Cloudastructure The Cloud-Native Video Surveillance Platform for Better and Cost-Effective Enterprise Security

Even in the digital age, most companies are still confined to reviewing video at an individual location for video surveillance. The process is painfully slow, and can be a big challenge when security and safety concerns typically demand quick responses. And this challenge multiplies exponentially if a business has more than one site that must be reviewed. Remote access is, therefore, crucial these days so that the video feed can be viewed from anywhere in the world, and from any mobile device, enabling management with faster reaction times to crises.

Cloudastructure delivers intelligent, cyber-secure, enterprise, cloud-based video surveillance systems to protect businesses of all sizes. But why cloud? Cloud is more powerful, and cloud reduces the time, labor, and costs of utilizing in-house IT resources (who are focused on managing servers and firmware upgrades with on-premises solutions).

The Cloudastructure team comprises both veterans and rising stars in the fields of AI, ML, and surveillance. Based in Silicon Valley, the team has been building and hosting cloud-based systems since before “cloud” was a term. Its founders started enterprises with successful exits and were key employees at some of the world’s largest and most successful companies.

Cloudastructure  has pioneered cloud-based access control and video surveillance since 2003, making it the most enduring player in the industry. We recently got in touch with Rick Bentley, Founder and CEO, to know more about the company’s innovations. Read on for the excerpts from the interview.

Q. What gap are you filling in the market?

The gap we’re filling in the market is doing the job of cloud-based AI surveillance RIGHT. We ensure that the transfer of information to the cloud is cyber secure, that the AI/ML analytics are conducted in the cloud or on the edge, and that the analytics can be promptly retrieved and acted upon in real-time (while the data is safely stored in the cloud for whatever duration the client needs). We have the broad view of where AI/ML can go, while each and every one of our competitors has had to make significant sacrifices in terms of cloud integrity on at least one, if not multiple, of those protocols for a variety of reasons. For example, one competitor says they are cloud, yet all their analytics are still done on-premises. Another competitor is fully cloud but has little to no analytics.

Companies and governmental agencies that want full, cloud-based AI surveillance sooner rather than later understand that the proper engine for tomorrow is the one that is following those best practices today. Amassing their data in the cloud now enables them to tailor that footage to their individual needs in the future.

Q. What are the challenges of being in the cloud video surveillance space?

The primary challenge we have is the overwhelming demand for our solution versus our current available resources. Video surveillance has been a technological oversight for many years, so the list of companies wanting to move to the cloud immediately is very long and we are trying to meet demand by expanding our inventory and fulfillment resources. Additionally, we like to partner with our large customers by building custom features and this takes up engineering resources. We have to prioritize development and it’s an ongoing conversation.

Another challenge we face is the vast number of competitors misrepresenting the term “cloud” for their own purposes. Some claim a strict cybersecurity protocol – an essential for customers – without doing the difficult, daily regimen – which produces the predictable, catastrophic result. Others place their so-called “cloud solutions” on proprietary company servers for the sake of expediency, and when a system is hacked, or the data destroyed from environmental risk, the customer is stunned to discover the lack of redundancy. These misrepresentations are a detriment to customers, as well as to the integrity of the industry.

Q. How integral is AI/ML to all of your offerings?

AI/ML is integral to both our surveillance and smart cities solutions. But we are in the process of acquiring an IoT cybersecurity company that will round out our commitment to true security, both physical and cyber. The push-button activation will enable companies to expand their cloud-based AI surveillance options and automation capabilities while minimizing the risk of hackers. No one else on the market is providing cybersecurity as comprehensively as we are.

Q. How do your offerings stand out in the marketplace?

We are “cloud committed” – irrefutably the market leader for true cloud-based AI surveillance design and cybersecurity. We also are entirely software-based, unlike our competitors, who almost universally began as hardware suppliers. We are not here with a clandestine purpose of selling cameras no one wants or needs, nor passing along the increasing cost of continuing that business to customers. The need to sell hardware is a major impediment to true engineering progress in this industry, as it cultivates a variety of competing interests.

Q. Does CSI extend a helping hand even during installation?

Absolutely. We offer unlimited 24x7 support to customers at every phase, because the notion of “cloud-based” is, at its core, about alleviating the customer’s need to utilize their own IT resources. Any company that does that kind of hack is not a cloud partner.

Q. How do you support the growth of your team at CSI?

A startup only works if everyone is working collaboratively. The company has to succeed in order for any one individual to succeed at the company, so it’s in our interest to be supportive of one another at all times. From a work standpoint, when a customer is interested in a feature, our engineers listen and design, and when there’s a customer with pain points they can’t quite express, someone with a background in that industry will pitch in to explain the nuances. In terms of personal support, we back our commitment to our employees with great benefits, such as the best health insurance on the market and unlimited personal time-off.

Q. What does CSI aspire to achieve in the next few years?

Thanks to machine learning and artificial intelligence, at this moment we are witnessing the rapid convergence of physical security, cybersecurity and automation. We aspire to be the market leader in all three because when they eventually converge, we’ll be there to continue providing the most advanced technology available in the field.

“No one else on the market is providing cybersecurity as comprehensively as we are.”