Case study
BCDVideo
IP video surveillance firm leverages HP OEM relationship
Industry
Technology
Objective
Master the IP recording server marketplace on a
consistent, scalable OEM platform
Approach
Build purpose-built IP Recording Servers on HP
platform
IT matters
•Build competitive products on world class
platforms
•Mitigate risk, with long product lifecycle and
component stability
•Simplify supply chain through HP Factory Express
services
•Strengthen product roadmap through engineering
collaboration
Business matters
•Reduce costs through stable configurations, global
service support
•Grow business, leveraging flexible portfolio; endto-end product fulfillment
•Expand globally, leveraging HP worldwide
presence, cross-border purchase and delivery
“With HP as our OEM provider, there is not a platform or
scale we cannot conquer—thanks to the flexibility of the
diverse HP portfolio and our joint spirit of entrepreneurial
partnership.”
– Jeff Burgess, president, BCDVideo
In airports, school systems, retail stores, and other spaces
throughout the world, video surveillance has become
essential to securing the safety of property and lives.
BCDVideo, headquartered in Chicago, Ill., is a privately held
global manufacturer of purpose-built IP Recording Servers.
Regardless of the scope of the project, four cameras or up
to 40,000, BCDVideo provides its integrator customers with
project-ready video servers, preconfigured with their choice
of Video Management Software (VMS), and guaranteed to
manage the particular project. Underlying this flexibility is
BCDVideo’s relationship with HP.
Case study | BCDVideo
HP recommends Windows.
As part of the HP OEM program, BCDVideo
builds its products on HP platforms, ranging
from HP Z230 Workstations for smaller
deployments, to HP ProLiant SL4540 Gen8
Servers for massive enterprise systems.
The HP OEM program provides BCDVideo
with leading technology, platform stability,
dedicated resources, and flexible services
to reduce costs, mitigate risk, and support
growth.
Participation in the HP OEM program gives
BCDVideo powerful business advantages.
BCDVideo works together with HP OEM to
build compelling products on a world class
technology platform. The broad HP portfolio
brings breadth and flexibility to BCDVideo
products. The HP OEM relationship enables
BCDVideo to mitigate product lifecycle risks
with stable configurations, longer product
lifecycles, leading-edge technology previously
unavailable within the security marketplace,
and HP global service support. With a presence
in more than 170 countries, HP enables
BCDVideo’s global expansion with end-to-end
product fulfillment; a 24x7 support network;
and cross-border purchase and delivery. The
HP OEM relationship lets BCDVideo target its
focus less on operations and more on product
innovation.
Bringing proven, reliable
solutions to market
The world of video surveillance has changed
dramatically in recent years. High-resolution
cameras capture massive amounts of data,
which must be stored and processed. VMS
software—with features such as facial
recognition, license-plate recognition and
video analytics built in—demands substantial
processing power. With security at stake,
system reliability is essential. BCDVideo
addresses these market needs with optimally
sized, purpose-built server solutions for video
surveillance, monitoring, access control, and
networking. As an HP Authorized Global OEM
IP Video Partner, BCDVideo delivers proven,
reliable solutions, and backs them with
worldwide five-year HP onsite warranty.
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“BCDVideo is unique because we look at
your project and design it for your needs and
success. We evaluate thirteen areas of camera
and software criteria to properly calculate
the necessary storage and bandwidth for
that project,” says Jeff Burgess, president of
BCDVideo. “That gives our customer—the
integrator—a comfort zone. They don’t have to
figure out themselves how much storage they
need; we do all that heavy lifting for them, and
we guarantee the calculation’s accuracy.”
The OEM relationship with HP enables
BCDVideo to design and build market-leading
solutions; drive cost and complexity out of its
operations; and increase profitability. “Having
HP as our OEM supplier gives us outstanding
technology, as well as access to HP engineers,
advance notice on lifecycle events—a wide
range of competitive advantages,” Burgess
says. “With HP as our OEM partner, we receive
global support from a market leader that
understands and goes the extra mile to meet
our unique needs and goals.”
