SIA New Member Profile: Cloud Collect

New Security Industry Association (SIA) member Cloud Collect provides organizations with the ability to store their video surveillance footage in the cloud. The company is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, and works with customers in any geographic location.

SIA spoke with Mark Clemens, founder and managing partner of Cloud Collect, about the company, the security industry and working with SIA.

Tell us the story of your company.

Mark Clemens: We were established as a natural extension to some work we had been doing in conjunction with Seagate Lyve in 2022. Our founders have been involved in the security industry for over 40 years and recognized the opportunity to assist integrators and end users with cloud migration for storage of their video surveillance data. 

What solutions/services does your business offer in the security industry? And what makes your offerings or your company unique?

MC: The global IP video surveillance and video surveillance (hybrid) as a service (VSHaaS) market is growing, particularly in the small- to medium-sized business and enterprise sectors due to the rapid proliferation of cloud acceptance and mandates within select vertical industries. Valued at $18.51 billion back in 2018, the market is projected to reach $52.98 billion by 2026 – registering a compound annual growth rate of 12.9% from 2019 to 2026.

As a result, huge volumes of data will be produced at the edge, requiring system optimization among data storage, data processing and communication – revolutionizing the VSHaaS model and overall use and acceptance.

What do we offer?

Cloud Collect offers a group of “services” to simplify the process for traditional systems integrators and end users to embrace the cloud quickly and easily migrating to a hybrid on-premise/cloud model for their video surveillance storage.

In a more simplistic statement, we have “productized” cloud video storage and at the same time eliminated the need for any proprietary on-premise hardware.

What makes us unique?

Cloud Collect follows an on-premise-first (OPF) storage model allowing entities to leverage legacy deployed IP surveillance systems with zero hardware replacement while gradually migrating to cloud storage.

Cloud Collect is a Windows-based file system filter driver that is preconfigured to send video or data content to the cloud based on any number of policies and or parameters defined within premise-based Windows VMS or directly from edge camera analytics. We eliminate the need for an integrator or end user to create or manage their own cloud account with our preconfigured solution and partnership with Seagate Lyve Cloud.

What’s something we might not know about your company – or something new you’re doing in security?

MC: We very much simplify the  process for migrating to the cloud and offer unique services, some as usage rate monitoring and billing, which is new to the security industry.

What do you think are the biggest opportunities in the security industry right now?

MC: IT managers at many organizations are being challenged with the amount of storage space required from today’s video cameras. With many cameras now producing 4K and higher images, on-premise storage can become a problem. A single 4K camera recording at 1520p resolution, 30 frames per second, motion only which is estimated at 50% of the time will produce approximately 1.34 TB of information to be stored. Multiply that by the hundreds or thousands of cameras that today’s organizations are deploying, IT departments will have an immense amount of hardware to support – floor space, heating, cooling, updating, upgrading, replacing and the list goes on. This presents a big opportunity for the organizations to send that data to the cloud, eliminating headcount, utility costs, space and responsibility.        

What are your predictions for the security industry in the short and long term?

MC: Security will always be a part of our lives, which makes it a great industry to be part of. Short-term, I believe that todays integrators must embrace a services mentality as their No.1 priority to stay healthy in the short term and prepare for the long term.

What are the biggest challenges facing your company and/or others in the security industry?

MC: Change. The security industry (video and access control) has actively been a part of our industry for close to 40 years. We saw modest changed in technology during the first 20 years and the skill sets necessary to be relevant in the industry basically stayed the same. You now must have sales, technical, operational,and leadership that understand how our industry has changed and drive change in their companies.

What does SIA offer that is most important to you/your company?

MC: SIA is the premier security association for information, training/professional development and keeping us in the industry informed on governmental initiatives that are happening behind the scenes.

What do you most hope to get out of your membership with SIA?

MC: Continued training, education and information through the excellent conferences that SIA provides. My personal goal is to take advantage of more of the resources that my membership affords me to do.

How does your organization engage with SIA? What are your plans for involvement in the next year?

MC: We engage with SIA through attendance at the SIA Market Leaders Reception andTthe Advance at ISC West, attending ISC West and taking part in the numerous educational and professional development offerings that are always top notch.

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.