Axis Communications: Ensuring a safer ecosystem

How is Axis

Communications instrumental in changing the surveillance system space

in India?

Over the past few years,

we have observed that safety and security have emerged as the areas

of prime concern for individuals as well as corporates. A rise in

awareness has contributed to this trend and today security and

surveillance has become imperative for a smarter, safer society.

Earlier, the physical

security market was dominated by analog cameras, also known as CCTVs

(closed-circuit television). However, the surveillance industry is

now undergoing a radical technological shift and IP-based

surveillance cameras are gaining good momentum owing to their

superior technology features and affordability and are hence

preferred over the legacy analog systems. Also, the network video

market is growing at a faster pace as compared to the growth rate of

the entire surveillance and security space on the whole. When Axis

entered the Indian market, the major concern was market education,

due to the technological gap. Lot of our efforts were also directed

in holding regular training sessions for our partners in the initial

stages. Our Channel Partner Program (CPP) provides a platform for our

partners to keep abreast of the latest technologies, product

offerings and bring the advantages of the best in network video to a

vast majority of users. Today, we have been successful in creating

awareness and now over the last few years, we observe an increased

acceptance of IP-based surveillance across industry verticals like

transportation, education, ports, corporates etc.

How does Axis ensure

that the benefits of the surveillance systems installed by its
customers are optimized?

Axis understands the

necessity of a smarter and safer ecosystem and constantly endeavors

to introduce solutions with advanced features. We build our product

specifications with immense care and ensure that the quality of our

products are maintained. The scope of benefits attained by the user

depends mainly on the type of installation. In order to address this,

we ensure that our channel partners are trained across all the

products, so that they are in a position to advise the customer about

the best installations which would yield more benefits. Also, we have

been a preferred choice of our partners for many years and are

recognized and awarded for our deployments in some of the critical

industries. Recently, Axis has won the 2011 Frost & Sullivan Asia

Pacific Aerospace and Defense Award for Airport Video Surveillance

Systems Provider of the Year. These are prestigious awards presented

to companies which have been identified as outstanding industry

achievers in both regional and global markets that bring unique best

practices to the forefront.

How many channel

partners do you have in India? What plans do you have for them?

Axis is a completely

channel-driven company and has over 735 certified channel partners in

India currently. Axis has major plans to expand this number to 1,000

in the coming years. The company's main focus in India in the

coming months is to foray into tier-2 and tier-3 cities. To achieve

this, we will expand our partner network and focus on partner

education and training to keep them updated on the company's latest

technology products. We encourage them to be partners in profits and

constantly do knowledge

transfer and consider them as an integral part of our business. We

wish to continue our partner enhancement programs and allow them to

grow, as we grow as a company.

Axis has the following

partner programs currently in India:

• Channel Partner Program
  
  (CPP) for system integrators- It provides a platform for our partners
  
  to keep abreast of the latest technologies, product offerings and bring
  
  the advantages of the best in network video to a vast majority of users

• Application Development
  
  Partner (ADP) program-It helps software developers fully integrate Axis
  
  network video products in end-user solutions, by providing application
  
  components, technical documentation and dedicated development support

• Architecture and
  
  Engineering program-It provides support tools for network architects,
  
  engineers and consultants, who design specific IP-based security systems

• The Technology Partner
  
  Program-Aimed at companies that deliver the infrastructure components
  
  required in an IP surveillance system, this program completes our
  
  ecosystem to provide a total solution to the enduser.

What is the marketshare

of Axis security products, as compared to the overall Indian market

in surveillance needs?

The Indian security and

surveillance market is growing at a rapid pace, which is about 30% of

the entire security industry. Axis has a broad product range catering

to the specific needs of different market segments. Axis is the

global #1 player in network video and network cameras and has

promising products lined up for the future as well. In India, Axis

managed to secure considerable marketshare with its strong portfolio

of products and partner reach and has witnessed a growth rate of 50%

y-o-y.

Some of the recently

launched products in India are as below:

• Axis M50 series-World's
  
  smallest HDTV camera, the palm-sized AXIS M5013 and AXIS M5014 PTZ are
  
  affordably priced for remote and discreet monitoring of indoor areas
  
  such as stores, banks, office lobbies, restaurants, hotels, museums and
  
  warehouses.

• AXIS P5544 PTZ
  
  dome network camera, with oneclick, 360-degree panoramic view, is ideal
  
  for applications that require wide overview surveillance and sharp,
  
  zoomed-in views for identification purposes.

• AXIS P33 series
  
  (the indoor AXIS P3367-V network camera and the outdoor-ready AXIS
  
  P3367-VE model), are both vandal-resistant and are suitable for any
  
  application that requires video surveillance coverage of a large area.

• AXIS P13 series
  
  comprises indoor and outdoorready fixed cameras that deliver superb
  
  image quality. The cameras are suitable for a wide range of video
  
  surveillance applications, including government and industrial
  
  buildings, retail environments, airports, railway stations and schools.

• AXIS Q1921 and
  
  AXIS Q1921-E thermal network cameras are ideal for cost-efficient 24/7
  
  area or perimeter surveillance of all security applications such as
  
  roads, tunnels and airports.

• India is a
  
  growing market and the IP and video surveillance industry in India is
  
  certainly on an upswing.

What are the future

plans of Axis in the Indian market, in 2011?

India is one of the key

markets for Axis. We have achieved a growth rate of 50% in India and

we wish to target and achieve similar development in the coming

quarters as well. We identified huge opportunity and therefore wish

to invest more in terms of awareness, technology transfer, training

and educating the partners to achieve the estimated growth. Going

forward, our main focus will be on building 'intelligence on the

edge' in all our solutions. Currently, efforts are underway to

launch cameras that have the capability to intelligently process

images and send only relevant information to the security control

room or security personnel. With increasing investments in government

sectors like airports, seaports, metros and other greenfield

projects, the infrastructure sector looks quite promising. Axis is

also betting big on retail, transport and hospitality sectors. From a

local market perspective, we will be spending more time in

strengthening our distribution channels, focus on developing our

reach in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, ramping our support infrastructure

and also invest in developing solution-oriented segment-specific

channels.