Tariffs, prices, and video surveillance: Why the cloud wins

If your work involves any aspect of IT, you’re likely painfully aware of the rising prices. Budgeting for new technology can quickly turn into a headache. It goes for surveillance, too. Technology products, regardless of where they’re made or assembled, are dependent on supply chains that have been impacted by tariffs.

The exact impact of many of these tariffs is still uncertain. But that kind of uncertainty, just as much as actual price increases, can force tough decisions, and drive trade-offs. 

The good news is that you don’t have to compromise on video security.  

Bring your own blades

When prices change, we work to minimize the impact on our customers. Since tariffs affect physical goods, rather than cloud services, we’ve been able to buffer customers from sticker shock even while greatly increasing data storage capabilities.

Predictability in both price and performance is a key reason to select a cloud provider. And because dedicated data centers let us operate efficiently for the central tasks of securely storing and delivering video, we’ve delivered steady, predictable prices.  

A key factor that helps Eagle Eye customers adjust to rising prices and to budget on their own terms is our camera-agnostic, standards-based approach. Unlike proprietary, end-to-end systems, Eagle Eye has been based on an open approach to hardware and software since day one.

Every manufacturer of cameras and networking equipment has to adjust to tariffs, just as they must to other business factors. But when you use the Eagle Eye Cloud VMS, there’s no “Gotcha!” when it comes to camera choice. 

In fact, it’s easy for Eagle Eye to offer flexibility to choose your own end-of-life date for cameras (as well as switches and other networking infrastructure).

What about hardware? 

While we offer a range of excellent cameras, including ones specialized for tasks like license plate recognition or for rugged outdoor placement, such as in places where cameras couldn’t otherwise go. But when specialized cameras aren’t called for, you can use the Eagle Eye Cloud VMS with any of more than 7,000 industry-standard cameras — including the ones that you’ve already got.

When it comes to necessary on-premise equipment, such as Eagle Eye Bridges and CMVRs, our product lines continually receive performance improvements in the form of increased port numbers, faster network interfaces, new processors, and upgrades to memory and onboard storage. That means even when prices for new models must be adjusted upward, end users may find that they can get the same level of performance, or even more, with a more affordable suite of hardware.

Savings beyond the surface: AI and monitoring

So far, we’ve only addressed the two most obvious direct costs of video surveillance: hardware like cameras or switches, and video management software. 

But many cameras have also gotten far more intelligent with on-board AI features. In considering the level of smarts you want to pay for in your cameras, it’s worth mentioning that cloud-based AI has the same advantage as other cloud services: rather than paying a tariff-driven premium for additional in-camera processing, you can get AI analytics through the VMS instead. And when the cloud-based AI models advance, you get the upgraded performance transparently. With that off-site processing, you can be deliberate about when you upgrade to the next generation of on-premises hardware.

And while we’re excited about analytics and what they can bring to both physical security and business operations, we know that not everything is AI. Cloud-based services allow you to get the most value from your surveillance system in other ways too. Services like remote monitoring may be performed more economically across state or national borders, and for overnight operations, especially, that may be the right choice. And it takes a connection-friendly cloud-based system to do things like enable sharing cameras with emergency operators in the event of a crisis.

Choosing Eagle Eye gets you the options you need, and makes it easier to budget. If you have questions about how we can help you get the most value from your surveillance dollar, we’re always ready to help.

Timothy Lord

Timothy Lord has witnessed and written about IT security trends and the ongoing evolution of SaaS for more than 25 years.