IPVM Is 10 Years Old
By John Honovich, Published Mar 19, 2018, 09:55am EDTIPVM turns 10 years old today.
10 years ago, IPVM was an experiment. Today, it is the largest and most read publication in our industry.
I wanted to thank our members and contributors, looking back at where we came and ahead to where IPVM is going.
IPVM's Mission
The industry is increasingly dominated by corporate conglomerates and the Chinese government who have the power and means to push their agenda to the detriment of the industry, as a whole, and integrators and buyers generally.
IPVM's mission, grounded in our testing and research, is to be a counter-force to that, providing fundamental technical information and exposing vendor problems.
Thank You To Our Diverse Membership
Core to what we do is our diverse global membership. A critical problem is that media and research organizations are so financially beholden to a small number of manufacturers that they self-censor critical coverage of them. By contrast, IPVM is still the only organization in our industry funded by small payments from thousands and thousands of different organizations, providing us the independence to speak out. A few years back, we generated a map that gives a sense of how diverse IPVM members are:
We literally have members from Kansas to Kenya to Kuala Lumpur to Kazakhstan.
Thank You To Our Contributors And Commenters
Another major thank you goes to the thousands of people who have commented on IPVM. There are ~200,000 comments on IPVM articles and discussions. Not only is the sheer number of comments amazing for this industry, but the insights, debates and opposing viewpoints shared are critical. In an industry where communication is so constrained by corporate forces, having a lively and contrarian forum, especially against IPVM, on IPVM, is very valuable. We thank you all.
Looking Back
2008 was a different era. In an era of free trade magazines, before streaming Netflix, before newspapers charged online, the consensus was that 'information wants to be free'. Now, people are increasingly realizing if you are not the customer, you are the product. Free media favors their advertisers, not their consumers.
Being a bootstrapped company, never taking any funding nor debt whatsoever, building IPVM was challenging, especially since there was no template about how to build such a company or what to offer. Over the years, though, we have figured out many things and have been able to combine tests, statistics, reporting, software, courses, criticism, discussions and more into an extremely useful resource.
Looking Forward
Our mission remains. Our resolve is stronger than ever and I feel we are entering our prime, with our largest and best team.
We will continue to call out problems, expose issues and educate on technology. In terms of where we are investing most of our money, it will be to improve our technology research and development, including:
- VMS testing - We have not done enough. We are going to do more, especially to better evaluate and educate on what various features or differentiations are most meaningful.
- Camera testing - We have done hundreds of camera tests but we still need to do more, especially in terms of providing broader analysis and comparison across cameras to better and more clearly explain which cameras are best in which scenarios.
- Software - Our Camera Calculator has been a great success but we definitely need to do more with that. We can also do more tools, including software to help detect industry-specific cyber security vulnerabilities.
- Salespeople - While lots of our reporting helps salespeople, we do not enough to help them apply our technology research to help them fairly and appropriately win deals.
- Installers - We simply do not do enough for installers. Our reporting is more focused on product selection and business issues and we can definitely do better helping installers do their jobs and managers train their installers.
Thank You
Thank you again!
Ideas on how to improve or what you want to see on IPVM, please share in the comments or email us at info@ipvm.com
Comments (53)
John, congratulations on your tenth anniversary. Keep up the good work, your independence is your greatest asset after your employees.
Cheers to you and the crew.
Lou Marrero
Congratulations to you, John, and all at IPVM. 10 Years is truly a milestone. IPVM has proven to be a unique and important asset to our business, and our industry.
Bravo!
Brent Valeski
I'm sorry, who are you and how did you get my email?
......... :)
IPVideoMarket.info and the LinkedIn pages were instrumental in navigating the early days of transitioning to IP cameras and VMS systems that were taking it seriously. I had no problem when it was announced the forums were moving to a paid site as the information and service had proved invaluable.
IPVM should really be the subject matter of major IT and business publications as one of the rare contradictions of an online periodical succeeding as a solely consumer paid product when so many other publications have moved to free access via ad supported models.
one of the rare contradictions of an online periodical succeeding as a solely consumer paid product when so many other publications have moved to free access via ad supported models.
Is it really that rare? My perception is that it has become more common, even things like Patreon as an example.
At least, in our industry, look at where the trade magazines were even 5 years ago vs today. No growth in publication, if not actual declining coverage / editorial, while we publish and release far more now. I think that has to do with the sheer limitation of advertising spend and the related trading analog dollars into digital pennies.
My perception was contributions to content providers through Patreon was mostly voluntary, kind of like Public Broadcasting having their revenue drives. Most of the content from content producers using Patreon still produce far more freely accessible content with just some bonus features for Patreon donators.
IPVM has occasional free articles, but most of the content is via the paid subscription. And IPVM is the direct recipient of those funds, not by using a 3rd party service like Patreon.
Most Repeated Discussions Started over the Last 10 Years
1. Help! - Can’t connect to my cameras
2. Who makes this camera?
3. Should I buy Milestone or Genetec?
4. How do I put a maglock on a frameless glass door?
5. Help!! - I still can’t connect to my cameras!
John,
Congrats for sure, I remember when you recruited me to join 3VR back in late 2006 and then told me you were moving on to do something new and exciting. Never would have thought it would have grew to what IPVM has become today, there is still a healthy appetite for more hard hitting stuff so please keep it coming.
