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the cloud

Better budgeting and improved intelligence from cloud physical security

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Scott Gray, Head of Sales at Morphean, looks at how embracing cloud can represent a prudent financial move as well as vastly improving security and operations…

The days of standard CCTV systems are coming to an end, and for good reason. Today’s technological developments mean that modern network cameras can deliver so much more than their one-dimensional forebears which can offer only the most basic security provision. Digital transformation has brought with it the many merits of cloud connectivity, which further opens up a vast array of possibilities for connected devices, offering the highest levels of protection while unlocking many additional benefits for the modern business, based on collected data, analytics and AI.

Yet even when armed with full knowledge about its capabilities, some are reluctant to embrace cloud physical security, preferring instead to rely on dated, legacy methods to protect their premises and assets. This may be because taking the plunge seems too great a risk, and many are perhaps fearful of stepping away from a world they understand into one which seems uncertain. In reality, cloud physical security offers great promise while simultaneously removing many of the headaches related to more traditional setups; chief among them being cost implications and the justification of budgets.

Move from CapEx to OpEX – and secure IT budgets

Recent research shows that 51% of current IT budgets will be channelled towards cloud-based systems’ development and operations by 2025[1]. It is therefore time for those businesses that have not already embraced cloud to change how they think about security. The rapid growth of cloud presents an opportunity to make use of connected, integrated solutions for a wide range of business and security requirements. Demand for more flexible working processes is driving a continual shift towards cloud infrastructure, and as more applications are moved to cloud platforms, so being able to centrally monitor and control every aspect of operations, including security, will become a necessity.

Traditionally, taking the decision to implement a new security system would involve a substantial financial outlay in the form of capital expenditure (CapEx). This places a significant drain on existing budgets, and funding may prove extremely difficult to secure during the ongoing financial crisis. Cloud physical security, however, is built around a monthly billing cycle with no large upfront costs. This allows businesses to make small monthly payments which can be regarded as operational expenditure (OpEx). And those responsible for finance and budget allocation are more likely to approve smaller incremental costs in return for a solution that represents the cutting edge of security.

Employ cutting-edge solutions that represent value-for-money

A move to the cloud will require a shift in mindset for those organisations that are more comfortable with the static costs associated with traditional systems. However, the pay-as-you-go cost model of cloud crucially allows businesses to make use of the latest technology and services as soon as they are available, often through simple software upgrades and remote updates. This removes the need for disruptive onsite maintenance or the overhauling of technology, and the associated cost implications, every time an upgrade is required. With cloud, changes made quickly as business strategies evolve result in a fluid system that adapts and responds to business growth, with security that is constant.

A modern security solution needs to be robust, intelligent and reactive. Adapting business, finance and technical operations to take advantage of cloud’s many benefits will mean that a company’s technology infrastructure becomes much more flexible and responsive as a result. The introduction of new capabilities such as remote monitoring of the security system mean that, via a powerful dashboard, the system can be monitored instantly by mobile device, bringing complete peace of mind to security personnel even when offsite. Those with administration rights can control which members of staff have access to the system, ensuring data protection policies are upheld.

Forecast accurate cloud expenditure with flexible billing

A significant benefit of the cloud billing model is its flexibility, enabling change without up-front cost or commitment. Instead of trying to estimate the use of resources based on what might be required in the year ahead, cloud allows the system to be scaled up or down at any time with businesses only paying for what they use. As activity can be closely tracked, cloud expenditure can be forecast more accurately. Cloud also makes it much simpler to identify business areas where other savings can be made. Intelligence from collected data in real time can be used to report back on staff movements, enabling rules to be set. Automated heating, for example, could be set to activate only in the most frequented areas, driving down running costs thanks to the insights that cloud makes possible.

In the past the installation of a security solution was a task that ended when the system was operational. Now, the deployment of a cloud solution marks the start of an ongoing partnership which is intended to help businesses make the most from their chosen system. Working closely with a provider will enable organisations to ensure that the solution meets their exact requirements. Use of AI and analytics even means that the system will become even more accurate over time as it aggregates and interprets data about the business’ security and operations, ultimately improving ROI.

