Security Dreamer

Out with PSIM, in with IM - so says NICE

I feel like a proud Papa.  NICE acquired Orsus, one of the hot new players in the PSIM (physical security information management) space.  Why do I feel so happy?  Because a major vendor in the security business demonstrates a savvy far beyond its competitors - the savvy that I've been talking about since I first introduced PSIM on this blog back in 2006.  PSIM is simply the physical security version of the larger, more important business issue: IM - Information Management.  By acquiring Orsus and creating a new strategy around its entire portfolio, Nice is the first major security vendor to become a full fledged Information Management vendor. 

Nice is now a business solutions provider, while its competitors remain security solutions providers.

So what?  The implications are huge.  Now, discussions that begin with security, segue easily into discussions about business information - business intelligence.  After all, the stuff of security (video streams, alarms, intrusion events, etc) are all simply data.  When that data is organized, analyzed and correlated with other data, it becomes information - information, which may be used to inform business decisions.

The PSIM vendors (Orsus, Proximex, VidSys, CNL, Vialogy and others) have done a great job making this point and educating us on the business value of security data.  Nice now can put this intelligence engine at the center of its portfolio and turn every security conversation into one that deeply concerns the senior executives.  Nevertheless, the independent PSIM vendors I just mentioned will also benefit from the Nice move.  They will become acquisition targets of Nice's fast-follower competitors, and they will enjoy the greater buzz and legitimacy Nice's investment causes around PSIM.

The deep pockets and global reach of Nice are the differentiators, though.  Nice can afford to bid on and support Information Management projects worldwide, while the smaller, independent PSIM software companies rely on a variety of partners to get implemented.

Nice is doing the right thing, but it won't be a cake walk.  The company still has to execute on this transformation and train its sales channel and its customers that security is not the point. This will be tough, since so many people think of security and surveillance when they think of Nice. 

I have faith in Nice, though.  Any company visionary enough to build a portfolio of business intelligence solutions within the security milieu is clever enough to reinvent itself from a marketing view, too.

Identity theft is easy and fun!

I enjoyed watching this from @gcluley.  It shows how easily personally identifiable information can be gathered by anyone who tries.  The lesson we learn goes hand in hand with the load of great stuff I got out of a Chicago bank dumpster.

Get the flu? Don't bother with a doctor. Call the help desk.

Jon Brodkin writes on NetworkWorld.com, "Kurzweil has written extensively about laws of accelerating returns related to IT, and predicts that humans will eventually be able to overcome age and disease by combining artificial systems with our mortal bodies"

Personally, I like the idea of merging IT and human physiology. Technologically optimized organs and muscles. Of course it may mean bigger problems.  For example, if I outsource all memories of my children to Microsoft, I may want to have my own backup at home. 

Video: How I Evaluated Three Video Analytics Management Platforms

I performed an independent, no-money-changed-hands evaluation of three products advertising video surveillance management plus video analytics management.  Here is a short video explaining my process and what I learned from my experience with Milestone XProtect, Aimetis Symphony, and Verint Nextiva.

All three products performed admirably, but there was one standout.  A few vendors chickened out, er, I mean, decided it was not of interest to them to participate.  :)  So kudos to Milestone, Aimetis and Verint for being proud of their products - as they should be.

DreamerGear Evaluation of Aimetis

DreamerGear Evaluation of Milestone

DreamerGear Evaluation of Verint

DreamerGear Review of Aimetis' Video Management plus Video Analytics

Aimetis Symphony Enterprise Edition 6.2

What We Loved: Complete, unified video and analytics management

What We Didn't:  Limited to Windows platforms

Price:  Starts at $13,600

Overall Score:  4.4 out of possible 5

 

Overview

Aimetis Symphony Enterprise Edition is a very satisfying product, mainly because it does everything you hope it will, easily and affordably.  I mean, if you’ve gone to the trouble to set up a surveillance environment using video analytics, you’d probably want a single, easy-to-use system: to manage the video received from many cameras; control pan tilt and zoom; select a variety of detections using analytics; manage storage; set up alerts on certain activities and detected behaviors; and create reports about those alerts.  Simply put, you’d want a system that manages surveillance.

