The IP video management software company has held its latest MIPS (Milestone Integration Platform Symposium), in its home city of Copenhagen, Denmark, from September 14 to 16. About 250 people from 35 countries gathered. Some 25 Milestone Manufacturer Alliance Partners (MAPs) and Milestone Solution Partners (MSPs) exhibited – a record number – with manufacturers Sony and FLIR as Gold Sponsors.
The first day began with a live video stream of Milestone President and CEO Lars Thinggaard speaking from outside the auditorium on the banks of the canal where the Copenhagen Police had stationed one of their riot vans, fitted with a 360-degree roof camera viewable and manageable inside via Milestone software (VMS), also streaming remotely to the command centre at police HQ downtown.
Thinggaard’s keynote speech projected the tipping point for IP technology over analog in the security market to be 2014, which has already been achieved in the high-end market in Europe and the Middle East (EMEA) and the United States. He said: “Milestone will be one of the consolidators. We invest 16 to 22 per cent of revenue in R&D and our product portfolio is being strategically expanded to compete and grow in all market segments. The Milestone Partner Programs ensure a structured way of going to market that is both a manageable and sustainable model.”
‘Meet the Management’ sessions were one-on-one talks with Milestone, and a “Speak Your Mind” booth was set up to video record other feedback. Speakers included Jorgen Forsberg from Intel Corporation talking about the future direction of PC/server hardware in IP video applications.
Simon Harris from IMS Research gave highlights of their latest world market report for the surveillance sector, and Alper Cetingok from Morgan Keegan spoke on the defence and security market as seen from a financial banker’s perspective. A case study was by the partner Lexel Systems Limited: 1000 cameras in 98 KFC retail restaurants across New Zealand where the CCTV has given more than security – the bottom five locations have moved to the top ten in business performance thanks to operational improvements.
At the Gala Dinner on Thursday night, awards went to:
MAP of the year: SONY – vendor-to-vendor collaboration; edge storage camera technology delivered with Milestone XProtect video management software
Distributor of the year: Anixter.
System Integrator of the year: Niscayah.
MSP of the year: TechnoAware – for technology offering automatic and real-time video flows analysis.
Rising star: Arecont Vision – the US megapixel product company.
On the final day, Eric Fullerton, Milestone Chief Sales & Marketing Officer, opened with his talk on ‘The Shape of IP Today and Tomorrow’, expounding on concepts described in his newest white paper: ‘Megatrends in Video Surveillance ’. He said: “The value of the partner channel is the dark horse in the race for IP to win over analogue in market share: the tipping point is when IP’s influence turns the current of the tide to inevitability – when the floodgates break down and traditional security partners can no longer make their living with analogue and they can see its end-of-life. Increased processing power will combine with new expectations of usability from the next generation of operators: the multi-tasking youth of today will demand it.”