As new services and tools are released, cloud enables businesses to access the very latest technologies and use them to their optimum potential. Cloud is revolutionising physical security with its cost system and simplified budgeting making cutting-edge physical security widely available to all. Those businesses that are willing to make the move to cloud will be those that continue to benefit from the many new capabilities that the digital transformation in security makes possible.

Discover more: https://www.morphean.com/

[1] https://itbrief.com.au/amp/story/public-cloud-computing-spend-to-overtake-traditional-it

60% of firms optimistic about cloud sovereignty innovation and collaboration

918 612 Stuart O'Brien

Cloud sovereignty is increasingly becoming a priority for organizations looking for secure, innovative, and scalable solutions to manage their data, according to Capgemini Research Institute’s latest report, “The journey to cloud sovereignty: Assessing cloud potential to drive transformation and build trust”.

The report finds that cloud sovereignty adoption is primarily driven by regulation and organizations’ need to control their data, but they also expect it to build trust, foster collaboration, and accelerate the move to a data-sharing ecosystem.

According to the report, organizations have some concerns about using the public cloud as the core of digital transformation projects: 69% of organizations cite potential exposure to extra-territorial laws in a cloud environment, 68% a lack of transparency and control over what is done with their data in the cloud, and 67% mention operational dependency on vendors based outside their region’s jurisdiction.

A large majority of organizations globally believe they will adopt cloud sovereignty to ensure compliance with regulations (71%) or to bring in controls and transparency over their data (67%), whereas ensuring immunity from extra-territorial data access (65%) comes third.

Nearly half of organizations (43%) globally define cloud sovereignty as keeping their data within their preferred jurisdiction, whatever the origin of the cloud provider, whereas only 14% define it as the exclusive use of cloud providers based in the same legal jurisdiction.

When selecting a cloud provider, the four key factors organizations focus on primarily are identity, access management, and encryption (82%), isolation of their sensitive data in the cloud (81%) and cost competitiveness (69%) and having local/regional datacenters (66%).

Demand for cloud services is shifting in line with new expectations around sovereignty

When asked about their expected cloud environment for the next 1-3 years, more than one-third (38%) of organizations expect to have a public/hybrid cloud environment with local data centers. 30% expect to use a disconnected version or the local legal entity of a hyperscaler, whereas 11% plan to work exclusively with cloud providers based within the same legal jurisdiction.

Nearly half (48%) of public sector organizations are either already considering cloud sovereignty as a part of their cloud strategy or planning to include it in the next 12 months. They are slightly more driven by complying with regulations (76% versus 70% for private organizations) and ensuring immunity from extra-territorial data access (69% versus 64%). However, they are also expecting more data-related benefits from sovereign cloud than private organizations.

Fostering collaboration and data-sharing ecosystems

The report also indicates that, while meeting highest regulatory concerns and data security requirements, organizations are looking at cloud sovereignty to unlock the benefits of the cloud for them, including better collaboration, increased data sharing, greater trust, and opportunities for innovation. 60% of organizations believe that cloud sovereignty will facilitate sharing data with trusted ecosystem partners, and 42% of surveyed executives believe that a trusted interoperable cloud service can help them to scale new technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), and the internet of things (IoT).

Marc Reinhardt, Head of Public Sector at Capgemini, said: “In our current environment, the sovereignty of one’s supply chain and IT has become truly strategic. For those organizations currently still reluctant to leverage the obvious benefits of the cloud, sovereignty is a way to get there. As a result, it is gaining importance across sectors and regions, to enable organizations to control and protect their data to an even greater extent – for the Public Sector, with emphasis on trust, transparency, choice, portability. And it is not a surprise that Government and Public Sector bodies are among the leaders in pursuing or considering a sovereign cloud in their organizations.”

