The future of IP standardisation: questions and answers (Q&A) with ONVIF chairman Per Björkdahl
Few would argue that as the industry continues its progression toward wide-spread deployment of security over Internet Protocol (IP), some type of standards are necessary to guide the industry in a unified direction. Over the past few years, ONVIF has been one of the organisations at the forefront of the standards movement.
Since ONVIF began in 2008, more than 3,700 products are now certified as conformant with the ONVIF interoperability specification and membership is more than 460 companies.
Per Björkdahl, Chairman of the Steering Committee of ONVIF, talks about the state of standardisation in the market; and how ONVIF’s interoperability specification is evolving and what changes and impacts the group is having on the market.
Q. Standards have become a central part of the discussion around IP technology in the industry over the past few years. What role has ONVIF played in that debate?
A. When we first started this initiative on behalf of a handful of companies, the industry was on the verge of beginning the transition to IP and that, of course, has had a huge impact on the efforts of ONVIF over the past few years. Now the industry is moving more rapidly toward standardisation as it looks to take advantage of the opportunity to integrate with the multitude of products coming on the market. This adoption of standards, and the growth of ONVIF, has happened very quickly. From just a few companies, ONVIF now has more than 460 members. More importantly, we are reaching a critical mass of representation from small firms as well.
Q. How does ONVIF compare with others addressing standardisation activities?
A. We think the industry participation that ONVIF has achieved speaks for itself. More than 460 companies have joined the forum to contribute to the work going forward and to implement the interface to their products. Comparisons with other groups such as PSIA are difficult because our approach is quite different. ONVIF excels with its web services and strong legal framework as well as its decision to establish an underlying specification and then tackle each discipline, such as video or access control or intrusion, individually.
Q. How deep can ONVIF go, product-wise, to achieve standardisation?
A. By their very nature, standards specify minimum operational requirements so the conforming devices can guarantee interoperability at the most fundamental level. As more functions are considered ‘basic’, ONVIF will evolve to include interface specifications for these functions as part of the specification. And as manufacturers innovate and add special features, we’ll continue to explore those areas to add the specification.
Q. While manufacturers are embracing standards, what is being done to educate end users and achieve buy in from this group?
A. One of ONVIF’s focuses is to ensure that systems integrators and end users get to know the benefits of ONVIF and that we are able to demonstrate that they have a wide variety of products from which to choose. This freedom of choice to select the best and most appropriate camera, encoder, DVR or NVR, and ensure that future additions to their video system will continue to be compatible with existing equipment, is one of the benefits of standardisation. ONVIF also has launched some training initiatives specifically for end users, integrators and consultants, ranging from online webinars to third-party training sessions at various industry trade shows.
Q. What has been the focus over the past year for ONVIF?
ONVIF has been working hard over the last 12 months developing an access control and video integration specification that will be released in early 2014. This document, called Profile C, follows our profile concept that we introduced two years ago that enables end-users to more easily identify compatible features without determining interoperability between versions of the ONVIF specifications.
Instead of focusing on issuing new versions of the main specification, ONVIF has focused on profiles, including Profile S for video streaming and in the near future, Profile G for recording and storage devices and Profile C for access control. So for Profile S, the primary benefit is knowing that when two products bear the Profile S mark, they will work together. Rather than trying to figure out whether one version of the ONVIF specification is compatible with another, or which features of the product might interfere with interoperability, seeing the Profile S mark ensures a successful interface. And this will be true going forward with our subsequent profile releases in Profile G and Profile C.
Q. What are the next planned activities for ONVIF?
After the expected release of Profile C and the related test tools early next year, ONVIF will decide on its next area of concentration. This could include intruder alarms — which seem to be the next natural step — but it’s up to our members to decide the course.
From the beginning, ONVIF’s focus was video because we knew we could get the proper feedback from the marketplace and because the need for standards and interoperability on the network video side was so acute. But ONVIF has also recognised from the start the need for specifications in other industry segments, so we prepared for that by creating the underlying architecture of ONVIF.
Q. What should we expect to see within the standardisation realm in the near future?
A. Although standardisation is typically a more gradual, evolutionary process, ONVIF has grown in size and strength quite rapidly over its first four years. Not surprisingly, this has resulted in some growing pains between the market’s expectations for the specification and the technical limitations for standards based on the current maturity level of IP technology. Both ONVIF and IP have experienced rapid deployment. With that in mind, the next few years will be focused not only on moving forward into new technical areas, but we will also concentrate on refining the overall process of standardisation. A strong focus on the conformance process will ensure the quality of the specification and its continuing acceptance in the market.
