A stage by stage video surveillance checklist
The Tour de France, the world’s most prestigious and challenging cycling competition, tests physical prowess, strategy, and resilience.
Each stage of the Tour de France presents unique challenges, from mountainous climbs to flat sprints and time trials. Cyclists must adapt their tactics to the demands of each stage to optimize their performance
Similarly, deploying a video surveillance cloud solution involves navigating various stages, each with its own set of challenges.
Let’s break down a cloud-based video surveillance deployment by stages like a Tour de France Champion.
STAGE 1 (Grand Depart)
Set your strategy
Winning the Tour de France requires meticulous long-term planning. Teams map out the entire race, identifying key stages and challenges, ensuring they have the necessary resources and strategies for each segment.
Similarly, deploying a video surveillance cloud solution demands a comprehensive project plan and budget. Mapping out the big picture is crucial for securing near-term and long-term funding. You’ll want to:
- Define your project scope and budget
- Outline your requirements, including integrations with other critical security infrastructure
- Consider both near-term and long-term milestones and budget needs
- Research any government grants you can apply for to offset your costs
STAGE 2
Define your requirements
Before the Tour de France begins, cyclists undergo rigorous training to ensure they are in peak physical condition. This preparation includes testing their equipment, understanding the terrain, and optimizing their nutrition and hydration strategies. Similarly, a successful video surveillance cloud deployment starts with thorough preparation.
- Testing the readiness of your network.
- Assessing bandwidth capabilities.
- Map areas to be monitored and any specific surveillance requirements.
- Determine what cameras and devices can be reused vs. replaced.
- Consider any needed integrations, devices, solutions
- Identifying potential limitations such as low bandwidth or power issues.
STAGE 3
Assemble your dream team
Success in the Tour de France isn’t just about having a strong lead cyclist; it’s about assembling a top-notch team. Similarly, a successful video surveillance project requires the right mix of expertise.
- Assemble your internal team with a project owner, typically the CIO or CTO, and key stakeholders from IT, security, facilities, operations, and finance.
- Choose external partners:
- An integrator for inspecting existing hardware and determining requirements.
- Hardware manufacturers based on camera preferences and compatibility.
- A cloud-based video management solution (VMS) provider to unify the platform.
STAGE 4
Conduct a pilot and refine your strategy
The Tour de France spans over three weeks, requiring cyclists to deploy proper strategies to maintain endurance and resilience. A single setback, such as a crash or mechanical failure, doesn’t mean the race is lost. Successful teams recover, adapt, and continue striving towards the finish line.
Similarly, deploying a cloud solution is a long-term project that requires endurance and resilience. Starting small with a proof of concept can help you pace your project, identify potential challenges so you can learn and adapt as you progress.
- Conduct a pilot project to test the system and gauge a vendor’s responsiveness.
- Expect unexpected and maintain a flexible mindset and address issues promptly.
- Adapt strategies as you progress, including evaluating various deployment models, scaling data storage, adjusting bandwidth allocation, and enhancing user training programs.
STAGE 5
Celebrate the small wins
The Tour de France is not just one race but a series of competitions: daily stage wins, overall winner, king of the mountains best sprinter, best new rider and best team overall. Each win contributes to the team’s success. Similarly, a VSaaS solution is a win for multiple departments within the organization. Take time to recognize and celebrate the small wins:
- Security team: Enhanced surveillance capabilities and improved response times
- Operations: Better monitoring and management of day-to-day activities.
- Facilities: Efficient use of resources and improved maintenance.
- IT: Centralized oversight, integration with existing systems, reduced cyber security threats with less on-prem reliance and maintenance, and scalable infrastructure and storage.
- Finance: Cost effective solution with potential long-term savings through the reuse of existing infrastructure, and the economies of scale that comes with cloud deployments.
THE FINAL STAGE
Sprint to the finish
The final phase of a video surveillance cloud deployment is where all the planning and hard work culminate. Ensuring that the system is correctly configured, rigorously tested, and smoothly transitioned to go-live status demands intense focus and coordination.
Just as cyclists must perform flawlessly in their final sprint down the Champs-Élysées in Paris (this year in Nice, France), the deployment team must ensure every detail is perfect to achieve a successful launch. This final effort solidifies the project’s success, bringing it across the finish line with confidence.
THE PODIUM
Achieving your business goals
Crossing the finish line in the Tour de France is a significant achievement, but the journey doesn’t end there. Successful teams engage in ongoing analysis and optimization to improve performance for future races.
Similarly, after the go-live phase of a video surveillance deployment, ongoing monitoring and optimization are crucial to ensure the system meets its goals. By continuously refining the system based on user feedback and performance data, and replacing and upgrading hardware as it reaches end of life, businesses can ensure their surveillance solution remains effective and aligned with their security objectives.
Whether it’s the Tour de France or a video surveillance deployment, it’s about proper preparation, the support of an experienced team, and the right approach. If you are looking for more helpful resources check out our latest IT guide to modern physical security.
Learn how you can level up your video surveillance game with Arcules in our latest IT Guide to Modern Physical Security
