We listened to our customers:
Many of our customers knew that we had deployed over 10PB in
Surveillance storage over the last couple of years, and they asked if we could integrate
the SimplStor storage platform with IP cameras, POE switches, Wireless Mesh
where needed and Video Management Software for surveillance and security. For them, going to different vendors for each
of these components had proven to be difficult and time-consuming. They wanted a package.
We first heard this from customers in Australia and New
Zealand, then the UK and USA. Our customers required reliability and
scalability in an affordable package with an easy to manage interface. Further, they indicated that it would be
really great if we could preconfigure the hardware and software so they could
unwrap and install without sending their high priced engineering teams into the
field.
A few customers said it couldn’t be done:
Some of our customers told us that based on their
experience, building a true unwrap and install integrated solution would be too
hard, and that no one was offering a one stop solution for the enterprise
because there was so much variability in the requirements across locations and
business types. We took up the
challenge.
SimplStor EVS is Born
To provide our customers an integrated surveillance and
storage solution our engineering team worked with our customers’ to define
specifications, and developed a set of building block assemblies and solutions.
We knew our surveillance storage customers were using a lot
more storage once they deployed IP cameras. Several customers told us that
their average HD IP cameras were requiring storage of about 1TB a month each,
and some of our customers have over 150 IP cameras in a single
installation. Our solutions also needed
to offer the storage scalability that our customers needed to handle retention
periods for the surveillance images that could vary from 90 days to over 27
months depending on regulatory compliance, legal risk assessments, and business
insurance guidelines. The good news is that, by design, SimplStor is
Extensible—easily and economically expanded when growth is needed. That was our
base. Then we researched cameras and software. Customers kept referring us to
Axis Communications, and we discovered why. Management is so easy and the
product and image quality and features are amazing! We start with a base
storage system, a POE switch and as little as 4 or as many as 14 cameras. Each
includes at least 90 days of storage and every package is an integrated, unwrap
and install solution, extensible to hundreds of cameras and a petabyte or more
of storage over time.
Working with our customers we came up with a one stop,
integrated solution that provides clear savings in hardware costs, integration
fees and deployment time. We are taking orders now, and can ship any of our
preconfigured units within 3 weeks after receipt of order, with custom
solutions taking just a bit longer.
