Smartvue VSaaS / Cloud Video Profile

By: John Honovich, Published on Feb 01, 2018

Smartvue, a US company, has raised over $20 million to develop 'The IoT Video Network' but what does that mean and what does Smartvue offer compared to competitors like Eagle Eye and Genetec?

In this note, we profile Smartvue, based on a conversation with Smartvue's CEO.

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Comments (6)

John Bazyk

Command Corporation
IPVMU Certified | 02/01/18 09:38pm

I’ve been watching Smartvue closely for a few years. I signed up as an integrator for them a few years ago before their latest cloud offering. Their VMS isn’t bad. My big complaint back then was viewing high res video wasn’t great. The service was slow. I tested it again with their new platform and it was much better. I don’t believe they offer a thick client. This is both good and bad. I think they do a good job doing what they have set out to accomplish.

End of the day. Their sales channel is a little confusing that’s one of the biggest reasons we never really did anything with them.

Martin Renkis

Smartvue at Johnson Controls
In reply to John Bazyk | 02/08/18 08:56pm

Disclosing that I am from Smartvue. Thanks for the comments here on IPVM.

We have been working on our cloud/VMS for almost 20 years and today offer a very unique and high margin platform of services and hardware for resellers. We break our business down into two main categories, 1) selling OEM/white label to large resellers such as BestBuy, Cox Communications, and Time Warner Cable/Spectrum and 2) selling to resellers for commercial surveillance. This has been confusing for a number of people for many years, so just this year we have launched a new program to make it simpler to work with us. Feel free to contact our VP David Wise to learn more.

We run all our business through resellers outside of a few rare end users that install systems using their own teams or purchased from us years ago.

We do not have a thick client. I understand how it might be of benefit, but our engineering philosophy has been to run native in browsers since I started the company.

Undisclosed Manufacturer #1

02/01/18 11:13pm

I too have been closely following SmartVue. Being first to market with a hybrid storage solution and cloud management, I was supportive of the concept.

Focus seems to be a challenge for this company. An unclear sales channel being the primary problem. Additionally they appear to have had rampant employee turnover and an ever-changing hardware offering. Add to that, the strange partnerships with gaming platforms and drones. I imagine a roadmap presentation would cause dizziness.

Selling direct to end users is the ultimate dagger for integrators. I suspect SmartVue will find future success focusing primarily on the strategic partner side of their business.

Martin Renkis

Smartvue at Johnson Controls
In reply to Undisclosed Manufacturer #1 | 02/08/18 09:04pm

Disclosing that I am from Smartvue. I appreciate the comments and recognizing that we were the first to market with cloud hybrid solutions.

You are correct that we have had focus challenges in the past. My vision has always been the same, to "make the world a safer place with amazing surveillance technologies that are elegantly simple," but how we went about that changed as we expanded into IoT which I personally believe is the future of our business (video sensors everywhere). That caused a major change in our company in terms of revenue and resources, so there were some major layoffs that were painful. Today we are profitable and focused on our two markets strategic and commercial, using the same exact platform.

I understand the dangers of selling direct and we have all seen the blow back to other manufacturers in the past. We had just a handful of direct sales years ago and just a few today to a few larger customers that have internal installation and management teams. Outside of that, I believe you will find us to be "reseller protective."

Undisclosed #2

02/02/18 12:38am

Also have been following this company for years... never show up on the radar. I believe they have a strategic partnership with HP (similar to ipConfigure), but not sure it has brought either company much. EalgeEye has done a better job of reaching resellers and brand recognition.

Martin Renkis

Smartvue at Johnson Controls
02/08/18 09:18pm

Disclosing that I am from Smartvue. I agree that Eagle Eye has done a better job reaching resellers and kudos to Dean for those efforts, being in our industry only a few years.

We have taken a different path that I believe will take us to our goal and reach scale much more effectively.

Do you remember the Avis commercials, "We Try Harder?" Because we are under the radar, we do try harder and you may find our solutions and 16 years of experience make us a better partner.

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