S News meets Maurizio Barbo, Country Manager Italia, Milestone Systems.
Milestone is a well known company in the global scene for its dynamism, rapidity and its “Think Bigger” motto. Milestone Italia achieved important goals in 2013: numbers prove this clearly. So what is the grounding and the phylosophy of Milestone?
The goals achieved in 2013 are the results of an hard work and a path made step by step since many years. We gained a sales quota over 24% whilst our first competitor is under 11% and a 57% made up by other companies. This confirms that the 36% of growth of the last year has a great importance not only for Milestone but for the entire IP Italian market. We are a team and a company that pursue innovations and enterprises with a fast rhythm, believing that cooperation among national partners is a marketing strategy.
You can find proves of this in our LinkedIn profile MPOP Milestone, or looking the Italian videos in YouTube and considering the many enterprises which will be undertaken next year.
Our basic idea is “Share with Market”: cooperation is a marketing strategy for the growth and the culture of everyone. My motto is “If I listen, I can improve” and I firmly believe that who learns this lesson and chooses this way, not only will distinguish himself from the others, but with passion will run right to the target!
Cooperation and great innovations are the key words, right?
That is right. Our MAP( manufacturing partners of telecameras)are over 124 and their combined cameras are more than 3084. Moreover, with the new Universal Driver and Onvif, the Open Platform can read non-certificated peripherals using the Milestone driver. We can consider XProtect as an operating system of the video surveillance to which SI can connect every kind of peripheral.
First telecameras 4K are coming soon in spring, and we are ready to present the new driver pack 7.3. Our clients already use Milestone XProtect with Full HD telecameras or every other Mega Pixel telecameras; think about the 40Mega Pixel telecamera: Milestone got it too!
We have to add all telecameras or encoders with a video analysis or edge storage: the strong cooperation among all manufacturing companies, leads to a better administration of every function and feature. The result shows that, like never before, it is easier to use and to reach the videos from the storage. Not every system works in this way, here is the difference: Milestone does it, and it does it in an extremely easy and fast way! It suffices to try it for free to understand this: anyone can control his video surveillance system and telecameras(max8) using the XProtect GO version for free, from Windows, Linux, Mac, and from mobile phone device iOS, Android and Windows Mobile.
Talking about your Ecosystem, what is most important for you?
We take much care of our MPS and our Ecosystem: they work to develop vertical solutions in every field, often crucial solutions to define a specific feature. They form a great team of 1000 companies and academic working groups that use SDK and develop many other plug-in for XProtect to provide alternative functions for installers and System Integrators, in order to make new bargains. To have a wide choice is the most important thing for every operator.For this reason I believe that everyone can have his space and profit: always more users will require expandability and cooperation among systems. I want to underline that very often we are integrated in systems like PSIM and BMS. The basic idea is the same: Open Platform, infinite solutions. We have only to let our fantasy run and think about new ideas, new possibilities.
Considering Milestone’s idea summarized in “every information has its own image”, not merely in video surveillance area, everyone will gain the right strategy to face every situation. I give you an example: when telecameras are used in a kart-track for video surveillance, we can use them to broadcast the performances of the race for free on line in Internet whenever and wherever we want. So the pilot wants to see how was his performance? That is easy: he sets his smartphone on a special place and enable the “push” function from Milestone mobile system; in this way everything is available in live streaming and can be recorded. The same system organizes the multimedia files and the commercial advertising, posting special films to specific monitors. Moreover, the system controls the cash desks combing their images with receipts, obteining a statistical sample of the sold tickets for the kart event.All this is possible with an only purchase, a mere investment that always increase its value. For this reason our system is different: it is Milestone.
Very clear. We have heard that Milestone is branching out into new sectors, one of these the hardware sector. Is this right?
Of course it is. Demand increasingly aims at Open Platform solutions. Spring and summer will bring important novelties: the Milestone program for the access control is an example in the software sector. This program will be available to any producer of access control systems that support Xprotect; many have already exploited this opportunity. To have a wide choice is decisive. This will prompt companies to find new opportunities, good bargains and to cooperate on the common ground of two different worlds as they are video surveillance and access control.
Milestone Huski is the next new entry; an original and complete choice of NVR with three different models and with more than 50 personalizable configurations, three years of guarantee and updatings included. Arcus will pursue its target: the major hardware brands will propose their solutions through their channels and then they will be interconnected with Milestone Xprotect. The final user will have at his disposal a great and complete choice among Milestone Xprotect software for Windows to install on one's favourite PC-Server, NVR Milestone for Linux or Windows Embedded and hardware made from third parts of Milestone software for Windows, Mac or Linux.
Have you planned new events?
After the great success of the MPOPs, we have decided that MPOP becomes biennial. This year we will fix our attention on a big challenge: to bring a new idea of “Sicurezza2014”. Not the same old booth, but an Ecosystem village with all our Partners, and with the organization and collaboration of the Milan Fair Team.
The Ecosystem village will extend over a 1600mq area: new products, solutions, tests, trainings, academic researches, music and games, non stop initiatives…and finally the prize-giving ceremony for the Partners of the year. We believe that Partners are the real protagonists and we want to develop the whole market, not only the cooperating with the ones who already share our way “to be open”. Everyone can be at the centre of the Milestone Ecosystem. This is why I say “You are at the centre of the Ecosystem”. As I have underlined above, I believe that “If I listen, I can improve”. In Milestone we want to give this opportunity to everybody and doing this all together is simply wonderful.
by Monica Bertolo
