Milestone Systems, the open platform company in IP video management software (VMS), has retained the global position of number one VMS vendor by company revenue in market research from business intelligence provider IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS). This is the ninth time for Milestone Systems to achieve top ranking.

?Milestone has continued to grow at a steady rate. Our ongoing strength as the global number one VMS provider is testament to the deep, broad Milestone community of partners and customers. Our expertise is multiplied through our partner interactions creating more innovation and value for the industry,? said Lars Thinggaard, President & CEO, Milestone Systems. ?We are at the beginning of realizing the opportunities from our software?s endless capabilities to integrate and we are very excited about that.?

Milestone not only maintained the number one global position, but also the number one spot in Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) and number three ranking in the Americas with a move up from number four to number two in Asia/Pacific (APAC).

Milestone Systems sells its offerings through more than 9,000 channel partners who work with 500 distributors in over 150 countries. The software supports more than 5,000 devices from over 130 camera manufacturers and works with the ONVIF specifications that enable hundreds more devices to operate with Milestone VMS.

The IHS research, part of its Video Surveillance Intelligence Service*, found that demand continues to grow and the world market for video surveillance equipment in 2016 will be worth USD 15.8bn, a growth rate of 6.4% over 2015. Price erosion in video surveillance hardware continues to impact the overall industry growth rates, but customer demand is still increasing in volume.

Overall market growth and trends

?Demand for video surveillance equipment continues to grow quickly. Price competition can make it a tough market for hardware vendors but the average price of video management software has not fallen as quickly as the price of cameras and recorders,? said Jon Cropley, principal analyst for video surveillance at IHS Technology. ?It is hard for vendors and integrators to differentiate themselves: competing on features rather than price is the big challenge. A lot of the talk in the industry this year is about software and its importance in system offerings as a differentiator.?
Overall, the video surveillance market continues to grow in volume and revenue. More cameras are being installed than ever, but installer margins face pressure. Progress continues to be made in trends like mobile solutions, cloud technology, analytics and biometrics.

IHS reports that merger and acquisition activity has increased recently but there are still hundreds of suppliers so more consolidation is likely to come. The VMS market has already seen more consolidation than other areas. Software is a good differentiator when hardware is going down in price, adding value to hardware so acquisitions of software companies increase.

Comprehensive research methodology

Unlike most market research, IHS provides regular forecast updates. In its internal database, IHS has more than 300 video surveillance equipment and software vendors for which it makes estimates, speaking to most of these personally as part of its intelligence gathering ? over the phone, at trade shows, and conducting location visits. This primary research and data collection by IHS provides a key service for distinguishing its business studies. PR and marketing information from companies can be used for secondary research but the IHS methodology directly culls the data and puts the numbers together from the source.