In its latest report on surveillance technologies, IDC says rapid advancements in network surveillance technology are shifting the emphasis away from guns, guards, gates, and dogs and placing it on “more sophisticated, scalable security solutions,” which the research firm predicts will see surveillance/monitoring camera shipments grow from 9.3 million in 2007 to 26.5 million in 2013.

According to IDC’s, Chris Chute, however, while some sectors – education, gaming, public safety, retail, and transportation – have been eager to adopt network surveillance solutions, others have been more reluctant to integrate security functionality into their network infrastructure.

“However, advances in camera and access technologies, as well as reduced hardware price points, are converging to create a perfect surveillance storm,” observes Chute.

Chute says market changes are causing a major shift in the way organisations protect their business assets," and, he says that moving forward, security administrators will “rely less on human observation to address their most critical security demands.”

For vendors, Chute says, as a consequence of the changes in the market, “the opportunity is tremendous for those who understand how to position themselves in this evolving space."

“In addition to protecting sensitive resources and property, companies are beginning to recognise how surveillance data can be used to improve/streamline a growing number of business processes,” Chute says, adding that “retail, transportation, and gaming verticals are successfully implementing network surveillance as a business enablement tool.”
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“The retail industry has utilised video analytics to track customer flows through stores and used that information to adjust merchandise placement. The transportation industry can respond to traffic incidents in a more timely fashion, using the data to make fact-based decisions on future infrastructure initiatives.”

According to Chute, beyond the critical security that surveillance offers the gaming industry, he says it also provides important business information about the games' popularity and ultimately its placement on the casino floor.

Additional findings from IDC’s study include:

•    Captured and archived network surveillance content are expected to grow by 51.7% and 50.1% respectively in the next five years
•    Worldwide network surveillance camera shipments are expected to increase by an average of 45.0% yearly from 2009 to 2013
•    Network camera shipments will surpass those of analogue cameras in 2012
•    The growth of deployed cameras and content will drive the physical security information management software market to over $5.3 billion in 2013