Milestone rated number one again for IP video surveillance software in latest IMS research report

IMS Research's latest figures place Milestone at the top of IP video surveillance software market

Milestone Systems has been recognized again as the global market leader for IP video surveillance software. IMS Research has published a new report that identifies Milestone as having the highest world market share in the category of software-only vendors of open platform network video management solutions.

The report from IMS Research, "The World Market for CCTV and Video Surveillance Equipment", was published in November 2008. The total market was estimated to be worth $7,665.8 million in 2007 and forecast to increase 13.4% per year to $14,347.1 million in 2012. Part of that, the overall analogue video surveillance market, is only forecast for 5.9% growth over this period, with significant declines for many equipment categories in this waning technology. This underscores the continuing convergence of the IT network approach in the traditional surveillance industry.

For IP Video Surveillance Management Software (both Open Platform and Proprietary) 2007 revenues were stated as $236.2 million and are predicted to top $1 billion by 2012. Proprietary offerings are single-vendor products that limit customer choices and cut into the return on investment over time. IMS Research identified in this report that "more advanced users will typically opt for software-only solutions for the greater flexibility and easier integration with other systems like access control, point-of-sale, ATMs, and more." Milestone Systems exceeds in this latter area, having been a pioneer of true open platform IP video management software, independent of hardware manufacturers, supporting the widest choice in network devices.

"The long term trends that will affect the CCTV and video surveillance market are the shift to network video surveillance, the increasing use of video content analysis, and the anticipated increased interoperability between network products," says Simon Harris, senior analyst at IMS Research and the principal author of the report. "The economic downturn will have negative impact in some market verticals, but overall market growth is expected to remain at a solid level. Our research concludes that the market for IP video surveillance management software will remain very strong, and Milestone Systems has an opportunity to further strengthen its market position."

"This new report from IMS Research confirms our leadership position as the true open platform for IP video management solutions," says Lars Thinggaard, President & CEO of Milestone Systems. "Our surveillance software is flexible, reliable, powerful yet easy to manage, and able to integrate with other systems - all of which are key success criteria for continuing to satisfy our partners and customers."

In addition to the fast market uptake of megapixel cameras that only run on network solutions, the intensifying interest in Video Content Analysis also benefits the IP video software market. Taking the lead in this area, Milestone Systems this year announced their analytics framework that enables users to operate combined analytics from multiple vendors on one common management platform.

"The long term trends that will affect the CCTV and video surveillance market are the shift to network video surveillance, the increasing use of video content analysis, and the anticipated increased interoperability between network products," says Simon Harris, senior analyst at IMS Research

Annual growth rates for Milestone Systems have consistently been 40-60%, and the company has outperformed the surveillance market during the accelerating transition from analogue to network video technology. With an external investment in Milestone by Index Ventures in 2008, the strong foundation has been bolstered for further growth and development of new solutions in open platform IP video surveillance.

The reports from IMS Research are based on interviews with more than 100 international companies in the security industry, as well as data and statistics derived from relevant news sources, annual reports, and the Internet. For the last four years Milestone Systems has been recognized as the global market leader in the open platform IP video management software categories.