Cisco Meraki’s cloud system simplifies approach to video surveillance

For end-users, a simplified approach to video surveillance has its advantages. Cisco Meraki delivers simplicity, replacing a complex video surveillance system with edge-empowered cameras that connect directly to a web portal.

The architecture minimises physical infrastructure and the software required for traditional cameras by placing storage and processing inside each camera, and by putting the video management system (VMS) in the Cisco Meraki cloud. Additionally, with Meraki’s web-based Vision portal, organisations can enable secure, remote access to the video anywhere with an internet connection.

Providing simple experience

Meraki enables customers to accelerate their business by continuing to provide a simple experience across hardware and software offerings, coupled by partnerships with ecosystem partners that directly address relevant business problems.

Meraki MV smart cameras provide end-to-end, cloud-managed solutions for video security

“We empower physical security teams with the necessary tools to stay informed, react, and respond faster, to create safe environments,” says Scott Wierstra, Senior Manager of IoT Product Management, Cisco Meraki. Meraki MV smart cameras provide end-to-end, cloud-managed solutions for video security, built on the Cisco Meraki cloud-first platform. Cisco Meraki is centered on helping customers connect, secure, and automate to accelerate their digital agility in a cloud-first world, says Wierstra. Thinking about the approach as a ‘service’ rather than a ‘system’ ensures that customers can benefit from Meraki’s capabilities right away, versus waiting to decipher the system’s capabilities.

Cloud-managed approach

Traditional obstacles to embracing cloud-managed video surveillance have been interoperability and cost. Customers that have historically been hesitant to implement a cloud-managed approach do not want to lose the interoperability that traditional systems may offer. Furthermore, a cloud-managed approach can be more costly in initial costs.

However, in a recent Total Economic Impact study, respondents felt that the decrease in operational costs far outweighed initial costs over time, according to the company. Additionally, organisations experience up to 75 percent savings in maintenance costs, as well as a three-year 43 percent return on investment (ROI) with a payback period of 10 months. “With a cloud-managed approach to video surveillance, organisations can ensure simplicity and security, while improving day-to-day operations,” says Wierstra.

Managing system costs

A selling point of the Cisco Meraki approach is to manage system costs more efficiently

A selling point of the Cisco Meraki approach is to manage system costs more efficiently -- i.e., end-users pay a monthly fee versus dealing with unpredictable, adhoc expenses over the life of a system. For traditional systems, the unpredictable expenses can often include the cost of diagnosing a camera issue, which can be an average of $525 per camera.

With Meraki’s approach to video surveillance solutions, smart cameras are not only more reliable, but also provide the customer with enhanced visibility on the cloud-managed Meraki dashboard to troubleshoot the issues. Meraki Support is also available 24/7 to troubleshoot alongside the customer, should they need any assistance, says Wierstra. The process no longer requires a technician to be onsite for troubleshooting, and according to the Total Economic Impact study, it can save an organisation up to $457,000 over three years.

Powering smart spaces

At Meraki, business flows through an expert community of authorised resellers to connect hybrid workforces, power smart spaces, and provide safe and secure environments. These include Channel Partners, Managed Service Providers, Physical Security Integrators, and Service Providers,

At Meraki, business flows through an expert community of authorised resellers

It is true that a customer’s hardware investment would be lost in case he elects to change cloud vendors. However, if a customer wanted to change providers for any part of their system, or if they wanted to change cameras for new functionality or higher resolution, they would also lose that hardware investment. Similarly, if the customer wanted to change their VMS, they would also lose the investment in the hardware and software that supports that part of their system.

Smart camera solutions

With a cloud-managed approach like Meraki, a customer can upgrade or replace an existing Meraki MV smart camera, without losing the remaining license term. It would simply be applied to the new one. The Meraki MV license also offers ongoing support, firmware updates, and continuous access to new features, greatly expanding the practical lifespan of the product. As a result, customers are always receiving access to new, innovative capabilities, says Wierstra.

Meraki’s MV smart camera solutions serve customers across all verticals. For example, higher education and K-12 institutions, or organisations with lean IT teams, often value the simplicity from the solutions. Healthcare organisations looking for fast, seamless deployments without compromising reliability also reap the benefits of Meraki MV. Lastly, retail organisations also embrace the approach, especially when planning large-scale deployments that need the simplicity and scalability of Meraki’s cloud-managed interface.

Cloud video solutions

Meraki has a number of integration solutions on the Meraki marketplace

Organisations can design a Meraki deployment of any size. For access control, Meraki has a number of integration solutions on the Meraki marketplace with their own considerations that will affect the final deployment design.

Cloud video is often seen as a complex and cybersecurity risk. While this is a common misconception, the reality is that with cloud video solutions, organisations can experience an out-of-the-box, end-to-end solution that is easy to work with. It also provides capabilities such as the ability to plug-and-play, and offers a fast, scalable setup via a web dashboard. Furthermore, with no-touch firmware updates, the solutions ensure security with automatic encryption of video, at rest and in transit, as well as secured access, with unique usernames and passwords, and a video access log, providing an audit of all video activity.

Cloud-based solution

The last two years have brought forward new workplace health and safety concerns—including occupancy, mask detection, and air quality—that organisations need to manage, in addition to core security needs.

Organisations leveraging a cloud-based solution are best positioned to adapt to this evolving physical security landscape. With a cloud-first platform, businesses can offer flexibility, scalability, and the ability to easily integrate new systems and add new capabilities with ease. All these factors combined—ease of maintenance, system flexibility and adaptability, and long lifespan—can lead to a lower TCO for cloud surveillance solutions, ultimately lowering costs while enabling safe environments, according to Cisco Meraki.