Recently, one of IREX system integration partners has estimated the total cost of ownership for a smart city project with an initial size of 1,000 cameras and 100 users. The integrator has compared solutions from three vendors, including the IREX cloud-native platform and two traditional non-cloud platforms for video management and analytics.
Initial City Requirements
- Centralized deployment in a client's data-center connecting 1,000 existing cameras (Full HD resolution, 4 Mbps average bitrate per camera)
- Video recording and retention for 30 days
- Real-time video analytics (see below)
- Web-based access for up to 100 users from city government, transportation, fire department, utility companies, and local police
- Full server/storage redundancy
- 24/7 centralized monitoring of all components
Video Analytics for 1,000 cameras:
- Threat detection analytics for 600 cameras (crowding, fire, intrusion)
- Face recognition analytics for 200 cameras / a list of 1,000 wanted/missing people
- License plate recognition and parking violation analytics for 100 cameras / a list of 1,000 vehicle lists
Budgeting Approach
The cost analysis has been completed for 3 years using the vendor MSRP/GPL minus a 20% discount for a large-scale installation.- Included items: software licenses (including the video management system, video analytics, operating system, and virtualization), data center server and network hardware, storage, support, and maintenance.
- Excluded items: camera hardware, camera traffic, data-center collocation.
Capex Model Analysis (3 vendors)
The budget requirements from all the 3 vendors were close to $2.1M per 1,000 cameras or $2,100 per 1 camera:- Server and network hardware ≈50% of the budget
- Software perpetual licenses and 3-year premium support ≈50% of the budget
Opex Model Analysis (IREX only)
Only IREX offered a subscription-based model that replaced all the Capex payments by a quarterly subscription equivalent to $60 per camera per month. The amount to be paid over 3 years is $2.16M, which is close to the Capex budget.Feature Comparison
While all the 3 vendors offered core video management and video analytics, IREX provided a set of unique capabilities tailored for public safety applications in cities:- Ethical AI: The IREX system architecture has constraints and safeguards to ensure that its AI and Big Data capabilities are within the privacy and ethical norms of free societies (learn more).
- Multi-tenancy with Resource Sharing: city organizations (government, transportation, fire department, utility companies, and local police) can adjust the IREX platform features to their requirements independently. At the same time, IREX enables the city organizations to work together i.e. receive alerts, upload evidence media, track progress using a messenger on any device (watch demo).
- Searchviellance™: IREX finds missing people, suspects, vehicles instantly in Big Data across thousands of cameras (learn more)
- Carrier-Grade Design: the IREX cloud-native design brings reduced downtime and unlimited horizontal scaling by the number of cameras, the number of users, and the retention period (learn more).
Key Findings
- For the initial 1,000 cameras / 100 users, the IREX cloud-native platform and traditional non-cloud platforms have a similar cost of ownership, with the IREX platform providing the unique set of capabilities tailored for public safety applications in cities.
- As the system grows to 10,000 cameras and beyond, the IREX cloud-native provides a greater reduction of the total cost and ensures the system response time is not affected by the amount of data stored as well as the number of concurrent users.
- Capex and Opex models give the same Dollar value for 3 years, however, the Opex model simplifies budgeting and minimizes risks for the city.
Interested to learn more about IREX? Watch a 4-min Video Analytics Demo.
