Midwich Ltd - Experts & Thought Leaders

The Wisenet hybrid recording solution has been installed at New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton by electronic security specialists, JKE Security. “The medium term objective is to provide the hospital with a complete end-to-end Wisenet solution incorporating the very latest video surveillance technology,” said Dan Mather, director of Derby based JKE Security. “However, New Cross Hospital is not alone in having to carefully manage its budgets and with this in mind, the priority has been to install a hybrid recording solution which comprises a combination of HD+ and NVRs. This has enabled the images from all existing analogue and IP cameras installed throughout the hospital to be recorded at the highest possible resolution.” New Cross Hospital, which is run by the Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust was originally built circa 1900 as a workhouse. It now provides 700 beds, employs almost 9500 staff and is the largest teaching hospital in the Black Country. In 2004 the United Kingdom's first purpose built specialist heart centre was opened on its site.AHD technology enables the Wisenet HD+ DVRs to record high-definition images Large storage capacity A total of 17 recording devices have been installed. These include 4 x Wisenet 32 channel XRN -2010 NVRs which each have 21 Terabytes of on-board storage and 13 x Wisenet HD+ 16 channel SRD-1694 DVRs, each with 5 Terabytes of storage. Using AHD technology, the Wisenet HD+ DVRs are able to record high-definition images transmitted over the hospital’s existing coax cabling. “An important aspect of this project is that the Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust wanted a recording solution which would be totally compliant with the new GDPR data protection regulations,” said Dan Mather. “Having taken advice from Midwich, the distribution company which we source our video surveillance products from, and having attended a 3 day training course conducted by Hanwha Techwin, we had the confidence to recommend the Wisenet hybrid recording solution to the Trust both in terms of its compliance with GDPR and the user-friendliness of the recording devices.” For the first time in years we are now able to view our entire system on one platform, which is functional and easy to operate" Effective healthcare security “Having successfully completed the first phase of the upgrade, we are looking forward to installing over 200 x Wisenet cameras throughout the hospital in the near future in order to provide security personnel and the hospital’s managers with a powerful tool to maintain a safe and secure environments for doctors, nurses, administration staff and patients.” Paul Smith, Trust Security Manager and Local Security Management Specialist said “We looked long and hard for a suitable solution of integrating our older systems with newer IP systems on the site. For us the best option came in the form of the Wisenet software and recording units and for the first time in years we are now able to view our entire system on one platform, and a platform that is functional and easy to operate." "All of our pre-existing cameras have been synced with the new software with the assistance of JKE Security Ltd. I look forward now to the next stage which will be to replace end of life cameras for the much more technologically advanced kit, which will enable us to use the smarter functions of the Wisenet software.”

Integrated security manufacturer TDSi has expanded its distribution partnerships to reach new and growing vertical sector markets. The recent addition of Anixter grows the number of associated distribution partnerships to six, which also include Norbain, ADI, Pro-Vision, Advanced Access and Midwich. TDSi’s Distribution Channel Manager, Andy Cross, who joined the company late last year with a remit to enhance and grow these partnerships commented, “Although some customers may be surprised by how many different suppliers provide our products, we only sell indirectly, so TDSi completely relies upon its channel partnerships to grow our market share and drive our success. This is even more evident as physical security systems become further integrated with all other parts of the IT and business systems networks.” Specialising in different vertical markets Each one of TDSi distribution partners specialises in specific business systems or technology and has its own geographical outreach, across many different vertical market sectors. Andy added, “It would be impossible for TDSi alone to reach this many different customers, let alone offer the infrastructure to supply the many types of end user that benefit from using our systems.” This demand for fully integrated IT and business systems has seen the traditionally narrow market for physical security systems broaden to a much wider audience in recent years. It is rare for businesses to now view security systems in isolation from other technology purchases, so it is important that suppliers address these market needs. Andy concluded, “Naturally integrated security systems such as access control, CCTV and intruder alarms combine well to offer powerful and complete protection solutions. At the same time, increasingly this technology is becoming closely associated with other IT and business systems purchases. Buyers are looking to improve their ROI by ensuring all their purchases can be sourced together, with the assurance they can be fully integrated easily.”

Genie CCTV Ltd, a British Manufacturer of multi technology CCTV and Biometric Access Control Solutions announces to the Security Industry its premier partnership with Midwich, a Distributor of Commercial AV and Security hardware. Complimenting growth Established in 2001, Genie has become a trusted household brand within the security industry and the technology partnership will complement the growth of Midwich’s Security Divison. Products like Genie’s CPNI approved Virdi Biometrics will attract new potential clients for Midwich as well as expand their Biometric product offerings to their existing customer base. Furthermore, the premier partnership between Genie and Midwich has synergies in the HD-SDI broadcast field, which will benefit the distributor’s AV customers by introducing new solutions, supplying alternative quality products, and promoting confidence in equipment from Genie. Steve Baker – CEO Genie CCTV & Francesco Bellavia – Head of Security Sales at Midwich recognise that the strategic alliance offers both companies growth opportunities by investing deeply in stock, improving delivery and customer service and by bringing latest technology advancements in both Video Surveillance and Access Control more effectively to the market. Genie and Midwich aim to build a strong relationship in a true strategic partnership, delivering year-on-year growth as our customers can choose a stronger system solution, combined with gold standard service from both companies as specialists in their field.

