I was chatting with my mentor and former boss, Vint Cerf (who, partnered with Bob Kahn, actually did invent the Internet — or at least its core underlying technology) the other day. I have worked with Vint for many years, first when I was active in the IETF as an area director and then later when I lead the team under Vint that built MCI’s Internet backbone.

We got to discussing Envysion and I gave him a demo of our MVaaS product. He was quite impressed, to say the least. When you hear “wow, that’s really impressive” coming from the smartest man I have ever met, it makes for a pretty good day!

Aside from conversations about how google’s search technology could be integrated into MVaas, the most interesting part of the conversation was about how MVaas could be used to control unmanned robotic vehicles. Now that’s an interesting application to explore!

It’s about this time of year that my kids start talking about what they’re going to be for Halloween. Yes, I realize it’s not even July 4th, but you have to plan well in advance for important holidays like Halloween. Happily, this year’s costume brainstorming coincides nicely with a visit from my in-laws. I say “happily” not only because I adore my in-laws but also because I do not sew (or cook). My mother-in-law does all that. She offered to sew a “Dorothy” costume for my daughter. Hopefully, by the end of the visit, my other daughter will have figured out what she wants to be, and we’ll set Grandma on the project. I’ll handle the hair styles.

While she’s at it, I’d like my mother-in-law to make a crystal ball for me. I want the kind that does all the cool stuff that the Wicked Witch of the West (W3) did with hers. She still gives me the shivers, but you have to give W3 credit for her use of the Crystal Ball. Singularly focused on getting her hands on the Ruby Slippers, W3 uses her crystal ball to get a view into Dorothy’s wherabouts and to adjust her scare tactics accordingly. Remember the people-grabbing trees? And the poppies? And who could forget the monkeys? Imagine if you had a tool to see into the activities of your business that allowed you to sense and respond accordingly. With a crystal ball, you really could be in more places at once. MVaaS is kind of like a crystal ball for your business – all except for the part about seeing into the future.

Many of our clients own and/or operate business in the restaurant, retail or hospitality space. In my conversations with our current and prospective clients, I’m hearing that staffing continues to be one of the top struggles within their organizations.

Local author Eric Chester of Golden, CO discusses these challenges in great detail in his book “Getting them to Give a Damn”. He also consults to some of the nation’s top companies and hosts a blog at his website:

http://www.generationwhy.com

Yesterday I talked about a customer who told me he hated me becuase his video system did not do “that.”  The “that” is simply “this.”  The Envysion demo the customer saw at our trade show booth showed deep database level integration between Point of Sale data and video, with searchable functionality that would allow him to manage his business based on the metrics he manually tracks today.  His stand alone DVR video solution gave him volumes of video but no business insights and as such, was relegated to a pure surveillance function.

Migration was the next discussion; a simple swap of the DVR, connection to his point of sale system and his network and he is off to the business insight races.  Reuse the cameras, wiring and resell that DVR on eBay.  So the lessons learned for me many.  1) Our sales team needs to get in front of more customers to demonstrate what is possible, because seeing is believing.  2) Many customers are still early in the adoption curve for video and making tactical buying decisions.  3) Hearing “I hate you” can be music to your ears.

Image via Wikipedia

Have you heard?  Food prices have been increasing.

If this is news to you, to quote ’The Turk’ Sollozzo from The Godfather, ”Te salute, Don Corleone.”

If you are like everyone else, you’ve felt the increases in your wallet.  Now imagine the impact to a restaurant owner!

MVaaS providers have achieved initial success in several key markets.  Among those has been the restaurant space.  Derek Gale, Associate Editor of Restaurants and Institutions, provides insight in an article about the burgeoning video business in restaurants.

The main takeaways from Mr. Gale’s article:

1. The systems can pay for themselves in less than a year in theft and fraud avoidance;
2. The systems can be used to deliver effective and efficient service to enhance customer satisfaction.

These conclusions are consistent with the sentiments of our customers.  MVaaS should be viewed as a value creator, not a line item expense.  MVaaS, when properly utilized, is a valuable tool to combat loss and ensure customer satsifaction.

I view conferences such as the NRF LP show as a great opportunity to connect with four distinct groups within the MVaaS ecosystem.  These gatherings give me the opportunity to talk with potential customers, active and potential channel partners, competitors, and other ecosystem participants.

The most obvious of these groups are the potential customers.  The National Retail Federation LP show brings a wide spectrum of retailers, from big box retailers to specialty retailers to restaurants to convenience stores.  We had some significant interest from several national restaurant chains, an office supply superstore concept (brought to us by one of the new potential channel partners I met), several convenience stores, and a host of others.

Several common themes resonated with the potential customers we met.  First, the power of tying other business systems (mainly POS in this context) to video was extremely appealing.  Several video vendors at the show were displaying some form of this integration.  Second, the ease of use and the ease of management by IT were big differentiators – in today’s market both the LP and IT groups are under cost pressure that limits their ability to grow their teams so anything that helps that is attractive.  The last major theme that resonated was one that even last year the customers weren’t tuned in to.

