Organisations can leverage the cloud to streamline operations, reduce downtime and eliminate hidden costs, writes Ben Watkin, Director of Channel Sales, EMEA, Verkada.
When considering a new video security system, it’s tempting to choose the most budget-friendly option that meets your organisation’s specific needs.
However, many don’t realise that these systems often come with hidden costs over time.
The initial savings can quickly disappear, turning what seemed like a smart financial decision into a budget nightmare.
This is often the case for on-premise systems.
While they may appear cost-effective upfront, understanding these hidden costs will ensure that you’re making the right investment that delivers value over the long-term.
Traditional on-premise video monitoring systems that rely on a centralised network video recorder (NVR) or digital video recorder (DVR) may seem cost-effective at first.
However, they come with substantial ongoing maintenance and upgrade expenses that aren’t always factored into the initial budget.
Over time, these systems often require costly repairs or replacements due to hardware wear and evolving storage needs, with additional capacity often needed sooner than anticipated.
Beyond hardware failures, maintaining traditional systems can be both time-consuming and expensive.
Repairs, troubleshooting and network issues demand significant resources, and specialised camera systems often require technicians with specific expertise—further driving up costs.
One of the biggest challenges with traditional on-premise video security systems is the complexity of retrieving footage when it’s needed most.
Whether it’s for an investigation, compliance, or routine review, accessing stored video from NVRs and DVRs can be time-consuming and costly.
With on-prem systems, security teams often need to manually sift through hours of footage, navigate outdated user interfaces, or physically drive hours to a location and retrieve hard drives to access critical video evidence.
If footage is stored offsite, retrieving it may require coordination with third-party storage providers or shipping physical media—adding delays and additional costs.
In some cases, video may even be lost due to corrupted storage devices or misconfigured retention settings, leaving organisations without the evidence they need.
These inefficiencies translate to higher operational costs, as IT and security teams must dedicate valuable time to managing storage, troubleshooting accessibility issues and ensuring compliance with retention policies.
NVR/DVR-based systems are only truly secure if they remain fully air-gapped from their organisation’s network.
However, this setup creates major challenges for remote access, leading many organisations to open network ports for convenience.
The moment these ports are exposed, the system becomes significantly less secure, requiring constant oversight and additional protective measures.
While IT teams can take on the added responsibility of monitoring and securing the system, this comes at the expense of increased workload and additional employee hours.
And that’s the best-case scenario. By connecting an NVR/DVR system to the broader network, organisations introduce the risk of cyber threats, potential breaches and even reputational damage—each of which carries substantial financial consequences.
With on-premise systems, organisations are limited to the features included at the time of purchase.
This becomes a problem when new (and often essential) software capabilities become available.
For example, if an organisation wants to leverage the latest AI analytics to quickly search through and locate relevant footage, it might need to purchase the software upgrade with those features separately.
On top of that, a technician would have to visit each NVR/DVR to manually install the software update.
These additional software upgrades—along with the labour required to install them—can quickly drive up costs and introduce significant delays.
Scheduling technicians, gaining access to secure sites and coordinating updates across multiple locations can be time-consuming and disruptive—especially in industries with strict security protocols or operational constraints.
As a result, traditional on-premise systems often become far more expensive and cumbersome to maintain than they initially appear.
Relying on a single device like an NVR or DVR creates a critical point of failure, meaning any sort of downtime can disrupt the entire system.
If the recorder goes offline due to hardware failure, network issues, or maintenance, all connected cameras may lose recording capabilities, leaving security teams blind when they need footage the most.
Beyond the operational challenges, downtime can also create serious liability concerns.
If an incident occurs while cameras are offline, organisations may find themselves without crucial video evidence, exposing them to legal and compliance risks.
The inability to provide footage when needed could lead to financial penalties, reputational damage, or even liability in lawsuits.
Another key consideration with on-premise systems is that storage capacity is typically determined at the beginning of the buying process.
While the initial storage allocations may meet requirements, expanding the system—whether by adding more cameras or upgrading to higher-resolution footage—can quickly exceed the system’s storage limits.
For example, what worked fine at 720p may no longer be adequate as the resolution increases, resulting in larger file sizes and greater storage demand.
This expansion often forces organisations to invest in additional storage, either by upgrading existing infrastructure or purchasing new hardware to accommodate the increased data load.
As the system grows, these incremental storage costs can add up, making it more difficult and expensive to scale without continuously reinvesting in storage capacity.
For on-premise systems, what works well in a single location can quickly become complicated and costly when expanding to multiple sites.
For example, when an organisation wants to expand its NVR/DVR system to a new location, each site requires a new centralised recorder, and all cameras must be manually wired into the system.
This not only adds significant time and cost but also increases the overall complexity of the process.
The need for additional hardware, installation labour and system configuration makes scaling inefficient and burdensome.
Beyond the logistical challenges, expanding on-premise infrastructure also increases an organisation’s environmental footprint.
The extra energy and materials needed to expand this on-premise infrastructure not only add complexity but can also conflict with sustainability goals.
As the organisation grows, these issues compound, making it even more difficult to scale efficiently while maintaining cost-effectiveness and environmental responsibility.
While traditional on-premise video security systems may seem like an appealing, cost-effective choice at first, the hidden costs associated with maintenance, software upgrades, storage and scaling quickly add up.
From the challenges of retrieving footage and the constant need for ad-hoc system upgrades to the risks of downtime and potential cybersecurity threats, these systems often become financial burdens over time.
And as organisations expand, the complexity and costs of managing and maintaining these systems only grow.
Organisations can avoid many of these hidden costs by choosing cloud-enabled video security systems. Unlike traditional on-premise solutions, cloud-based systems often offer pricing terms that are clear and cover an investment over time.
Further, they eliminate the need for costly hardware replacements, manual software updates and on-site maintenance.
Automated updates also ensure that security features and AI analytics are always up-to-date without requiring technician visits, while remote access allows IT teams to manage the system from anywhere—removing the need for complex network configurations and reducing cybersecurity risks.
Additionally, cloud-based storage scales effortlessly, eliminating the constraints of fixed-capacity NVRs/DVRs and removing the need for constant storage upgrades.
Expanding to new locations is also far simpler and environmentally friendly, as cloud systems do not require additional recorders or rewiring efforts—just deploy new cameras, and they integrate seamlessly into the existing infrastructure.
Instead of continuously investing in hardware and labour, organisations can leverage the cloud to streamline operations, reduce downtime and eliminate hidden costs, ensuring a more reliable, efficient, and future-proof video security solution.
Interested in learning how Verkada’s cloud-based solutions can streamline your physical security operations? Contact +44 (0) 20-3048-6050, visit https://www.verkada.com/uk/, or check us out at The Security Event (Booth #5/K70).
This article was originally published in the April 2025 Edition of Security Journal UK. To read your FREE digital edition, click here.
