Month after month our most popular blog post is the one we wrote about video cameras and with good reason; the video surveillance market is huge and growing. Analyst group MarketsandMarkets predicts this market will grow from $16.98 billion in 2015 to $36.84 billion in 2020. That is a compound annual growth rate of 16.7% from 2015 to 2020!

But like with any technology market, video surveillance is complicated. We all want to keep up with the best technology, but we don’t want to get duped into buying something that is more trendy than useful—especially if you have a tight security budget.

What’s hot and what’s not in video surveillance

If you are interested in upgrading your physical security equipment with new video technology, here is one thing you need, one thing you may want and one thing to avoid.

Need it: Video analytics

While video analytics has been around for a long time, the technology is now better than ever. You can use video analytics to analyze recorded footage in order to search for a person or event you are looking for, but it is the real-time applications that are truly beneficial for most of us. Through proper camera positioning and algorithms, you can use video analytics to alert you to security threats in real-time. Examples of what you can set alerts for include:

• People or vehicles in restricted areas
• Tailgating of people or vehicles through secure checkpoints
• Unattended objects or positions
• Removal of assets

May be for you: Video on the cloud

Gone are the days when you have to watch your surveillance footage on a certain TV that is usually shoved in storage room or somewhere else that makes viewing an uncomfortable adventure. Now, you can store and watch all your video on the cloud. You can access it from any of your devices and from wherever you happen to be—even if you are on a business trip across the world. This technology is amazing, but there is just one glitch, which is why it is not a “need it” item. Cloud video storage only works for smaller businesses. Large companies have more data than the cloud can handle right now.

Avoid: 4k

There is no doubt that 4k is incredible; the clarity and color are unmatched, but the technology is a poor investment choice for businesses right now. Despite the fact that 4k doesn’t fit into most companies’ security budgets, it is also requires way too much bandwidth. Estimates say 4k needs a minimum of 15 Mbps, which may not be a problem for large enterprises, but for small businesses or anyone who requires remote streaming, this demand is too high.

This is our need it, want it and avoid it list – what is on yours?