How Cctv & Hybrid Cloud Systems Can Benefit Businesses

Studies have shown that approximately 95% of all burglaries in the UK remain unsolved. CCTV surveillance installation is one way to ensure your business can provide Law Enforcement with evidence to catch the culprits quickly and efficiently. With CCTV, you are not only protecting your business interests but also your employees and customers.

CCTV stands for ‘Closed Circuit Television’ as it is a closed-circuit system since its signal transmission is not open as in the case of broadcast TV. CCTV transmits footage to another monitor. Analogue CCTV was the first type available, operating by saving recorded video to a DVD or video tape using a connected digital video recorder. IP CCTV is more common today, as it uses an internet-based network to store and receive recorded data. Businesses prefer IP CCTV as it is more reliable as data cannot be lost or manually damaged as it does not exist in a physical form. These systems can be linked to the cloud and stored in various online locations so it can be accessed globally and by many different people. It can be quickly downloaded by the police and is backed up in multiple ways, making it harder to tamper with or use unethically.

CCTV surveillance installation has many benefits to a business with crime prevention as the most obvious. Placing security cameras in strategic locations can deter criminal activities as well as capturing anything that does occur on video. It is statistically proven that CCTV can prevent acts of vandalism, serious crimes and break-ins. This is very important in high-crime areas. If you are running a retail business, CCTV encourages customers to treat your premises with more respect and discourages any shoplifting. If you happen to not be in retail, CCTV can protect you from property and intellectual theft as, in many cases it is employees responsible for these crimes and they will be caught on camera.

For employees, CCTV can help settle disputes as factual evidence will be brought into the situation and cannot be argued with. IP CCTV allows this data to be shared smoothly between individual persons and can shed light into any complicated relational issues between employees. Similarly, CCTV surveillance installation can also help prevent sexual harassment, theft and workplace violence because all employees are aware of 24hr monitoring and will feel more pressure to treat the workplace and each other with respect. CCTV has also been known to increase employees’ productivity as they have the constant presence of the boss in the room, without the physical person needing to watch them.

Another addition beneficial to businesses is a hybrid cloud system. Hybrid cloud is a cloud computing environment that uses a combination of private cloud and third-party, public cloud services with integration between the two platforms. Using hybrid cloud systems in business, has the benefit of providing a balanced approach to your operational needs. It allows you to keep sensitive client data on a private cloud or server, behind a firewall. Meanwhile, the public cloud is accessible for additional storage and can run larger applications that would take up too much space on your private or dedicated servers.

Hybrid cloud maintains flexibility for businesses as when they need dedicated servers, they can have those in a private cloud, but they always have the surplus space within the public cloud. This system also reduces overall costs as they operate in a way which means you only pay for the space when you actually use it. This mean the business is not wasting funds paying for empty space on large servers. It also increases security and ease of access to important data. A business would not want private files accessible through a browser and this data would need to also be available offline. With a hybrid cloud, companies can keep such files on dedicated on-site servers that can be accessed directly by those allowed to see them. On the topic of security, most businesses today do not feel comfortable having sensitive data on the cloud, especially as cyberattacks and hacking is increasing against the corporate world. This is also a risk as it creates a single point of failure as network issues can make the whole business inaccessible. The other option isn’t much more reliable as on-site servers can be wiped out by natural disasters or building damage. With a hybrid cloud, both these factors are considered as the data is protected by does not exist in a single physical place, while also having offline accessibility. For modern businesses, a hybrid cloud benefits all aspects of the company.