Analytics Bashing Goes Mainstream

Published Mar 11, 2010 00:00 AM
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Industry insiders know that video analytics suffers a bad reputation. However, the backlash continues to grow with trade magazines attacking analytics directly. Two examples are provided from Security Magazine and Security Management magazine (print only).

Here are a few choice quotes:

  • "Security video analytics has that infamous biometrics baggage blues: a combination of overhyped marketing messages, blended with always remembered failures"
  • "The current video analytics solutions continue to suffer from the unrealistic expectations set in the early stages of the market. "
  • "In the real world, assumptions that the technology reduces manpower, increases officer effectiveness or decreases the need of more cameras or other types of electronic security systems are, well, not necessarily so."

In the Security Management article, one especially interesting point was that analytic providers are re-positioning how they sell analytics and are becoming more careful about the expectations they set. We have heard this as well from vendors, including vendors becoming more focused on providing on-site technical support to optimize deployments. While this will not help the analytics market scale (too labor intensive), it should help make today's systems perform better as technological advances occur behind the scenes over the next few years.

As we suggested in our February 2010 critique of ObjectVideo, we think the best way out of analytic's market issues is to (A) prove conclusively real world success and (B) show details of how to make video analytics work (including the technical/operational steps required to optimize).