Clearing Up Misconceptions of Cloud-Based Security Installations

Security systems integrators should get a better grasp of the fallacies often conveyed about cloud-based security systems and services.

During the past few years, cloud-based applications have become the norm. Knowingly or unknowingly, a lot of the applications and services we already use in our everyday lives are hosted and running from large-scale public datacenters. However, when it comes to the security industry, there is a slower adoption curve for cloud-based services such as video surveillance as a service (VSaaS), access control as a service (ACaaS) or others hosted solutions.

The security industry is traditionally more conservative and cautious in adopting emerging technologies, especially those that might appear at first glance to put an organization’s information at risk. Understandably, security is a sensitive matter and companies want to ensure their systems are not susceptible to any vulnerabilities or failures. Yet this idea that the cloud is unsafe is a very common misconception, and hesitancy about the cloud often stems from other similar misguided beliefs.

The reality is the cloud is here to stay. The question to ask is not merely whether or not cloud-based applications for physical security will be adopted by businesses, but instead, when? Much like the days when IP-based security technology was first introduced to an analog-compliant industry, the cloud is a budding trend that is already being implemented by early adopters and forward-thinking organizations that recognize the value of cloud computing from an economic, flexibility and scalability standpoint. It is only a matter of time before the rest of the industry will follow their lead, and cloud-based services will permeate small- and medium-sized business, enterprises and government organizations alike.

What does this mean to the security systems integrator who has predominantly focused on selling security systems that run off on-premises physical servers or appliances? Substantial opportunity. Getting into the cloud now offers an integrator the ability to not only differentiate their business and develop a credible reputation for a cloud technology before demand peaks, but also provides a more stable and continuous monthly revenue stream that has the potential to surpass one-off sales over a longer period of time.

RELATED: How Security Integrators Can Get Ahead in the Cloud

Opportunities to sell cloud-based services are everywhere. However, in order to be successful in capitalizing on this inevitable shift, integrators should get a better grasp of the fallacies often conveyed about cloud-based security systems and services. They will also then need to learn to recognize the opportunities that make cloud services a viable strategy for business expansion.

5 Misconceptions of Cloud-Based Security Installations

Every time new technologies emerge, speculations and opinions about associated impending risks and rewards circulate discussion platforms, offices and show floors. While everybody is busy weighing in on the matter, it is only normal for misconceptions to be formed along the way. Here are the top five fallacies facing the security industry about the cloud and reasons why there are far more opportunities than risks.

1. It’s All Cloud or No Cloud

Having an entire security system running in the cloud is not the only option when considering cloud-based solutions. Customers with on-site servers who are looking to scale their system while minimizing costs, can investigate hybrid cloud applications. For instance, customers with multiple locations can use physical servers at larger sites and then implement cloud-based solutions at the smaller locations where space and costs of additional hardware might pose issues. All video and data from each system can be brought back to a central location, allowing all systems to be monitored and managed as one.

At larger enterprise or government installations, hybrid storage solutions can also be deployed, where cloud-based solutions function in tandem with traditional server-based installations. Generally, the hybrid cloud model offers greater scalability or the adoption of specific uses for each storage solution such as having long-term archives in the cloud, and more recent archives stored on local servers. Leveraging the benefits of public datacenters to expand the capabilities of existing on-premise servers offers organizations the flexibility to gradually expand at their own pace, thus becoming a simple and cost-effective transition to the cloud.

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