of which are dynamic and require flexibility for a smooth transition. A hybrid cloud provides businesses with that transitional opportunity. 

Hybrid cloud models offer the best of both worlds, allowing for a mix of on-premises video technology and cloud services. End users gain increased functionality without compromising the feature-rich and powerful video surveillance critical to today's modern organizations. 

Secure Data Management 

We understand why cybersecurity is a significant concern. In 2021, cybercrime will cost organizations more than $6 trillion worldwide. A recent report also found that people cause more than 50% of security incidents within an organization.  

Cloud service providers must be intensely and relentlessly focused on ensuring the security of their systems and services. Working with proven cloud providers like the Google Cloud Platform provides a secure infrastructure base, but reviewing other areas is also essential.  

Compliance with System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 Type II affirms that information security practices, policies, procedures, and operations meet the SOC 2 standards for security and confidentiality over time. SOC 2 is an auditing procedure that ensures service providers securely manage customer data. Developed by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), SOC 2 defines criteria for managing customer data based on trust principles that every SaaS provider should incorporate as part of its security and compliance initiatives.  

Designed at Scale 

One of the essential features of cloud architecture is that it is built to scale. This is a critical consideration for businesses that expect to grow or change over time. As processing, storage, and camera requirements vary, the cloud's scalability enables organizations to increase or decrease usage without worrying about outdated software or hardware. 

While we typically talk about cloud flexibility as it relates to scalability, the term can also apply to the cloud's ability to give organizations flexibility regarding system access. On-premises solutions are more rigid because they can typically only be controlled through a specific physical location. In contrast, cloud-based systems facilitate remote access from any device and location and have granular user permissions to control management roles. This level of flexibility promotes enhanced security efforts and increased response times to potential threats. 

Businesses need to embrace the idea and promise of cloud faster because it is easy to implement into your security strategy. You can deploy it to a specific site, use edge, cloud or a mix, and integrate with new and existing on-premises systems. And there are no large upfront costs. 

The cloud has already driven new levels of intelligence, usability, and ease of management across multiple functions. Now, is the time for security stakeholders to follow suit. Operating a cloud-savvy business places you in a prime position to gain a competitive edge. The C-Suite is keen to adopt workloads that provide enduring value to cloud migration. With cloud-ready video, there's an easy path to success.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eric Olson is responsible for product marketing at Arcules. In this role, he spearheads product positioning, product launch planning and management, competitive analysis, solution content and sales enablement. He works closely with the entire team to bring Arcules’ solutions to market, facilitate the product-to-market process and create market awareness for existing products. Prior to joining Arcules, Olson held increasingly senior-level roles with PureTech Systems, Honeywell, and Transact Campus.