Multi-site retail group
A multi-store retail operator comparing a centralised VMS architecture against site-local recorders — the TCO would model both over a 7-year horizon.
TCO · Lifecycle Cost · Abu Dhabi
The honest total cost of an AI CCTV system over its working life
Finance teams in Abu Dhabi who have been around a CCTV procurement before know that the headline CapEx is only part of what the system actually costs over its life. The rest lives in AMC, storage refresh, licensing renewals, network upgrades, energy, and the exit cost when the platform is retired. This page is for the procurement and finance lead modelling AI CCTV total cost of ownership for a 5- or 7-year horizon. It sets out the cost categories the model has to include, the realistic ranges for an Abu Dhabi project, and the assumptions that drive sensitivity. Emirtech can share its TCO worksheet in the same format we use internally, so the numbers in the business case can be traced to the AMC contract.
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The cost categories a credible Abu Dhabi TCO model has to include
A defensible AI CCTV TCO has eight cost categories. Miss any of them and the model understates the real obligation the buyer is signing up to. First, hardware CapEx: cameras, servers, network video recorders or hyperconverged storage, switches and uninterruptible power supplies, with models confirmed with ADMCC as accepted for ADMCC use. Second, software licensing: VMS perpetual or subscription, analytics modules per channel, cybersecurity stack — with annual licence renewal modelled separately, not bundled.
Third, installation and commissioning: cabling, containment, civils, mounting, programming, witness testing and as-built documentation. Fourth, AMC year-1: usually included in the original tender at a defined service level, but the model has to price years 2 through 5 (or 7) separately, with a realistic escalation assumption rather than the supplier’s optimistic flat assumption. Fifth, storage refresh: spinning disk has a useful life of around 5 years in continuous-write workloads, so a 7-year TCO needs a mid-life storage refresh line item.
Sixth, energy: AI analytics workloads draw significantly more power than traditional CCTV, particularly where on-premise GPU servers are used. For an enterprise site this can add a measurable line to the OpEx, priced at the applicable Abu Dhabi distribution tariff. Seventh, network and integration: switches, fibre, integration to access control or PSIM, and periodic firmware-driven network upgrades. Eighth, exit assistance: data export, documentation handover and decommissioning — priced upfront, not at the end, because exit costs negotiated under time pressure are the most expensive in the lifecycle.
The model then has to handle sensitivities: retention period (each additional 30 days drives storage cost), analytics scope (additional use cases drive licensing and possibly server count), and AMC escalation (a realistic range of 3-8% per year). A TCO that ignores these reads as a sales document; a TCO that prices them reads as a procurement document.
The Emirtech approach — a worksheet the finance team can audit
We deliver a TCO as a spreadsheet model with named inputs, transparent formulae and three scenario columns (low, base, high). The buyer’s finance team can open the workings, change a retention assumption or an escalation rate, and see the answer move. There is no proprietary black box; the discipline is full transparency because that is what the buyer’s audit committee will demand on a CapEx submission of any size.
For benchmarking against published Abu Dhabi figures the model is paired with our AI CCTV cost guide, which gives indicative bands for small (under 30 channels), mid (30-100) and enterprise (100+ channels) projects. The wider procurement and design context lives on the AI Surveillance Hub.
- Eight-category cost model: CapEx hardware, software licensing, install & commissioning, AMC (year 1, then year 2 onwards), storage refresh, energy, network & integration, exit assistance — each on its own line
- Storage maths tied to declared retention days, motion ratio, codec, bitrate and RAID overhead — with the input cells named and reachable from the summary
- AMC escalation modelled in low/base/high columns at 3% / 5% / 8% so the buyer sees the range, not a single point estimate
- Energy cost line priced at the applicable Abu Dhabi distribution tariff, including UPS and HVAC uplift for the server room hosting the VMS and analytics
- Exit assistance fee quoted upfront in writing and locked into the AMC schedule, so the cost cannot be reset later when leverage has shifted
- Net present value and discounted payback rows calculated at a defined discount rate, so the model is compatible with the buyer’s capital appraisal policy
Example scenarios the TCO model can cover
EPC handover
An EPC contractor pricing CCTV as part of a facility handover, where the TCO feeds the end-client’s lifecycle CapEx model before BoQ approval.
Multi-branch refresh
A multi-branch organisation refreshing CCTV across head office and branches, modelling AMC escalation across vendors and a midlife storage refresh around year 4.
Free zone tenant
A free-zone tenant whose lease ends in seven years, needing the TCO and the written exit assistance fee to fit within the lease horizon.
Answers
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a TCO model take to build?
The timeline depends on the number of sites and how quickly survey data and cost inputs are available, and is confirmed in writing after the free site survey. For a multi-site estate the build is staged: a representative-site model first, then a portfolio rollup once the site survey data is in across all locations.
What does the TCO work cost?
The site survey is free, and a base-case TCO can be included in the scoping for an Emirtech quotation. Standalone TCO work, where the buyer wants the model independently of a quotation, is quoted as an itemised written fee before any work starts.
Which depreciation and tax assumptions does the model use?
We default to a 5- or 7-year straight-line depreciation aligned to typical UAE practice for security infrastructure assets and IFRS treatment for leases. The buyer’s finance team should confirm the policy before the model is signed off; Emirtech is an integrator, not a chartered accountant.
Does the model include energy and HVAC?
Yes. For AI workloads with on-premise GPU servers, the energy and HVAC uplift is non-trivial and is priced as a separate line. For cloud-hosted analytics, the equivalent cost moves into the subscription line and the on-premise energy line drops.
How do we start?
Email [email protected] or call +971 55 651 7843. We will arrange the site survey, build the model around real numbers, and walk the finance team through the inputs so the assumptions are owned by the buyer.
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