“In designing their cloud strategies, organizations should not just focus on compliance requirements but also have a true ‘enterprise view’ of their data. In so doing, they will fully reap the benefits from sovereign cloud, including trust, collaboration, and innovation for even the most sensitive of data areas, and build a competitive advantage or better service for their constituents.”

100% of companies have experienced a security incident within public cloud in past year

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A report has found 100% of companies surveyed experienced a security incident, but continue to expand their footprint as 64% report deploying new AWS services weekly.

Vectra AI has released the findings of the PaaS & IaaS Security Survey Report, which compiles the answers of 317 IT executives all using AWS, with 70% coming from organisations of 1,000+ employees.

The findings show a rapid expansion and reliance on AWS services while simultaneously showcasing security blind spots within many organisations.

As digital transformation efforts continue, AWS is becoming an even more critical component to organisations. They are regularly deploying new workloads, leveraging deployments in multiple regions, and are relying on more than one AWS service. The survey found:

  • 64% of DevOps respondents are deploying new workload services weekly or even more frequently
  • 78% of organisations are running AWS across multiple regions (40% in at least three)
  • 71% of respondents say that they are using more than four AWS services (such as S3, EC2, IAM, etc.)

The expansion of AWS services has naturally led to increased complexity and risk. In fact, all of the companies surveyed have experienced at least one security incident in their public cloud environment in the last 12 months. Gartner anticipated that over 99% of cloud breaches will have a root cause of customer misconfiguration. Some blind spots the Vectra report uncovered include:

  • 30% of organisations surveyed have no formal sign-off before pushing to production
  • 40% of respondents say they do not have a DevSecOps workflow
  • 71% of organisations say that 10 or more people can modify the entire infrastructure in their AWS environments, creating numerous attack vectors for hackers

Despite these blind spots, the survey showed that companies are taking security seriously. Over half of the companies surveyed reported double-digit security operations center (SOC) headcounts, showing a significant investment in keeping their organisations secure.

“Securing the cloud with confidence is nearly impossible due to its ever-changing nature,” said Matt Pieklik, Senior Consulting Analyst at Vectra. “To address this, companies need to limit the number of attack vectors malicious actors are able to take. This means creating formal sign-off processes, creating DevSecOps workflows and limiting the number of people that have access to their entire infrastructure as much as possible. Ultimately, companies need to provide security holistically, across regions and automate as many activities as possible to enhance their effectiveness.”

Click here to download the full Paas & IaaS Security Survey Report.

Hosted physical security adoption given ‘major boost’ by uptake in cloud

960 640 Stuart O'Brien

New research into the impact of COVID-19 on physical security purchasing decisions has revealed a sharp increase in the necessity/urgency for businesses to adopt hosted video surveillance (VSaaS) and access control (ACaaS) solutions.

While 70% of 1000 senior decision makers in IT, security, FM and HR roles agree this to be the case, 78% also anticipate their organisations’ use of cloud technologies to increase in the future as a result of COVID-19.

The independent survey, commissioned by hosted security provider Morphean, revealed that over three-quarters (76%) of senior managers in UK, Germany and Sweden have increased their use of video conferencing (e.g. Microsoft Teams); 65% have increased their use of office applications (e.g. Microsoft 365); and 70% of those in the security sector are now strongly inclined towards cloud adoption.

51% say their company is currently using a cloud-based service for video surveillance (VSaaS) and/or access control (ACaaS). This is an increase of 3% over 2019 (48%) and broadly reflects projected growth in the physical security market from USD $93.5b in 2020 to USD $120.3b by 2025 at a CAGR of 5.2%. The accelerating adoption of hosted solutions is buoyed by its low cost set up, flexible scalability and demand for real-time and remote access to security data.

Analytics will drive adoption say 95%

For the security professional already working with cloud services, the growth in connected digital devices through the IoT is resulting in a growing appetite for physical security, such as network cameras, to enhance existing IT systems and assist business intelligence gathering. 95% agree that if an existing security system could deliver insights beyond security to assist decision making (i.e. occupancy or test and trace analytics), it would influence adoption.

