Continental View

Something of a war of words has broken out between Dedicated Micros CEO Mike Newton and Controlware country manager Mark Harraway over IP-based surveillance and ROI claims.

In a recent opinion piece, Newton made charges of “inflated claims” by some pushing pure IP-based surveillance solutions, and argued that such systems often contain hidden costs related to things like the need for network upgrades while failing to take into account problems like the ability to guarantee failsafe, continuous recording.

Harraway wrote a stinging rebuttal, basically calling Newton a liar (“overtly disingenuous” was his euphemism of choice) when it came to a cost analysis of a theoretical 750-camera installation and accused him of trying to “hold back the market in an unhappy compromise of hybrid systems.”

There’s a huge gap in their cost analyses, with Newton’s estimate of a pure IP-based 750-camera system coming in at up to GBP 1.8mln, as opposed to a distributed, hybrid model, the cost of which he puts as low as GBP 250,000 (ranging up to GBP 600,000 depending on frame rate recording requirements).

Harraway says a pure, high frame rate IP solution could be delivered for under GBP 500,000. (The myriad details behind each argument are laid out in their respective articles).

Cost of the theoretical installation aside, both guys have a point. In a nutshell, Harraway argues that whatever the criticisms, the future ultimately belongs to IP, and anyone ignoring that now risks getting left behind. Newton says installers need to look beyond exaggerated vendor claims to get at the real cost of ownership for an IP-based system. While the rhetoric gets a little heated, the exchange is a good one for a topic that only seems to be attracting more interest.