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Cost of IP Surveillance

Thanks to the heads up at Security Products, a study has been released by Axis Communications that compares the cost of a traditional analog surveillance system to that of an IP video surveillance system:

Total cost comparison study of analog and IP-based video surveillance

This study was conducted in the Spring of 2010 by the research group Lusax. Some highlights include:

There’s a perceived higher cost of IP cameras versus analog
Cameras are only one part of a video surveillance solution, and the total cost of a complete system is dependent on a number of factors.
Recording is the most significant cost category in the analog alternatives
Savings derive from off-the-shelf IT and server recording equipment
Scalability and flexibility are mentioned as two main arguments favoring IP-based surveillance systems.
Superior image quality accelerates the shift from analog to IP

Further, Security Products quotes Bodil Sonesson Gallon, vice president of global sales at Axis as saying:

“The market for IP security products has developed rapidly and is much more mature than only a few years ago,” he said. “The cost differences are becoming insignificant and focus can shift to the real advantages that come with the superior functionality of IP solutions, such as image quality and flexibility, the factors that really drive return on investment.”

Nathan Miloszewski

Nate is VoIP Supply's former Content Marketing Manager.

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View Comments

A M Morawala says:

March 10, 2011 at 8:56 AM

Hello, we recommend security solutions to our hotels, being from Corporate IT Infrastructure Group. I have a tough time facing the managements trying to upsell IP based surveillance systems. I read the Axis article on TCO comparison. It is not very hard hitting, we have from 50 to 300 cameras depending on the size of the hotel. We have many vendors who install analog systems at low costs, the TCO is lower than IP. The main cost is the VMS software, which is expensive, and based on the number of cameras, secondly the servers/storage systems. We will not use PCs but servers for VMS application. Do we have any study showing the TCO, not as just costs but in terms of maintenance, scalability etc? I have many projects in hand where such figures can tilt the scales in IP's favor.
Thanks.
Nathan Miloszewski says:

March 10, 2011 at 10:58 AM

At this time I don't have the type of in-depth study that you're looking for.

I can point you to this site with a lot of really good resources:

https://ipvm.com/

That site does have a members section which may give you access to the kind of reports you're looking for. But, there are many free articles that might help like these:

http://ipvideomarket.info/report/should_i_use_ip_cameras__reviewing_ip_camera_advantages

http://ipvideomarket.info/report/how_to_migrate_from_analog_to_ip_cameras