Burgess had been in the IT business for
decades when he founded BCDVideo in
1999, serving at first as an HP reseller. Five
years ago, he refocused the company on
IP Video, and today provides BCDVideobranded solutions built from an HP platform.
Its customers are global, national, and local
security integrators that sell to securitysystem users such as finance, retail,
healthcare, education, airports, casinos, and
others. BCDVideo has established strong
partnerships with the top camera and software
manufacturers in the security marketplace.
They optimize their servers to work seamlessly
with these vendors. Milestone Software
awarded BCDVideo its 2012 Technology
Partner of the Year, despite the fact that
BCDVideo sells no video software. “A server
built specifically for Genetec is different than
a server built for Milestone as each software
writes to the archiver differently,” Burgess
explains. “Every software has its nuances. Our
customers know that in addition to building a
solution to any project spec, we create them
with the greatest name in the server industry:
HP.”
HP portfolio breadth
delivers right-size options
BCDVideo’s most popular product is its
NovaSeries BCD380V8 Rack-mount Server,
based on the HP ProLiant DL380e Gen8 Server.
“It really is a dream-box, technology-wise.
It is scalable up to 48TB which makes it a
cost-effective solution against other external
storage,” Burgess says. “The versatility
within that build unit allows us 240 different
configurations, depending on the software and
camera requirements.” Another “competition
killer” is BCDVideo’s build based on the 1U
HP ProLiant DL320e Gen8 v2 Server, whose
short-depth form factor can be mounted
on command-center desks, such as 911
call centers or for usage in ATM machines.
BCDVideo’s mightiest server of all, nicknamed
“Big Bertha,” is built on the HP ProLiant SL4540
Gen8 Server, and provides up to 240TB in a 5U
chassis. The first installation was at a large
Case study | BCDVideo
HP recommends Windows.
U.S. airport with thousands of cameras and
long retention times. BCDVideo also uses other
server platforms from the HP ProLiant line
depending on project specifications.
to 16 digital video cameras. Used as both a
recorder and viewer, customers can choose
from HP’s family of LED monitors to finalize
the solution.
What all these HP ProLiant Gen8 servers have
in common—in addition to the latest Intel
processors—is the HP Active Health System
providing continuous, proactive monitoring
of more than 1,600 system parameters. “The
system takes care of itself, sending alerts to
trigger onsite service calls long before any
failure actually occurs,” Burgess says. “That
allows BCDVideo to sell a unit to an integrator
and position it as a one-time cost for five
years—that will likely keep them fully up
and running, never needing a follow-up visit
after an onsite service call. Our customers
appreciate the value in that as projects should
equate to recurring revenue rather than
recurring costs. Our products provide a lower
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) than traditional
off-the-shelf non-video-optimized servers.”
“We build on a consistent,
scalable HP platform. That
platform and everything
behind it—the relationship,
the shared technologies, the
entrepreneurial spirit—gives
users of our products both a
significant technological edge
and an overall cost savings.”
HP Z Workstations are also integral to
BCDVideo solutions, as client viewing stations
with up to 12TB storage servers to support
installations of up to 60 cameras. “No one
reads video from a server; they need client
stations,” Burgess explains. “So with every
server, we provide one to five BCDVideo
workstations with HP monitors, because the
end customer might need to run the video
at various stations throughout a building.”
