Milestone Systems delivers successful financial result in “challenging year”

Operating income (EBIT) stands at DKK 112 million, which is a decrease of 9%. This reflects the pandemic’s impact on sales, an increase in development capacity and investments in new head count to fuel future growth.

“Given the challenging situation of the pandemic, our annual result is a successful outcome made possible by our people, without whom long-term sustainable growth would not be possible,” explained CEO Thomas Jensen (pictured). “We quickly turned around how we manage the company and found new ways of supporting our network of partners. This resilience, combined with the adaptability of our people and partners, prepared us to face the new challenges.”

‘People First’ approach

Milestone Systems is a leading provider of open platform video management software. The company, which was founded back in 1998, enables an open platform community that drives collaboration and innovation in the development and use of network video technology with reliable and scalable solutions that are proven in more than 500,000 installations worldwide.

During 2020, Milestone’s ‘People First’ approach was really tested. It was crucial for the business to avoid restructuring while supporting its people, keeping them motivated and feeling included as part of the team. Underpinning this, Milestone launched the ‘Grow Together’ Programme that focuses on mental and physical health and knowledge-sharing about exercise, food and sleep. In addition, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Milestone lived up to its ambition of investing in people and growth, increasing the number of its employees by 69 to reach a total of 934 come the end of the year.

Increased support of partners

Its wide-reaching network of channel and technology partners is the core of Milestone’s open video technology platform. When the pandemic hit, the company optimised its support to help partners keep selling Milestone solutions. Product training went online with webinars attracting thousands of partners and, with the ‘Milestone Care’ campaign, the company helped its partners to continue their business without having to be on-site with them.

Looking ahead, Jensen expects challenges, but also looks forward to Milestone’s continued growth journey. He concluded: “COVID-19 created a lot of uncertainty and unpredictability in 2020. The pandemic is not behind us yet, and therefore we see challenges as well as opportunities ahead. However, with our strong COVID-19 business continuity plan, we’re confident that 2021 will become another growth year for Milestone.”

Milestone Systems is a stand-alone company in the Canon Group.