Milestone discuss Video Management Software, MEA market and Intersec Expo 2017
Security News Desk talks to Thomas Lausten, Milestone VP of Sales EMEA, about Milestone’s position within the MEA market and their plans for the upcoming Intersec Expo 2017.
Milestone Systems is a global leader within open platform video management software (VMS) for IP network-based video surveillance. It is the No.1, VMS manufacturer worldwide, with software sold through a network of authorised and certified partners in an open platform community. This offers customers a flexible, scalable and future-proof video management solution. Active in MEA since 2002, Milestone will again exhibit at Intersec in Dubai on January 22-24, together with a number of key partners in the region. Meet the team, the partners and see their latest solutions at stand S1-H26.
Q: Milestone’s community strategy was announced in 2016. What kind of impact have you seen in MEA?
Thomas Lausten: The community strategy has had a major impact: it is an integral part of everything we do. It affects how we work with our partners and how we are consciously and consistently integrating more and more technologies and solutions into our open platform business model. Our community is the essence of how we work on a strategic as well as on an everyday level. Through our community, we aim to make the world see the many possibilities of video technology. We can see that the increased focus on this is allowing us to extend the Milestone offering. In enables us to offer solutions that we could not otherwise.
Q: IHS Inc. named you the global number 1 VMS vendor for the ninth straight year in 2016. Which factors contributed to this?
We have quite a bold sales and market strategy in MEA. We have invested heavily in establishing presence in all local markets as well as expanding our existing ones. We have invested in strengthening our communication efforts and recruited a number of very strong employees, making sure that we have a solid local footprint. Pairing our unique technology with the best people in the industry has proven a very successful combination and we are proud to now be the market leader in EMEA.
Q: How do you see the MEA market evolving?
We are pleased to see that we are increasing our market share. We see and welcome new players in the market who can stimulate the need for hardware, enabling the video market to grow even further. All of this combined allows existing and new users to explore video technology integrated with solutions such as access control and video analytics. We are definitely experiencing an increased interest in the open platform technology, as opposed to the proprietary approach where users are stuck with a solution that cannot expand or adapt.
Q: Why is open platform technology so important in MEA?
The open platform technology is strategically vital to what we deliver: it is the customer’s guarantee of a state-of-the-art and updated system that can integrate today’s and tomorrow’s technologies alike. We don’t even know the full scale of these benefits yet: The sky really is the limit, as the open platform allows for endless combinations of added features to both existing and new systems. This is of unparalleled value to any user of video technology.
Q: How is your organisation suited for the MEA market?
The MEA organisation has seen extensive expansion and development over the past few years. Our local presence in all MEA markets makes us able to act locally with an industry-leading and award-winning portfolio of both VMS and NVR products. We are agile and focus both on conveying XProtect® to all vertical markets as well as getting our ever-growing range of Milestone Husky™ NVRs out there. In terms of NVRs, we maintain a keen focus on increasing the number and quality of our hardware partnerships whilst also being able to offering a range in our own name.
Q: What are your plans for Intersec 2017?
This event is one of the most important security events for Milestone in EMEA. It is a great chance for us to present our first 2017 release and showcase new and existing cutting edge partner solutions that integrate with Xprotect. We look forward to seeing existing and new partners from throughout MEA. This is truly one of the major shows on a global scale and we are bringing our biggest stand ever.
Be sure to visit the Milestone Systems booth at Intersec 2017, Dubai, January 22-24, and meet the Milestone team, partners and see their latest Video Management Software solutions at stand S1-H26.
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