In a move that is unsettling some VMS manufacturers, Axis is giving ~$2,500 in their own ACS VMS licenses for attending a 2 day class.
Axis Camera Station has always had a difficult existence. A VMS offering from the biggest IP camera manufacturer who encourages and broadly works with many 3rd party VMS developers.
Over the years, Axis Camera Station has slowly improved, but clearly has been held back to reduce conflict with their VMS partners. For example, even though all Axis cameras support ONVIF, Axis Camera Station does not. Furthermore, the pricing has remained ~$100 per channel while open VMS platforms dropped their entry level pricing to the $50 - $75 range.
However, giving away that many licenses (28) undermines their VMS partners plus seeds the market for integrators to use more of ACS.
It's a good deal for integrators, though. Their 2 day Network Video Fundamentals course costs ~$600 and for that you get a high end ~$900 Axis Q1604 and ~$2,500 in ACC VMS licenses. In the past, we only recall them providing a camera or other hardware.
What do you think? Integrators? Manufacturers?
Note: This was first discussed / raised in True Open Platform VMS Alternatives To Milestone