Michael Wilson, Envysion’s CFO and reigning champ of my annual Texas Hold’em tourney, has a couple fun-to-read posts on the Managed Video as a Service blog. The great and colorful Yogi Berra provides the backdrop. The first one is titled “You can observe a lot just by watching” and the second is “We made too many wrong mistakes.” Take a look.
Matt Steinfort, President and CEO of Envysion, was recently interviewed by Larry Nelson of W3W3, an internet radio covering Colorado’s technology community. Among other topics discussed, Larry mentioned the APEX award that was recently given to Envysion for “Most Innovative Technology Product.”
Congratulations to Envysion for winning CSIA’s Apex Award for the “Most Innovative Technology Product of the Year – 2008”. Apex Awards recognize outstanding accomplishments and leadership by Colorado’s advanced technology companies and people.
“We are honored to be recognized as one of the most innovative technology companies in the state of Colorado,” said Matt Steinfort, CEO of Envysion. “Envysion offers customers the industry’s first Managed Video as a Service (MVaaS), as our technology integrates video with Point of Sale (POS) and other types of operational data to provide businesses with a strategic tool that helps them better manage their operations.”
Michael Wilson has a great post on the ManagedVideoBlog.com site. He is asking for guesses on where it is headed. I’m stumped for now but am thinking about it. In either case, the video clip is fun to watch.
Ameritech was one of the seven baby bells created when the original AT&T was broken apart. It is now apart of the new AT&T via the SBC/Ameritech merger.
My first job was at Ameritech. Let me correct that, my first post college job was at Ameritech. Prior to graduating college, I was a bus-boy, a caddy, a painter, a swim pool worker, a bagel maker, a do-whatever guy at a tree nursery, a RA, a pizza delivery guy, and (for one month) a telemarketer.
My last Ameritech stint was in Corporate Development. One of the projects I worked on was Ameritech’s entry into Security Alarms. The notion was that the physical security company was like telecommunications and therefore Ameritech should do a roll-up in the space. It sounded flimsy to me, but Ameritech went onto acquire several companies and launch Ameritech Security Link. SBC/AT&T thought this was not such a good idea, and they sold it.
However, my views changed over the years. I think Ameritech was right all along. Physical Security and Communications are converging. Ameritech was just a decade and a half off in its timing.
Cisco is moving ascertively into physical secuirty. Read Rob Hagen’s post on the Managed Services Blog for insight into this. A growing number of telecom-orientated managed services providers are following Ciscos lead. Envysion, which provides a software as a service video surveillance solution–which is called Managed Video as a Service–is actively working with several of them.
We have been focusing on how to build awareness for Envysion and the Managed Video as a Service (”MVaaS”) space. We started a blog on the topic. We identified highly focused lists of (a) prospective customers (b) prospective partners and (c) other participants int he MVaaS ecosystem. We outlined tactics on how to strengthen our ties with each of these MVaaS stakeholders.
Upon reading a blog post on Hub Spot, I learned this morning that we are heading completely the wrong direction. The blog post resonated and led me to concluded Envysion needs to approach its challenge altogether differently. I have not yet informed the Envysion folks–I assume they read this blog daily so I will use this to communicate with them. Buckle your seat belts–a course correction is underway.
I will summarize the new plan. First, we will raise some whole-number multiple of $12M, hopefully at a very high pre-money. Then we will invest in several of Hub Spot’s suggestions below:
The pros and cons of each item are described on Hub Spot’s post. Many additional suggestions were offered by readers in the comments to the blog. “95 White Persian Monkeys”, for example, merits serious consideration.
Darren Loher of Envysion (a provider of Managed Video as a Service) wrote a great post on the Managed Video Blog site. The opening sentence is a perfect lead in:
“If your video system isn’t linked to ‘real’ information, it is providing only a mere fraction of the value it could be.”
Darren referenced a blog called Security Dreamer and linked to a particular interesting post on the site. I will add Security Dreamer to my blogroll.
Do me a favor. Visit managedvideoblog.com. Put it on your favorites toolbar. Subscribe to it.
Over the next few weeks, I will provide more context on the meaning of MVaaS. It is a product category service that will prove to be very interesting to broadband service providers.
Peter Boriskin, VP of R&D for Tyco’s access control division wrote this article on Security as a Service. Boriskin provides good context for what Envysion is up to. Managed Video as a Service (MVaaS) more accurately captures Envysion’s area of focus.
Perhaps ADT and Envysion can find a way to collaborate.
Joe Panettieri writes MSP Mentor blog. The blog is a good source for ideas and information about managed services. Below is a reprint of a February 6th post on a managed services application that is closely related to managed video surveillance. Many of Envysion’s customers are retail brands; some have asked about the feasibility of using Envysion’s service as a platform for digital signage, which is what sparked my interest in this area. Here is Joe’s post:
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During a recent stop at Dunkin’ Donuts (my daily coffee run), I noticed new digital signage promoting local businesses and special offers for coffee. It dawned on me that digital signage is a great opportunity for managed service providers. Sure, you can sell Plasma TVs and large LCD screens to businesses, but the real money is in monthly content management services for those screens.
Skeptical? Consider this piece of news from BroadSign International Inc., which specializes in hosted software for digital signage networks.
BroadSign has launched a managed services platform to help digital signage network operators deploy and run their networks with minimal staff and maximum efficiency.
In a prepared statement, BroadSign Executive VP David Womeldorf said: “Our research shows that the digital signage industry is moving towards outsourcing network maintenance and other technical jobs, so the Managed Services is our answer to this clearly expressed need.”
BroadSign’s managed servcie platform covers such items as:
- Scheduling Services
- Network Monitoring Service
- BroadSign Operating System Services
- Dynamic Content Services
For managed service providers serving retail customers, digital signage represents a multitude of opportunities. For instance, MSPs can design and deploy digital signage systems that complement managed video surveillance systems, emerging point of sale solutions, and so on.