Specifically Speaking with Scott Bain

What is your role at the company and what kinds of systems do you design/specify?

As Founder, my mission is to make cities safer. SecuroGroup & Safer City Convergence Server (vGRID) have a vision to connect Police and Public Safety to millions of existing cameras across cities throughout the world.

SecuroGroup provides four things: Independent consultancy focusing on CCTV and the complex networks to reach them without introducing cyber security risks; Programme/Project Management; Managed Services of Video Management Services; and Specific CCTV Convergence Software written by SecuroGroup for Police and associated SaferCity initiatives to bring community cameras to the Police clients and VMS systems.

What vertical markets does the company specialize in? Any interesting projects that you can mention?

The market in New Zealand is government and businesses wanting better security and safer communities by collaborating closer with Police and first responders. Sharing Cameras and data when it makes sense is part of this.

SecuroGroup specializes in SaferCity convergence solutions. SaferCity defines a category of software and network solutions that help public safety, crime prevention and emergency response work closer together to keep us safer. The market is global and from New Zealand's success we are also in Australia and USA.

Interesting projects include the rapid convergence of multiple CCTV assets scattered across 13 stadiums for Cricket World Cup and FIFA U20 but also convergence solutions for Police across high profile security events where they do not own any of the assets.

How did you get started in security?

I held leadership roles at Cisco Worldwide moving between London and Silicon Valley. I had the opportunity to work on the design and delivery of complex networks for telcos and physical security solutions for Cisco customers.

What new technologies are you specifying today?

Like all of us I'm hearing all the hype around Artificial Intelligence, how amazing it's going to be and how fewer humans we will need behind the screens.  As with video analytics, every vendor apparently has the best AI algorithm ever.

Like others my age we've seen industry hype curves before so I'm waiting to see how AI plays out. Clear winners will emerge but I suspect it may take 2-3 years and might not be clever as the marketing claims, so I'm not specifying AI just yet.

What I am seeing in the CCTV VMS space (where SecuroGroup consults) is the emergence of the 2-3 top players in the VMS market.  A few historically large CCTV vendors are falling away, some are being acquired and consolidating and there's the sense of the top-tier and mid-tier in the market.

Within the top tier you are seeing an European VMS vendor embrace open standards, API's and SDK's and a North American VMS vendor on an acquisition spree. It's reminiscent of Microsoft vs Apple and I'm fascinated with how it'll play out over the next five years.
What is your view on the industry?

The physical security industry has finally grown up and joined the IT world - it's starting to get exciting now.
                     
Specifically Speaking features Q-and-A with a security consultant provided to SSN by SecuritySpecifiers.