New Member Profile: Manything

Manything

Manything developed an app that empowers security professionals with remote viewing and offsite cloud storage to camera installations. With Manything Pro, practitioners can set up remote viewing of their security cameras in less than five minutes, according to the company, which has U.S. offices in San Francisco. Manything recently joined the Security Industry Association (SIA), and we chatted with Laura O’Sullivan, Manything head of marketing, to discover the story behind their cloud-based application. Find out more at https://manything.com.

1. How did you get into the security industry?

In 2012, Manything developed an app that turned spare smartphones and tablets into home security cameras. Today, we have more than 800,000 registered customers who use the app to monitor their homes while they are away. In 2016, we surveyed our users, and they told us that they loved our software but wanted to use it with cameras that can record outside with nightvision. This led us to the professional security space.

Over the last 12 months, we’ve integrated our software with a range of cameras. Through a few simple taps in the Manything Pro app, you can add remote viewing and offsite cloud storage to a compatible camera. We’ve solved the key technical challenges associated with reliably getting video to the cloud and developed a disruptive platform for the professional industry. We’re now looking for integrators and distributors to resell Manything cloud subscription plans to their customers.

2. Who are the prominent executives at your company? If someone wanted to meet a key person at an industry networking event, who would that be?

James West, CEO and Co-Founder
Mike Edge, CTO
Joanna Santander, Head of Business Development
Laura O’Sullivan, Head of Marketing

3. What do you enjoy most about your role?

At the moment, we’re focusing on meeting distributors and integrators who want to add Manything to their product offering. Demonstrating our platform to these channel partners and hearing their positive feedback is really exciting, as is working with them to establish the best ways of introducing it to their customers. Every partner we meet has a different set of requirements and a different customer base, so it’s great to be able to share knowledge and ideas within our partner community.

4. What’s your company’s biggest challenge right now?

Our biggest challenge is the speed of adoption. Although “cloud” has been a buzzword in the professional security industry for a while, we’re still in the early growth phase. Our channel partners are entrepreneurial distributors and integrators whose interest in Manything is twofold: Their customers are asking them for remote viewing and offsite storage, and they’re driven by moving their business from capital expenditures to recurring revenue. While we’re certain it will happen in the future, cloud isn’t yet the default in the professional space.

5. What trends does your company foresee for the security industry in the next year?

Looking specifically at the cloud video monitoring space, we definitely expect end-user demand for remote monitoring to grow. Products like Nest and Arlo in the consumer space are setting the expectation that an end user should be able to watch their cameras remotely from their phone. And with Amazon recently acquiring Blink, this will certainly be accelerated!

6. What does your organization receive from membership in SIA? How do you plan to be active in the association soon?

The main reason we’ve joined the SIA is to foster new relationships. Obviously, we’re looking to meet integrators and distributors who are looking for cloud, but we’re also excited about the opportunities to get more involved in the broader industry.

7. Will your company participate in an upcoming event with SIA such as ISC West, New Product Showcase or Government Summit? If so, what aspect of the event appeals most to your company?

We’re very much looking forward to ISC West. We exhibited for the first time last year, and we’ve come a long way since then! We’re hoping to meet lots of entrepreneurial integrators and distributors who want to add a new recurring revenue opportunity to their business. (Find Manything at ISC West Booth # 34061!)

The views and opinions expressed in guest posts and/or profiles are those of the authors or sources and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Security Industry Association (SIA).