Razberi Company Launched
In August, we broke news that GVI Security was shutting down, raising significant questions as to what would happen to their Razberi IP surveillance line. Now, a new company, appropriately named Razberi Technologies has just been launched. In this note, we examine the background of the company, its focus and a major new product introduction - the Razberi MP series.
Company Management and Investors
Razberi purchased software and hardware IP from GVI Security. However, unlike GVI who was both a distributor and product developer, Razberi Networks will only be a product company and will not distribtute any third parties products. Razberi is lead by former GVI managers inlcuding Tom Galvin, the company's President and owner of the original Razberi technology sold to GVI in 2009.
The company's lead investor is Dynacolor [link no longer available], a well known Taiwanese surveillance manufacturer with a strong reputation for OEMing to global companies. Dynacolor will remain an OEM provider and has no plans to introduce the Dynacolor brand in the Americas.
Existing Products
Razberi will continue to offer the range of IP cameras originally sold by GVI. However, the original 16 channel Razberi with an 8 channel embedded PoE switch is being discontinued. The company said that they will still provide technical support and options / incentives for upgrading to the new Razberi product.
New Products
The first new product series is the Razberi MP recorders. Unlike the first generation, both products in this line have PoE switch ports for every IP camera supported. Specifically, Razberi is offering a 4 port mini NVR [link no longer available] and a 16 channel 'full' NVR [link no longer available]. The 16 channel version has 16 PoE ports, 4 of which also support HPoE for PTZ cameras. It also has a built in SFP fiber interface. Like the original version, the units have no software licensing fees and a 3 year warranty. Pricing for the series is not yet determined.
Analysis of the MP Line
The key attraction of the Razberi MP line is the simplicity of having an all-in-one appliance that should work just like a DVR - no need to buy separate switches, power supplies, PCs, etc. and no need to install software. This can reduce overall installation cost and risk while making it easier for less skilled technicians to setup systems.
We found two common complaints for the first generation Razberi - the lack of a port for each camera input and the pricing. The first one is rectified as now each camera input has a dedicated PoE port. For instance, the first generation Razberi had an MSRP of $4,800. This was not particularly cheap given how far VMS licensing costs have come down recently and the need to purchase an additional PoE switch if you were deploying more than 8 IP cameras. It will be interesting to see what the pricing of the new MP series is. With an attractive price, we think the Razberi MP has potential as it meets a clear need in the market with few options.
UPDATE Jan 18, 2012: Pricing and full analyis of the MP series posted.