Milestone Systems

About Milestone Systems

Milestone Systems is a global provider of open-platform IP video management software (VMS), founded in 1998 by Danish engineers John Blem and Henrik Friborg Jacobsen. The company began in a basement with an initial seed funding of 80,000 DKK and was originally conceived to transfer financial data before the founders pivoted to video data transfer. In 2014, Milestone Systems was acquired by the Canon Group and now operates as a stand-alone company within the group.

The company's core business revolves around its XProtect VMS, a powerful software platform that allows users to manage video surveillance systems. This open platform is a key selling point, as it is compatible with over 13,000 cameras and devices from various manufacturers, offering clients flexibility in hardware choices and integration with third-party business and security solutions. Milestone's product portfolio also includes BriefCam for advanced video analytics, Arcules for Video Surveillance as a Service (VSaaS), and the Milestone Husky series of network video recorders (NVRs). This suite of products provides solutions for on-premise, cloud, and hybrid deployments.

Milestone serves a wide array of industries, including healthcare, education, transportation, and city surveillance, with over 500,000 customer installations worldwide. Its business model is based on a two-tier channel system, selling through distributors and resellers. Revenue is generated through a flexible licensing model for its software, which includes different tiers like XProtect Essential+, Express+, Professional+, Expert, and Corporate, allowing for scalability. The company also offers cloud solutions on a subscription basis.

Significant milestones include the first sale of XProtect in 2002, expansion beyond its Copenhagen headquarters starting in 2003, and the launch of its first NVR, the Husky, in 2013. Since 2009, the company has included a human rights clause in its end-user license agreements and co-authored the Copenhagen Letter in 2017, emphasizing its commitment to responsible technology use.