Christian Morin of VSaaS thinks cloud-based technology is allowing retailers and small franchises to deploy cost-effectively enterprise-grade security.
For retailers big and small, preventing loss is a vital strategy to daily operations and business continuity.
Although surveillance is a necessity in almost any retail environment such as a giant department store, a food service franchise, or an independent boutique, it is especially common to find small business owners hanging on to older proprietary DVRs and analogue cameras.
But greater democracy, in terms of access and affordability to cutting-edge video surveillance technology, is now being spread through the retail industry thanks to advancements in cloud computing. Coupled with the availability of faster and more affordable internet connectivity and a noticeable expansion of state-of-the-art global datacenters, cloud-based video-surveillance-as-a-service (VSaaS) is becoming a more viable and cost-effective solution for smaller retail businesses looking to upgrade their security technology.
Cloud-based VSaaS is essentially lowering the barriers of purchasing an IP system by reducing the upfront costs and complexity for the budget-sensitive, less tech-savvy retail customer.
Understanding the reality of small retailers
The giants of retail not only recognise the value in upgrading their loss prevention technology; they also typically have the budgets and IT resources to make a comfortable move to modern IP security solutions.
For small business owners, this might not always be the case. Even though an independent store or restaurant may struggle with the unreliability of older hardware, poor video quality, and limited capabilities, justifying costs and considering technical abilities could dissuade even the most forward-thinking decision maker.
After all, when their focus is on their core business or the services or products they are selling, they do not necessarily have the time or IT expertise available to manage and maintain an enterprise-calibre IP video surveillance system.
But they would still greatly benefit from the innate flexibility, superior video quality, and time-saving capabilities of a more modern system. Their smaller installation often requires less than 10 cameras, and mostly the owners or managers need only a simple, accessible interface to review video in case of incidents, or pull up cameras from home or elsewhere to make sure operations are running smoothly.
Cloud-vased VSaaS benefits driving the change
More independent shops, boutiques, and franchises are being enticed to upgrade their security solutions to IP video surveillance in the cloud. Here are a few of the key advantages of cloud-based VSaaS that are driving greater adoption:
- Lower up-front costs: The fact that video recordings are securely hosted in the cloud, and no servers or hardware components are required on site is a huge initial saving. Small retailers can also select their own budget-compliant cameras when considering an open architecture cloud solution, or even preserve analogue devices by simply adding IP encoders. Finally, turnkey packages offered by integrators at an affordable fixed monthly rate also help end users spread upgrade costs over time.
- High-quality video from anywhere, anytime: Moving to a more modern IP-based video surveillance solution allows smaller retailers to choose from the latest HD cameras. These cameras can provide drastically-improved video quality compared to their analogue system. And since all that is required to access video is internet connectivity, cloud-based video systems offer business owners and retail managers the freedom to access critical video and data from any device, in any location around the world.
- Ease of use means no IT resources required: Some of the most effective cloud-based video platforms offer very simple, yet powerful functionality. The objective is to provide only the necessary capabilities so the user can get the information they need fast. Simple login, bookmarking, video playback, scrollbars, time stamps, search functions, and easy export are amongst the features that assist small retailers in their day-to-day activities. And since minimal maintenance is provided by the integrator or vendor, retailers get a hassle-free installation with all the right tools.
VSaaS solutions have come of age and are on track to help small retailers and franchisees achieve greater cost efficiency, while benefiting from the latest IP security technology. Exploring the benefits of a simple, cloud-based video monitoring solution can help smaller stores and restaurants strengthen loss prevention with minimal upfront investment.