I remember trying to figure out my first IP camera, back in late 2007. Google led me to IPVM, and I've been hooked ever since.
If IPVM didn't exist, this industry would be a much nicer but much dumber place.
Congrats guys! I've enjoyed my time browsing through your site, and learning a lot from it. Just want to say thanks for all of the great information and resources you've provided us. And, as an installer myself, I'm excited by the mention of adding more content regarding that aspect.
Okay, stop acting like a 9 year old ;)
IPVM: Change you can believe in!
I've often claimed that IPVM is the Consumer Reports of IPVS combined with the entertainment value of TMZ.
I stand by both comparisons!
Congratulations to you, John, and the IPVM team!
Being a bootstrapped company, never taking any funding nor debt whatsoever, building IPVM was challenging, especially since there was no template about how to build such a company or what to offer.
Back then maybe, but now...
And thanks to you #1, your humor and badgering make IPVM a much better place!
Just in case you missed this when released years ago, please check out the absolute best parody/fan video ever to hit the physical security industry (it's not a large list)
This is the infamous UD1's work:
I genuflect to your contribution to the TMZ side of IPVM...
Happy Birthday IPVM! Wishing you many more successful years of educating the field. :)
Congratulations John and All IPVM Staff!
Keep up the good work and Quality content!
Congrats John & Team - you guys rock it!!!
Congratulations John! IPVM really is a great resource for our industry.
Congrats IPVM Team and John!
10 years. Wow. I remember when my career started fresh out of college and my first bosses told me to read ipvideomarket.info. I began searching LinkedIn for this infamous John Honovich character who's name ended quite similarly to mine and we connected.
Here we are 10 years later with a much shorter website URL :) , the deepest testing content, and the most sophisticated message forum in the industry bar none.
Bravo to IPVM for years of hard work and dedication. I owe a lot of my industry knowledge to this forum and for that I'm grateful.
Excellent body of work guys... : )
Well deserved congratulations for 10 years! I look forward to the next 10, keep up the great work you provide an amazing resource for us all!
Congrats John,
truly an impressive accomplishment by you and the IPVM Team. The IPVM success is a ringing example of what happens when a business (team) is committed to delivering a consistent, high-value and high-quality product.
Wishing the IPVM Team all the best for the next 10 years!
Congrats. may the next 10 years be as fruitful...
Congratulations, John and team. You're the most valuable resource out there.
Well done! Celebrate the accomplishments.
Congrats John and Happy Birthday IPVM
I was going to post a pic of Heidi Klum popping out of a cake, but considering the stance on "booth babes" I decided not
;)
Congratulations to the whole IPVM team and many more years of success. You do valuable work and it is appreciated
Cheers! Here's to you and your team putting together a successful and informative 10-years. Keep up the good work and we look forward to the next 10-year ride with you.
Hikvision: IPVM Is "Destined To Fail"
Sometimes some people are wrong. This quote was one good example.
IPVM a grand place to be.
Everything you need for CCTV.
Product discussion and industry news.
Cameras tested and all kinds of reviews.
Agree or not helpful or funny.
The cost to join is worth the money.
Congratulations to all at IPVM.
A milestone has been reached.
At the grand age of ten.
(thumbs up)
IPVM Team - well done and thanks. Valuable service. Happy Birthday.
Congratulations John, it has been a very good experiment, I for one love the fact that you are independent and unbiased, some manufacturers may not believe that but I have seen it.
For me, this is a great site full of extremely useful information and honest reports.
So thank you for the past 10 years and here's to the next 10!
Fraser
As someone who found out about you late in the day, I cannot imagine going back to not having your informative, helpful, thoughtful and insightful posts, and tests, each week. Being an independent consultant can be lonely, but you guys make me feel part of a bigger industry family. I don't need to tell you that you are doing a fantastic job. I can say that I'm glad you are planning on doing it for a number more years with further developments and improvements.
Congratulations on 10 years.
John,
We are lucky to have you. You've attracted some of the best people in the industry to support you as well. After all these years, I still mine through the archive content to find answers, but IPVM has been most helpful in staying current with new trends and technologies.
Here's to another 10!
Congratulations John! Your work has been and continues to be essential for us independent integrators! Keep it up! Alberto
Congratulations on your 10 year anniversary!
You have provided me with lots of valuable information, tons of questions and issues to ponder, and certainly many smiles and laughs.
I hope to drop by and out names to faces at ISC West. I look forward to your next 10.
Congrats and Happy 10th birthday IPVM!
Congrats John to you and your team! Even though I don't install alarm systems or sell surveillance as a service, the content has been invaluable since our customers do! :)
Here's to the next 10! Cheers!
I am not sure how I would up here but sure glad I did. It certainly has been helpful and sometimes makes for an interesting lunch.
Congratulation John! It takes a lot of courage to provide fundamental Technical information and expose vendor problems. There is no exaggeration in suggesting that standing tall for 10 years is a giant step forward in the right direction. Indeed IPVM is a resourceful platform for sharing and digesting Electronic Security .
All the best colleagues.
Congrats IPVM and John!!! A little nostalgic as I remember sending in Starvedia in for testing!
Congratulations IVPM. Quite an accomplishment!
You guys are doing great work. Very happy customer because of your candidness and objectivity.
