The modern enterprise demands more every year from its business systems to remain competitive, grow sales and decrease costs. For businesses, it’s a time to understand what is “next” in our respective industries and spaces.

As part of my personal mantra, I believe everything is connected, and I also find it to be a fitting theme for 2018. In the past few years, we’ve seen digital transformation through everything-as-a-service, consumer IoT, voice assistants and more. The way we live is rapidly changing, but as technology evolves, we can count on becoming more connected. In part, we have the cloud to thank for that.

Here are five reasons why 2018 will prove to be the year businesses are ready for video IoT in the cloud

1.  The Cloud Has More Bandwidth – For many in the modern enterprise, concerns linger that the cloud is not up to the challenge of securely storing the vast amount of video data that currently lives in on-premise solutions. Recent advancements in cloud technology, however, mean cloud infrastructure can meet the demands of even the most expansive video surveillance systems. The increasing adoption of fiber optic technology  also fuels the cloud’s scalability. Businesses can synchronize cloud data with on-site data at lightning speeds through a fiber optic network, which allows trillions of bytes of data per second to be securely transmitted.

2.  Freedom to Explore Artificial Intelligence and Smart IoT – In a cloud-based connected future, IT teams can go beyond today’s un-intelligent video security used primarily to prevent crime and provide evidence for investigations. By leveraging artificial intelligence and IoT, companies can further optimize their businesses, making video data a strategic organizational asset.

For instance, video surveillance footage and analytics, combined with data from IoT devices, can inform business decisions ranging from how to increase foot traffic in hotel lobbies to strategies for lessening theft in smart cities. The cloud enables time- and resource-strwp-contented IT teams to do more, providing them with the opportunity to contribute to the success of the company.

3.  Everyone Wants to Grow – Scalability is key. Without the burden of housing and managing onsite servers, companies of all sizes can go from zero to 100 in the blink of an eye. When all else is changing and the business’ physical footprint continues to grow, they are able to rely on cloud services to grow with them.

4.  All Eyes are on Cybersecurity – This shouldn’t be a scary thing to tackle. While all eyes are on video and there are growing concerns in the public for user security, companies in the industry can limit that risk. We have an opportunity to flip the mindset and demonstrate how video IoT in the cloud is more secure than legacy video surveillance.

5.  Security teams and IT professionals are converging under CIOs — With threat environments constantly evolving, CIOs are seeing their physical security teams and IT departments converge to meet the changing needs of businesses today. As video surveillance moves to the cloud, previously disparate security and IT teams will come together to strengthen data protections against omnichannel threats. Leveraging video cloud IoT as a service enables enterprises to take a more holistic, agile wp-contentroach in how they manage, monitor and protect their data systems that process personal or sensitive information.

At Arcules, we are aggregating video and IoT data in the cloud and leveraging the latest in artificial intelligence technology to identify critical business insights in a previously untouched video archive. Central to our mission is our desire to help the enterprise identify opportunities that improve customer experience and support public safety all for a safer and smarter world.