82% say flexible and remote working will grow 

More flexibility in working locations is the benefit respondents are most likely to identify from moving business functions to the cloud (50%), followed by easier collaboration (44%); more cost-effective (44%); safer / better security (38%). 82% anticipate the levels/frequency of remote workers and flexible working in their organisations to be higher post-pandemic and in the longer term than they were pre-pandemic.

Security will need to be enhanced to facilitate greater flexibility in worker patterns. An access control solution which is linked to HR records, for example, can check the swipe of an access card against staff records. A staff member who is flagged as being on leave, absent or no longer employed will trigger an automated alert to the relevant personnel. Surveillance cameras also provide secondary authentication through visual clarification of an individual’s identity.

The ‘Landscape Report 2020/21: Hosted Security adoption in Europe is the third study of its kind by Morphean, and facilitates a better understanding of market trends with comparative data from 2018 and 2019. Other key findings revealed by the study include:

  • 78% anticipate organisational use of cloud technologies to increase in the future as a result of COVID-19. The security sector reflected a strong inclination towards cloud adoption (70%).
  • IT Services (52%) and Commercial Offices (49%) are the two sectors that anticipated the greatest degree of change in their organisation’s use of cloud technology.
  • 73% of managers believe their organisations are more inclined to adopt cloud as a result of their governments’ responses to COVID-19 – UK (74%), Germany (71%) and Sweden (73%).
  • 27% said physical security was optimised in their companies, a rise of 4% on 2019 (23%). The retail sector was least likely to say that physical security was optimised (19%).
  • VSaaS/ACaaS uptake shown to be more prevalent in Sweden with 59% already utilising such services, with 34% in UK and 31% in Germany considering it.

Rodrigue Zbinden, CEO of Morphean SA, said: “The results highlight a hosted physical security market that will see strong growth in 2021 as cloud applications are proven to deliver business continuity in challenging times. At the height of the lockdown, many business premises were unoccupied and potentially vulnerable, but remote monitoring and maintenance made possible by hosted security were a welcome advantage. We also saw a spike in demand for frictionless access control enabling a totally hands-free experience and negating the need for physical contact. Business leaders will now be considering the learnings from the past year and looking to apply them to boost productivity, streamline costs and make organisations more agile.

“For the physical security reseller, the study will demonstrate that hosted security solutions must play a major part in expanding their offering to a wiser customer base. Cloud-enabled physical security solutions represent an investment into improving securityand operations, a chance to forge new business relationships, and an opportunity to embrace future proof technologies in preparation for whatever challenges the future might hold.”

WEBINAR: Introduction to Hybrid Cloud Security

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Organisations are quickly moving to the cloud to enable remote access, support greater video monitoring scale, and improve usability of video surveillance systems away from the traditional CCTV models. In this webinar, we’ll share how to deploy smart, cloud-based video surveillance that is simple and scalable for anyone in your organisation. 

Sign up with your work email address & attend the live webinar to qualify for a free YETI rambler.

Thursday, Sep 17 2020 2:00PM BST

Click Here To Register

WEBINAR REWIND: Moving Beyond CCTV for Video Security

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Last week Verkada hosted the latest in a series of webinars packed with key insights for modernising your video security solution – if you missed this essential session you can re-watch it again now.

Organisations are quickly moving to the cloud to enable remote access, support greater video monitoring scale, and improve usability of video security systems away from the traditional CCTV models.

In the webinar, you’ll receive expert guidance from Brendan Cherry, Regional Sales Manager – UKI at Verkada and Lenny Eskin, Head of Demand Generation at Verkada, on how to deploy smart, cloud-based video security that is simple and scalable for anyone in your organisation, including:

  • An intro to the Verkada platform
  • CCTV vs The Cloud
  • A live demo of the technology
  • A full Q&A

To watch the webinar again, click here.

