Remote possibilities: Why CCTV’s Future is up in the Cloud

James Wickes is speaking about CCTV in the cloud at IFSEC International, which takes place at London ExCel between 17-19 June. Register here to attend.

Think back a few years to when cloud computing first hit the headlines and you’ll remember two areas of focus: how it all worked and whether the cloud was safe enough to be a platform for business-critical applications.

Fast forward to the present day, however, and you’ll find far less emphasis on the technological nuts and bolts, fewer worries over security and a burgeoning interest in exploiting what the cloud has to offer.

One reason for this change is our growing familiarity with technology that increasingly touches every area of IT. Not only can you now buy, sell and collaborate via the cloud, it can also be used to do the accounts, analyse big data, manage the corporate network and even filter malware and manage security.

You name it; chances are, you can find a cloud-based way of doing it. And the trend is only accelerated by the ready availability of mobile internet services and our thirst to use smartphones and tablets for just about everything, from staying in touch and collaborating to making major financial transactions on the go.

Cloud computing is undoubtedly here and here to stay, enabling us to work more flexibly and get more done – anywhere, anytime, using whatever device comes to hand. Users and the companies they work for no longer care so much about how it works.

We see its rewards outweighing the drawbacks and now, video surveillance is one of the latest applications to reap the potential benefits of a cloud makeover.

Advantages

So, ignoring the technological nuts and bolts, let’s briefly examine the potential advantages of putting video surveillance in the cloud.

One of the first has to be the ability to make video surveillance both more accessible and affordable, mostly by removing the need for a complex and often expensive local storage and monitoring infrastructure.

Local recording is still possible for those that want it – but why not host the required infrastructure in the cloud and deliver access as a service? Then the customer only needs cameras and connectivity.

The cloud also makes it a lot easier to include remote and otherwise inaccessible locations in the CCTV mix, especially given the ready availability of WiFi and mobile internet connectivity options. Cameras can be deployed in the most vulnerable areas where fixed line communications simply aren’t available.

And then there’s the little matter of managing and monitoring, a task that traditionally involved banks of displays in dedicated control rooms, plus complex VPN technology to protect links to remote sites.

Move CCTV into the cloud and all you need is a desktop or laptop PC with a browser and internet access. You can even use a smartphone or tablet to see what’s going on.

Moreover, security can be delivered using the same tried and tested encryption technologies used to routinely protect other internet services.

Migrating CCTV into the cloud makes sense for many and addresses numerous shortcomings associated with analogue and digital IP systems – all the more so because it needn’t be an ‘all-or-nothing’ solution.

There’s no reason why cloud-based CCTV can’t be deployed alongside – and integrated with – existing on-premise surveillance technologies to enhance and extend the reach of those systems.

It makes sense and – as with so many other applications – putting CCTV in the cloud is something we’re all going to get used to.

Read IFSEC Global.com’s interview with James Wickes about CloudView, his cloud storage solution for CCTV