Security integrators report that business has become more competitive in the last 3 years, driven by low end new entrants, price pressure and squeezing of independents. Over 120 integrators responded to questions about the level of competition as...
By Brian Rhodes - almost 7 years ago
Avigilon's products are strong but their marketing is consistently and utterly irresponsible - one dirty trick after another. While their rapid growth to become a top-tier manufacturer is admirable, their marketing is repugnant. This has been goi...
By John Honovich - about 7 years ago
A quarter million dollar donation of video surveillance systems will be made this year, by a single manufacturer, says Video Insight. That's quite an offer, much higher than anything we have ever seen. But is there a catch? Is this just a stunt? I...
By John Honovich - about 7 years ago
Gone. The self proclaimed [link no longer available] "principal designer of Avigilon’s global expansion and industry ownership" is out and looking for a new job [link no longer available]. Can Avigilon survive? Is this the error that crashes thei...
By John Honovich - about 7 years ago
Over 50 manufacturers answered IPVM's survey today, following Avigilon's revenue doubling announcement. Inside this note, we break down the key claims and color commentary offered about Avigilon, including quite a number of insights into why they ...
By John Honovich - about 7 years ago
Oh Genetec... The company is so lost in the clouds, they must not see the comedy in their latest press release. The VSaaS market is tough, no doubt, with incumbents around the world struggling to make it a reality. Even mega manufacturer Axis is...
By John Honovich - about 7 years ago
Stop emailing me about this company. All of you. Seriously. In a brilliant marketing campaign, an unknown person/company sent a Linked email message to nearly 10,000 security professionals today, opening with: "One year ago someone asked me a ...
By John Honovich - over 7 years ago
ASIS is done. Below is a 38 minute video tour of the entire show floor. You can jump around to see the sights and sounds. Some booth walk bys occur at: Pelco 1:30 OnSSI 3:00, Genetec 3:30 Milestone 4:48 ACTi 6:00 Panasonic 7:30 Avigilon 9...
By IPVM Team - over 7 years ago
Recruiters, aka 'headhunters', are commonly used by companies to find new employees. Though the security industry uses recruiters similarly to many other industries, because it is a niche, a relatively small number of specialist recruiters focus i...
By IPVM Team - over 7 years ago
Crappy CCTV stores ruin searches for common surveillance terms, making it comically hard to find real information. Google is, unfortunately, deeply gamed. Online stores spend a lot of time and effort ensuring that. Even worse, users go to the stor...
By John Honovich - over 7 years ago
An Avigilon executive has confirmed that an Avigilon employee has illicitly obtained copyrighted IPVM information, advertised the illicit redistribution of that information and used it in a promotion for Avigilon. Here is the message / advertisem...
By John Honovich - over 7 years ago
BRS Labs is one of the most ambitious companies in the surveillance market. While the company has aggressively touted its achievements, IPVM's review of BRS Labs financial documents demonstrates that actual performance lags that significantly. How...
By Ben Wood - over 7 years ago
Both megapixel and video analytic manufacturers routinely mis-market their products, vastly overstating their capabilities. One market, analytics, has suffered greatly while the other one, megapixel, has thrived and, perhaps even, gained from the ...
By John Honovich - over 7 years ago
The last few weeks have been an embarrassment for surveillance, with a small number of companies turning this into a despicable marketing campaign perpetuating lies and crazy myths about what surveillance did or could do. To be clear, almost all ...
By John Honovich - over 7 years ago
I saw the same ad that most ISC West attendees probably saw at McCarran International Airport. Baggage claim was draped in Avigilon banners with bold letters proclaiming “Analyze, Prevent, Stop.” At the bottom of the banner, it says to “get the f...
By IPVM Team - almost 8 years ago
Great attendance with a limited number of new products marked ISC West 2013. Brian, Carlton, Ethan and myself attended, putting together the following list of highlights for you to review: Bosch Stares Down Axis We Respect Women ... as Sex Obj...
By John Honovich - almost 8 years ago
This year's ISC West witnessed a dramatic increase in tweeting about the show, though overwhelmingly from manufacturers and PR people. To track tweets, one can search Twitter for tweets with the hashtag for the show (#ISCW13). Unfortunately, one c...
By John Honovich - almost 8 years ago
BRS Labs is wasting no time responding to today's Texas Tragedy. Their PR agency is imploring 'security industry journalists' to understand how BRS technology might prevent or lessen this type of attack. And though they admit that their technolog...
By John Honovich - almost 8 years ago
A brilliant marketing move or a bizarre waste of time? One manufacturer is sponsoring the 'Megapixel Man of the Year [link no longer available]' award, causing a small commotion this week. The award's on-line voting allows the community to select ...
By John Honovich - almost 8 years ago
A major tradeshow is coming up and, with that, marketing gimmicks abound. Some are goofy, but others raise serious concerns about creating an offensive and hostile environment. One surveillance manufacturer, Dotworkz, is promoting its event with...
By John Honovich - almost 8 years ago
Anixter declares, "The biggest business driver is that an IP based solution is less expensive than an analog solution." Not only is this factually wrong, it is terrible advice that would hurt both buyers and sellers of IP systems. Alas, this is ce...
By John Honovich - almost 8 years ago
Anixter has been touting 5 Advantages of IP Video Surveillance [link no longer available]. Unfortunately, those benefits center around dubious cabling / networking propositions. In this note, we examine each of the advantages, providing commentary...
By John Honovich - almost 8 years ago
This may be the future of manufacturer marketing. Each day, the once dominant manufacturer marketing machine is further drowned out by the rise of the Internet. PR hacks continue to send out boring press releases, hoping that more than a few frien...
By John Honovich - almost 8 years ago
Desperate, shady PSIM marketing tactics continue. Last month, $50 million of diamonds were stolen from the Brussels airport. Now, a PSIM marketing manager tries to capitalize on that to sell his products. Unfortunately, their case for PSIM is incr...
By John Honovich - almost 8 years ago
A Taiwanese manufacturer, far behind market leaders, captured mass media attention recently with a cunning marketing campaign against megapixels. HTC's new smartphone, the One X+ [link no longer available] led with the promise of "ultrapixels", cl...
By John Honovich - almost 8 years ago