BCDVideo most frequently uses the HP Z230
Workstation or the HP Z420 Workstation
if an additional drive bay is needed. HP
Z Workstations deliver extreme high
performance, with advanced graphic and video
capabilities. For some smaller camera projects,
the company incorporates the HP EliteDesk
800 G1, a desktop PC capable of driving up
– Jeff Burgess, president, BCDVideo
In every project, BCDVideo provides
networking design as a value add, identifying
the appropriate HP solutions—typically HP
OfficeConnect or HP FlexCampus switches. If
external storage is needed, BCDVideo provides
that too, such as HP D2000 or D6000 Disk
Enclosures. BCDVideo recently announced
their 22U external array built on a ProLiant
DL380e Gen8 platform driving four D6000
arrays. Should the solution require centralized
storage, BCDVideo also has video-optimized
solutions built from both the HP P2000 G3
MSA Array System as well as the HP StoreEasy
1630 Storage.
“This is the benefit of building from the HP
portfolio,” Burgess says. “HP’s depth of
product line has enabled us to be ‘vertical
agnostic’, there is not an environment or
budget that we cannot accommodate and
innovate.”
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Case study | BCDVideo
HP recommends Windows.
Customer at a glance
HP OEM relationship drives
competitive advantage
Application
IP video storage and intelligent building
networks
Hardware
•HP ProLiant ML310e Gen8 Server
•HP ProLiant DL320e Gen8 v2 Server
•HP ProLiant DL360e Gen8 Server
•HP ProLiant DL360p Gen8 Server
•HP ProLiant DL380e Gen8 Server
•HP ProLiant SL4540 Gen8 Server
•HP P2000 G3 MSA Array System
•HP D2000 Disk Enclosure
•HP D6000 Disk Enclosure
•HP StoreEasy 1630
•HP Z420 Workstation
•HP Z230 Workstation
•HP EliteDesk 800 G1 Business PC
•HP LED Monitors
•HP 1910 Switch Series
•HP 2530 Switch Series
HP services
•HP Care Pack 5 year Next business day
worldwide onsite
•HP Care Pack 5 year 24x7x4 with Defective
Media Retention (DMR)
•HP Factory Express
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With HP OEM as the critical part of its supply
chain, Burgess knows BCDVideo is assured
component stability and reliable supply
throughout the solution lifecycle. To speed
BCDVideo’s time to market, the HP OEM team
combined four factory SKUs into one CTO
build, which simplifies ordering. HP tests and
delivers firmware updates, ensuring patches
don’t inadvertently affect other parts of the
system. In addition, HP provides advance
models of next-generation technology, even
collaborating with BCDVideo when developing
future features. HP resources support product
development and drive down R&D costs.
Most of all, the two companies share a
customer-oriented entrepreneurial spirit,
continuously advancing technologies to
enhance capabilities and cost-effectiveness.
For example, BCDVideo recently added a
new feature to its NovaSeries servers, an
embedded, password-protected flash memory
module that can be accessed remotely for
system restore or modifications—saving
the integrator time and money. “Every day,
BCDVideo and HP work together developing
new ideas to improve business value,” states
Burgess. “If we continuously make it costeffective for the integrator, he’s standardizing
on our brand. That only serves to drive largescale projects creating substantial revenue
growth.”
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A company to watch
In a recent interview with the Financial Times,
Burgess noted that BCDVideo’s success is
drawing attention around the world. In 2013,
BCDVideo ranked among Inc. Magazine’s 5000
fastest-growing privately-held companies in
the United States. The company expects to
double and perhaps triple its revenue over
the next few years. As BCDVideo expands
worldwide, it leverages the HP global
presence. “Partnering with HP made it possible
for us to become a Tier 1 brand name in the
video storage industry,” Burgess says. “The
partnership, the desire to provide unparalleled
service and support; it’s being part of the
HP family.” In summary, the top advantages
BCDVideo gains from the HP OEM relationship
are the ability to reduce costs, mitigate risk
and support growth. The means by which the
HP OEM program does this include outstanding
technology, close collaboration, and global
services that drive cost and complexity out of
BCDVideo operations. “All those things allow
us to deliver a solution that has customers,
camera manufacturers, and software
companies beating our door down to provide
and build solutions for them,” Burgess says.
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© Copyright 2014 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only
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4AA5-1952ENW, April 2014