Build Your Own Cloud

In this article, I provide insight as to why we at Eagle Eye Networks are believers in building your own cloud versus moving all of your core assets to 3rd party companies. As we aim to own the market segment for video surveillance in the cloud at Eagle Eye Networks, we have deliberately chosen to build our own cloud. Why? Keep reading this article and hopefully you’ll be convinced to start building your own cloud, too.

When your business is all about cloud (in our case cloud video storage, cloud video streaming and cloud video analytics) then why would you even consider not building your own? At Eagle Eye Networks an important part of our core offering is the cloud. That’s why we want to build and own it. For example, if your dream is to become the world’s best selling electric car, would you let someone else take complete control of your batteries? No. That’s why Tesla is building their own (Giga) factory. Elon Musk wants to control his own destiny, and to not let a third party control it. If the importance of Elon’s battery is similar to the importance of your cloud, then you better start building your own right away. As Jack Welch once said: “Control your own destiny or someone else will”. 

In 15 years of doing business, I have never met any partner that accidentally was a perfect match with our roadmap. Yes, partners can contribute to the attractiveness of a roadmap, but you should always make sure that you can work independently from any partner. The bigger cloud providers will never be able to offer you exactly what you need, and that’s a problem for your journey to become a segment leader.  You need to tune your cloud at the micro-level to make it the most cost efficient, highest performing, and most scalable cloud there is. But most important, this needs to be done specifically for your solution, not for just any solution. Every drop of sweat spent on your key asset (cloud) will be earned back 10x later. Lowering your cost 10% could make a difference in pursuing your dreams. There’s no standard cloud service out there which is exactly tailored to how you want it. The companies that fail to own their most important success factors can be still successful in the short term, but in the end, they will be beaten by companies who invested time, effort and money into core valuable assets like owning their cloud.

Written by Tijmen Vos – Technical Director, Eagle Eye Networks