The established security distribution channel is being disrupted by a new trend towardsspecialist distributors – who offer more a more focused range of products andsupport services In the last 10 years a lot has changed within UK security distribution, but on the surface everything would appear to be the same. The top two distributors remain the same, despite creditors at one and talk of a looming sale at another. However, they’re operating with a slightly reduced market dominance. Along with these, there are a few well-known names nipping at their heels, but somehow occupying a similar market position they’ve always occupied. But a change is in the air. It’s something most people operating within the electronic security market may have noticed, but not paid too much attention to. The result of which is a few distributors in the market place that have all of a sudden shown significant growth. High sale quality of specialist distributors So, what are these companies doing that’s different to the established distribution channel? Why are they growing so fast when other more well-known names are dropped back? The answer seems slightly counter-intuitive. What the established distributors have is diversity of product. What these other distributions have is a distinct lack of it. Where the market leaders have many brands filling any number of requirements, there are other distributors who have purposely pinned their flags to a very limited number of masts. Although this runs the inevitable danger of limiting their scope, the one very important thing it does do is add a far higher level of quality to the sale. Think jack of all trades vs. master of one (or master of only a few in this case). Better level of support from specialist distributors? As with a product datasheet, where one CCTV camera can appear to be near identical to another despite there being a gulf in actual final delivered result, so it is with the support offered by alternative distributors. All will say they will go the extra mile with design assistance, training and more, but when you have a finite resource trying to offer this for sometimes 100 plus brands, the actual support given doesn’t come close to a similar resource concentrated on only a handful of brands. Taking one distributor as an example, who has chosen to limit the products they offer, currently almost 50% of their customer facing staff are pre and post sales technical support and are primarily field based, getting involved in site surveys, prebuild and configuration and even the last fit commissioning. This is a level of support more established distribution simply don’t offer. New rivals knocking the security market Although it certainly isn’t required by all installers and integrators, more and more are looking for a distributor to be a business partner rather than just someone who has a box on the shelf. When you’re up against a deadline or an issue arises on site, knowing there’s a team of people ready to assist in resolving these with you, even to the point of being up the ladder next to you, can be a life saver. Once you’ve experienced this and seen the value this adds to your business, suddenly saving a few pounds on a camera doesn’t seem such a good deal. So why the change? This is a lot of work for a distributor, and anyone with a hint of commercial awareness can see this would require higher margins to maintain in a market that seems to have its margins constantly eroded. Installers and integrators are looking for distributors who will act as businesspartners - a knowledgeable team who can help with deadlines and arising issuesto add value and build up their business The answer to this I think lies one stage further back in the supply chain – the manufacturers. Unless you’re coming out of a 10 year hibernation, you can’t have missed the sea change in the manufacturer make-up in the last few years. Once dominated by names like Bosch, Samsung, Honeywell and more, suddenly we have Chinese companies like Hikvision and Dahua knocking the market for six. These two previous sleeping giants of the security industry have been supplying you with a large chunk of the CCTV products you’ve been using for many years, it’s just not been under their brand and it’s unlikely you even knew. Now with a recent change in direction from both companies, these same products are now available with their brand name on. New players fighting with price drops This has had one key effect, the price of the cameras and recorders we use has dropped significantly. And we’re talking big drops. You can now purchase a full HD 1080P IP camera for the price you were paying for a traditional entry analogue camera. Need a 16 channel NVR? Now yours for less than the cost of the hard drive you put in it. And these aren’t necessarily bad products either. The knock on effect this has had is on the other manufacturers themselves. Where once you had a large product middle ground where pricing was in the Goldilocks zone of not too high, not too low, and the products were of suitable quality to warrant the cost, now we have these mid market products at entry level pricing. Established manufacturers feeling the heat of competition This is a big headache for the manufacturers who traditionally occupied this space as they’re now faced with a stark choice of either trying to elevate themselves out of the arena they’ve occupied for so long, or trimming all the fat off their sale and circling the wagons ready for a fight. Both options have their pitfalls. Too many people operating at the higher end of the market makes for a very crowded area for what is a longer sale with tougher expectations and regulations. Stand toe to toe with a government backed $3.88 billion organisation and you’re very likely going to get a bloody nose. With all the change in the market, some distributors have decided to pick a side who they believe will support (and maybe even pull) them down the road. We’ve seen the growth this has given Hikvision’s distributors, and similar results are now happening for Dahua distributors. Specialist vs. generalist With either specialist or single manufacturer distributors, there is acceptance there will always be applications they won’t have the product set to support. But if you were a user of one of these brands, would you rather purchase from a specialist distributor that knew it inside out and was willing to stand side by side with you, or someone that can’t possibly have the resources to support it fully? This is obviously one man’s viewpoint of a highly complex situation involving many many companies, but few would argue with the impact some manufacturers are having. And to end, a crystal ball moment. If you’re primarily operating outside the CCTV arena on other electronic security products and think this doesn’t affect you too much, stay tuned. When you have the aggressive growth plans that some of these manufacturers do in what is a finite marketplace, how long until you start looking over the wall at what your neighbour’s got and decide you want a piece of that action too?