Sudhindra Holla and Sandesh Kaup share their thoughts and insights on the different activities going on in their organizations.

In an interaction with CIO AXIS, Sudhindra Holla, Director, Axis Communications, India and SAARC, and Sandesh Kaup, Country Manager, Milestone Systems, India and SAARC, share their thoughts and insights on the different activities going on in their organizations.

It is a truism to say that today’s threat landscape is more complex than ever. The reason is not far to seek. The increased awareness of the need for keeping the employees and premises safe has pushed the businesses to take resort to surveillance tools. “We are seeing more interest in terms of deployment of solutions to secure the buildings and surroundings and provide safety for the critical assets,” says Sudhindra Holla, Director, Axis Communications, India and SAARC.

Things have changed over the years with respect to the surveillance industry which has been around for years with the predominant aim of recording criminal related activity. However according to Sandesh Kaup, Country Manager, Milestone Systems, India and SAARC, people are not only using security surveillance system for monitoring people and securing the premises, but also to derive business efficiency out of this system.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics are transforming safety, security and operational efficiency. Other trends shaping the sector include cybersecurity. “One trend that rose to prominence during the pandemic is cybersecurity. Now, it’s even more serious in terms of where the equipment is originating from, what kind of firmware, the company uses, if it their own or is it original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or from elsewhere,” says Sudhindra.

Milestone is also committed to continuing to strengthen the company’s position as a responsible technology organisation. “We have plans to bring our pioneering video technology beyond the traditional security market with new specialised solutions for healthcare, manufacturing, and for SMEs by this year,” said Sandesh.

“We are preparing to revolutionize the industry by using data-driven video technology both in and beyond security,’’ adds Sandesh.

Today advanced new intelligent facial recognition technology is using AI to capture faces. Sandesh states, “Now most devices have IoT and AI embedded in them. AI algorithm which is linked to face recognition has evolved a lot which has helped video technology to grow.”

Today’s surveillance cameras are no longer just about monitoring, but more so the intelligence that sits on the systems. Sudhindra says, “I would like to highlight how our video surveillance systems can go beyond just the video part of it with the addition of audio to video. This is clearly becoming a trend where audio can be added for safety or for announcements, based on the trend you see there. Customers can now benefit going beyond video by adding audio for safety and for business intelligence as well.”

Milestone’s growth strategy

India stands high on the scheme of things for Milestone. “APAC/India is a key market for us and a land of opportunity. We want to help companies effortlessly navigate the challenges they face when it comes to safety and security,” says Sandesh. He adds, “Milestone will be working with our key community partners to build innovative solutions focused on key verticals like – Healthcare, Smart Safe Cities, Transportation, and Manufacturing.”

India: Critical market for Axis Communications

Axis’ business and its solutions are suitable for every industry and the company has deployments in most of the critical verticals. “Along with our ecosystem of partners we cater to the needs of businesses of all sizes,” says Sudhindra. “Video technology and its uses have evolved over the last few years. All industries are benefitting, and we feel that citizen safety will be of prime importance going forward. We will see an uptake in projects across Smart city, Transportation, Critical Infrastructure, commercial segment and data centres as well,” says Sudhindra.

Axis Communications concluded its two-day annual Axis Partner Summit 2022, held in Phuket, in later half of 2022, Thailand. “The response was phenomenal with over 220 solution partners across 90 companies participating and where we lauded 8 category winners,” says Sudhindra.

As said earlier, today there is more awareness of keeping the employees and premises safe. Hence, there is a push towards surveillance across industries. In this backdrop organisations looking for a competitive edge should consider choosing a suitable video surveillance system so that they can improve their performance levels.