After two years when Milestone organized regional partner events in every single European country, this year MIPS Europe was back to Copenhagen. About 250 people from 35 countries used the event for networking, getting the latest information about Milestone's product offering and evaluating all the options Milestone's partners offer. In the center of the presentation was the expanded new offering Milestone has developed for the low to mid-range market.

A Strong Position as the Basis for Further Growth
The first day kicked off with a live video stream of Milestone President & CEO Lars Thinggaard speaking from outside the auditorium on the banks of the canal where the Copenhagen Police had stationed one of their riot vans, outfitted with a 360-degree roof camera viewable and manageable inside via Milestone Video Management Software (VMS), also streaming remotely to the Command Center at police HQ downtown. Thinggaard's keynote speech projected the tipping point for IP technology over analog in the security market to be 2014, which has already been achieved in the high-end market in EMEA and the US. Lars Thinggaard made clear that he considers Milestone to be in a very good position to grow the business further: „Through ambitious management strategy and focused organizational operations, we are performing with profitability and a strong cash position. We consistently evolve our tiered and reliable solutions, while we scale geographically with our business model that builds channel expertise and differentiation through training certifications. We are therefore well positioned for continued growth, and have expanded again in 2011 by opening offices in three new world regions in support of our international scope and response to market demands." While the market for video management systems is expected to show compound annual growth rates of 30% for the period from 2009 to 2015, Lars Thinggaard wants his company to grow 50% faster than the market.
Ambitious plans for the VMS world leader for the seventh year in a row according to the latest IMS Research report. At MIPS, Simon Harris from IMS Research presented excerpts of the latest report "The World Market for CCTV and Video Surveillance Equipment - 2011 Edition" that shows Milestone Systems' top position for the world market category of ‘Open Platform Network Video Management Software'.

While the network video surveillance market grew almost three times as fast as the total market in 2010 - over 30%, Milestone grew 56% in revenue and maintained its market standing.

The Key to Future Success: Expansion in the Regions plus a Full Portfolio of Products
Milestone has expanded their global presence this year by opening offices in Brazil, Bulgaria and India, as part of the company's strategic plans for continued success in the high-growth market for IP video surveillance. In 2011 Milestone Systems established a company in Bulgaria that is developing new functionality for the open platform IP video management software. Milestone has also set up offices in Brazil and India to support long-term goals for organizational expansion. Over recent years, the company has seen positive growth in these areas. In total, in the first six months of 2011, Milestone Systems hired more than 65 new employees, a 20 percent increase in the total staff.
Besides the global expansion, a fast response to market demands shall bolster Milestones future success. Milestone recognized that two key factors are impacting the decline of the analog video surveillance market: The large and enterprise tier of the market transitioning to network video solutions and increasing price competition and commoditization in the mid to low end. Milestone is addressing this with newly released versions of XProtect Professional and XProtect Essential, and a brand new product called XProtect Express. The new versions were all presented to Milestones's partners at MIPS in Copenhagen. „Milestone now has an even stronger and more competitive family of open platform IP video management software, offering more options from the world's leading solution provider: deeper functionality, fast and flexible installations, and affordability. We are excited to reveal our new product XProtect Express, and the latest updates to the XProtect product suite," says Lars Gudbrandsson, Head of Product Management at Milestone Systems.

XProtect Professional - the power to do more
XProtect Professional is a VMS for mid-sized installations with multiple servers supporting up to 64 cameras per server. XProtect Professional is a complete solution for single-site installations with multiple buildings requiring integration with business systems and video analytics. It is ideal for installations with a large number of megapixel and HD cameras.