 

For the full Review Summary:Download DreamerGear Aimetis Symphony

 

Related Product Reviews

Milestone XProtect Corporate and XProtect Analytics

Verint Nextiva 6.0

Video: How I Evaluated Three Video Analytics Management Platforms

DreamerGear Review of Milestone's Video Management plus Video Analytics

Milestone XProtect Analytics and XProtect Corporate

What We Loved:  Integration & Support for many different cameras

What We Didn't:  Poor reporting and incident management tools

Price:  Starts at $7990 plus purchase of 3rd party analytics

Overall Score:  3.5 out of possible 5

 

Overview

Milestone Systems is the video management company with the fastest growing brand recognition.  I rarely hear an integrator or end user talk about surveillance video management without Milestone being mentioned. The company’s XProtect Analytics is enjoying the same buzz largely because of the effective marketing and press exposure to the system. For me, it was Milestone that put the concept of video management merged with analytics management on the map.  So of course I had high expectations when I evaluated the product.

 

For the full Review Summary:  Download DreamerGear Milestone XProtect

 

Related Product Reviews

Aimetis Symphony Enterprise Edition 6.2

Verint Nextiva 6.0

Video: How I Evaluated Three Video Analytics Management Platforms

DreamerGear Review of Verint's Video Management plus Video Analytics

Verint Nextiva 6.0 Video and Analytics management

What We Loved:  Powerful and professional look and feel

What We Didn’t:  Too many separate products to get full functionality

Price:  Starts at $24,900

Overall Score:  3.5 out of possible 5 

Overview

In general, our entire experience using and testing Verint Nextiva to manage both video and video analytics was positive.  Nextiva has the power and capability to handle video management and analytics deployments from moderate sizes to the very largest.  It is obvious that Verint put a lot of thought into every aspect of the product architecture and design with, among other benefits, a very usable graphical interface and excellent product support.

 

For the full Review Summary: Download DreamerGear Verint Nextiva 

 

Related Product Reviews

Aimetis Symphony Enterprise Edition 6.2

Milestone XProtect Corporate and XProtect Analytics

Video: How I Evaluated Three Video Analytics Management Platforms

 

 

Your software demos stink – here’s how to fix them so you sell more

Have you ever seen a bad software demonstration?  I do all the time.  It is so unfortunate that excellent products with important business value might not be purchased simply because the demo went south.  I recommend all sales people, dealers, integrators, manufacturers, and marketing folks attend this webinar this week led by Peter Cohan.

This Thursday, September 17, Noon Eastern. Online.

“Do The Last Thing First” – that’s the recipe for a great demo! You’ll learn how to put the “Wow!” into your demos and make them effective, crisp, and compelling – to engage and capture audiences within the first six minutes of a demonstration meeting.

Many demonstrations focus on teaching customers “how” to use a software product – product training, in fact – and neglect communicating “what” the software enables the customer to achieve with regards to the customer’s business goals and objectives. This results in bored audiences, uncompelling demos, key people leaving and inconclusive meetings, in the short term, and lost or delayed business overall.

There are two key areas of importance in software demonstrations:

1. Gaining an understanding the customer’s business issues and objectives
2. Crisp, compelling delivery of the content

This webinar addresses both items head-on. We’ll share how to ensure that you have captured the information you need before you create or show your demonstrations. Most importantly, we’ll help you organize the content of your demos to ensure that you address your customer’s key business issues within the first few minutes of a demonstration – and generate a “Wow!” response from your customers that engages and compels their attention throughout the demo.

The results are crisp, highly effective demonstrations that satisfy VP’s and senior management, champions, users and all other players.

Who should attend?

CEO; Heads of Sales, Marketing, and Presales; Sales, Marketing and Pre-sales Staff

The cost is $295.  But don’t pay it.  Instead, become a member of CompTIA for $250 and the webinar fee will be waved – Plus, you’ll enjoy dozens of extra benefits from the #1 trade association for technology companies and service providers.  Sign up for a Site Membership  It’s a great deal and definitely SecurityDreamer approved.

Click here if you are already a CompTIA member and want to register for the webinar for free. 

Hiking the mountain to security enlightenment (video)

Freeform ramblings while hiking to the top of Multnomah Falls in Oregon.

Say that again and I'll kick your SaaS

Software as a service (SaaS) and cloud computing and cloud storage and other “aaSes” are all the rage these days.  The cloud is going to force security pros to revisit policy and value.  We have to make the case of why we have specific policies and why those policies apply to certain data and applications.  Otherwise biz units will throw apps and data up to the cloud willy-nilly to grab the cost savings.

My buddy Kevin Richards at Crowe Horwath said, "Nobody really cares about “securing the cloud” – outside of the security industry anyway.  In that way, it’s the same as security in general.  Security is not the point.  It’s not our job to secure the cloud.  We have data and applications all over the place.  Some are running on this network segment, some on that.  Some are in this data center, some in that one.  Some are outsourced, or off shore, or cloud based like SaaS."