Why More Businesses Are Opting For Cloud-Based Video Surveillance Systems

Modern businesses are gradually migrating toward cloud-based video surveillance systems because they mitigate the need for bulky on-site hardware, reduce upfront costs and make scaling effortless. These systems allow owners to securely monitor multiple locations from anywhere and include features like automated updates and advanced analytics.

For many years, commercial properties relied solely on the traditional on-premise surveillance setups that required physical Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) or Network Video Recorders (NVRs) that were directly wired to local cameras, storing footage onto physical hard drives that were housed in backrooms or IT closets.

Unfortunately, as organizations scale, manage distributed workforces and face increasingly complex cyberthreats, the limitations of localized hardware have become glaring liabilities. Between local hard drives running out of space, physical equipment being susceptible to damage or theft and the requirements of maintaining a patchwork of traditional systems across various sites creating a nightmare for IT teams, many businesses have found themselves seeking alternative surveillance solutions.

To solve these issues, many modern businesses have opted to implement a cloud based video surveillance system, often referred to as Video Surveillance as a Service (VSaaS). This cloud-based infrastructure shifts video storage, processing and system management away from vulnerable local hardware to secure, off-site data centers.

Financial Predictability and Reduced Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

 The traditional video surveillance models come with an exorbitant upfront capital expenditure (CapEx) that can heavily strain your business's budget.

You need to  invest in:

• Expensive local recording servers
• High-capacity corporate hard drives
• Dedicated network equipment

On top of that, local hardware also comes with hidden long-term operational costs in the form of:

• Routine physical maintenance
• Manual hardware troubleshooting
• Eventual equipment replacement cycles

For a small business or someone just starting out, these costs can really stretch your operational budget. Thankfully, cloud-based video surveillance can help you completely flip this financial dynamic by turning security budgeting into an ongoing operating expense.

It facilitates this by implementing:

• Lower installation fees because you only need to buy the physical IP cameras and the basic internet bridge component.
• Subscription-based predictability where you're only required to pay a transparent monthly or annual subscription fee per camera.
• Outsourced maintenance as the server provider manages all of the backend infrastructure, software patches and firmware updates automatically on the cloud.

By eliminating the substantial upfront costs and implementing a predictable monthly security budget, cloud-based security has made video surveillance more accessible to more businesses.

Unrestricted Scalability and Storage Flexibility

The NVR and DVR systems limit your business's storage capacity to the number of available slots in the physical recording unit. This means that if a retail business opens a new aisle or a warehouse expands its loading dock, adding cameras to those new sections would entail buying entirely new recording servers or upgrading expensive local storage arrays.

Also, if the local compliance laws change and require local businesses to keep their recorded footage for 90 days as opposed to just 30, the existing physical hard drives are normally insufficient.

Cloud-based surveillance makes these limitations a thing of the past because the data is stored in massive, distributed cloud data centers, which makes scaling your security basically instantaneous.

Cloud-based video surveillance enables you to:

• Expand cameras on demand because adding a new camera to the system is as simple as plugging it into the network and authorizing it through the web browser.
• Change retention settings for individual camera feeds with a few clicks.

These features have made scaling both effortless and fast, with no extensive fees or installation processes required.

Decentralized Management and Global Remote Access

In the past, viewing live security footage was a lengthy process that often required a security manager to be present at the monitor station or to navigate a complex, slow and insecure Virtual Private Network (VPN) configuration.

Cloud-based surveillance systems have centralized video management into a unified, secure dashboard that's accessible from anywhere in the world.

Unified dashboards make it possible for security directors to:

• View live feeds
• Manage user permissions
• Review past incidents

These dashboards allow you to view footage from across hundreds of geographically dispersed locations from a single web browser interface or mobile app. Should an incident occur, like a slip-and-fall or a nighttime break-in, you don't have to copy physical files onto a USB. Instead, you can generate a link to instantly share the clear footage directly with law enforcement, insurance or legal representatives.

These cloud-based systems also incorporate various AI tools into their interfaces to include features that enhance your security like:

• Descriptive video search tools
• Object classification and threat mitigation
• Hardware threat detection

These tools ensure that no security threat slips past your notice, allowing you to neutralize them before they can damage your business.

Convenient and Accessible Surveillance Security

Given all of the many practical and unique benefits associated with cloud-based video surveillance, it's no surprise that it's quickly becoming a popular choice for modern businesses. Bypassing the many limitations associated with physical hardware and its costs, cloud-based surveillance has made security more accessible and affordable for businesses. The unified dashboard has also made accessing footage far simpler when incidents occur, mitigating the risk of delays, causing issues to not be addressed timeously.