The final theme is one that both Rob Hagens and I have talked about extensively in prior posts – PCI compliance.  All of the customer prospects that we spoke with were very aware of PCI compliance and the efforts that their company had or was still putting into their own PCI compliance.  The idea of a PCI compliant video solution was a tremendous hit amongst the crowd.  I believe by next year’s show it will be absolute table stakes for any customer of any size that their video service be PCI compliant.

Fortunately, MVaaS providers are leading the way and will be there well ahead of traditional providers that will face both procedural and technical challenges in ensuring their network solutions don’t expose their customers to unwanted risks and jeopardize their customers’ own PCI compliance.

At a recent trade show, I was performing a demo for a prospective client.  Lurking in the background was a tall man with a deep scowl on his face.  I finished the demo and the big man approached.  “I hate you,” he said as he moved to the demo screen.  My first thought was, do I know this guy, did I cut him off in traffic, do I owe him money?

After introducing myself, I ask him why he hated me.  He said, “I just installed video surveillance in more than thirty stores and it doesn’t do that,” pointing to the screen.   Quick to compartmentalize my anger at my sales force for not being in front of this guy six months ago, I engaged him in a fact finding discussion.   Tomorrow I’ll share what “that” is… and how we are on the road to redemption.

In an every more connected world security threats seem to be continuously multiplying.  Every day there are reports of significant fraud and security breaches perpetrated.  These are not even all over the Internet.  If you ever paid for parking at Denver International Airport by credit card between about 2000 and 2006 your cardholder information could very well be in the hands of a thief right now.   So even if you never use the Internet, there is real risk out there.

However, in our ever more connected world there are new opportunities for protecting ourselves.  In fact, systems and devices can even protect themselves.  Here’s an example of how a digital camera actually sent photos of it’s thieves to the owner of the camera without the thieves even knowing about it.  The camera automatically uploaded photos to the owner’s Internet account when it came near an open WIFI access point.

Monday, I talked about network plug-and-play. Today, let’s explore how to get your IP camera to work with an MVaaS provider. To start with, you probably need to go hunting for someone with some FM skills. Why? Because there are not yet standards defined to allow any IP camera to communicate with any MVaaS provider.

Why would I want my IP camera to work with an MVaaS provider? There are several reasons. The first one is simple: youtube. Why is youtube successful? Very simply, it’s because video files are big, easily 1 megabyte/minute for low resolution (320×240). You can’t send a 5 minute video to a friend via email because the attachment is just too large. But, you can upload that video to a central site, and then send a link to your friend. There are probably 50 youtube clones out in the Internet today for just this reason.

What else can MVaaS do for my IP cameras? It can provide tools for sharing. It can provide an integration of your video with other business data such as Point of Sale events. It can persist (save) your video indefinitely. It can provide a high-volume, reliable distribution point for streaming your clip to others that is unaffected by your local Internet broadband capacity. It can provide an interface to video analytics services. The list is limited only by your imagination and wallet.

What kind of innovation would help customers use IP cameras with MVaaS? What types of standards would be helpful?

How about a dynamic configuration protocol designed for a wide area network? A protocol that would allow an IP camera to register itself with an MVaaS, exchange configuration information, and begin streaming video to the MVaaS remote storage. How could I use that if it was implemented across MVaaS and IP camera vendors? Simple: I could plug any IP camera in, anywhere in the Internet, and it would start inter-working with any MVaaS provider, automatically.

And most importantly, it would work without the need for any FM!

While I’m on the topic of sharing…The episode began as a nice family birthday celebration.  Cupcakes for everyone.  It ended in anger and sadness.

My youngest son, age 4 at the time, and true cupcake aficionado, had consumed his prize very quickly.  His older brother, no less a connoisseur, was delicately enjoying his treat.  You may know where this is going…

With swift precision, my youngest son swiped the remaining portion of his brother’s cupcake and quickly devoured it.  My wife and I witnessed the entire episode, but were powerless to make things right.  The damage was done.  One child was crying, the other scolded, and everyone was upset.

After a lengthy time-out, I asked the offender why he took his brother’s cupcake.  After taking a moment to contemplate, he offered his excuse.  “But I was sharing.”  After smiling (and being somewhat proud of his deftness), all I could say was “sharing is not always appropriate.”

When and how to share is of high importance to MVaaS providers (see related post by Darren Loher on Secure Sharing).  In an environment driven by “sharing” and “social networking” (exluding MLB, of course), business customers of video surveillance technologies rightly demand security for their content.  Business customers want total control over what content is shared.  And MVaaS providers must provide the solutions that enable sharing, as the customers prescribe, in an easy-to-use, secure and scaleable manner.

If you are a video provider who fails to deliver this, be prepared to share your customers with MVaaS providers who do.