If you’d like to request a risk-free trial with Verkada, sign up here.

WEBINAR: Moving Beyond CCTV for Video Security

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Thu, May 28 2020 2:00PM BST / 9:00AM ET

Click here to register

Organisations are quickly moving to the cloud to enable remote access, support greater video monitoring scale, and improve usability of video surveillance systems away from the traditional CCTV models.

In this Verkada webinar, we’ll share how to deploy smart, cloud-based video surveillance that is simple and scalable for anyone in your organisation.

To register for the webinar, click here.

If you’d like to request a risk-free trial with Verkada, sign up here.

WEBINAR: Eliminate the NVR, Move to the Cloud

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Want a custom branded 20oz YETI tumbler? Join Verkada’s webinar on Thursday, 14 May 2020 to learn how to modernise your video security solution.

Organisations are quickly moving to the cloud to enable remote access, support greater video monitoring scale, and improve usability of video security systems away from the traditional CCTV models.

In this webinar, Verkada will share how to deploy smart, cloud-based video security that is simple and scalable for anyone in your organisation. Here are just a few reasons why Verkada stands out from the rest:

  • No NVRs, DVRs, or severs
  • Low bandwidth usage (5-20 kbit/s at rest)
  • Up to 365 days of video retention
  • Share a live camera feed via SMS to first responders within seconds

All attendees will receive a custom-branded 20oz YETI tumbler!

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TODAY

WEBINAR: Introduction to Hybrid Cloud Camera Security

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Organisations are quickly moving to the cloud to enable remote access, support greater video monitoring scale, and improve usability of their video surveillance systems. These technology forward organisations are now beginning to replace their outdated traditional CCTV networks with a more modern approach.

Register for our next webinar on Thursday, 23 April 2020 at 2:00pm BST to learn how to:

  • Deploy smart cloud-based video surveillance
  • Eliminate the NVR, one of the most vulnerable points of entry to your network
  • Scale coverage effortlessly without impacting your network footprint
  • Securely share live camera feeds via SMS in seconds

Can’t join us for the webinar? Not to worry. Everyone who registers will receive access to a copy of the recorded webinar.

Register using the following link: https://www.verkada.com/webinars/uk-introduction-to-hybrid-cloud-security/?date=2020-04-23&utm_campaign=7012T000001gsenQAA&utm_source=forumeventsblast&utm_medium=email

Eagle Eye Networks Roadshow dates confirmed

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Eagle Eye Networks and Brivo are gearing up for another European roadshow. The program is individually tailored for each city with regional industry experts and guest speakers. Hear first-hand  of the growing trends of cloud-based security solutions in 2020.

For all details and the cities we are touring, click here: https://www.een.com/euro_roadshow_2020_uk

ABOUT EAGLE EYE NETWORKS – CLOUD VMS 

 The Eagle Eye Networks Cloud VMS is a fully managed video surveillance solution, delivering an end-to-end video management system that’s simple to deploy and easy to use – making it a great fit for any business. 

RESTAURANTS 

A restaurant is a busy place, with constant activity in many different areas of the building. The ease of use of Eagle Eye’s Cloud VMS, is ideal for managers to watch both live and recorded video to improve quality and employee productivity and reduce risk at the same time. 

OFFICES

If a business doesn’t provide a prompt, professional service, customers will go somewhere else. Eagle Eye Networks provides a way to improve employee safety and a tool to increase productivity. 

RETAIL STORES 

Traditionally, retail environments use video surveillance to reduce theft. This is still a need that exists today – however, modern retailers are leveraging their video surveillance systems for more than just loss prevention. They use it to optimize their business, monitor store quality, and ensure employee development.

GYMs 

View multiple locations on a single screen and group them by front desk, gym floor, or however you prefer – The layouts in Eagle Eye Cloud VMS are completely customizable. Now it’s easy to verify your members receive excellent customer service at every location.

https://www.een.com/euro_roadshow_2020_uk