Plenty of Denver buildings still run analog systems installed a decade or more ago. Upgrading is usually worth doing and usually less disruptive than owners expect, but the cost and the disruption depend almost entirely on one thing: what was done with the cabling the first time.
What you actually gain moving off analog
Resolution is the obvious one, and it is the difference between knowing somebody was present and knowing who they were. Analog systems that looked adequate when installed were often only ever adequate for showing that an event occurred.
Beyond resolution: remote viewing that works reliably, analytics capable of filtering events so alerts are worth leaving switched on, and recorded footage you can search by time and event rather than scrub through. On most sites the searchability changes day-to-day usefulness more than the picture quality does.
What usually survives the upgrade
Conduit almost always survives, and it is frequently the most expensive part of the original installation. Cable routes usually survive even where the cable itself does not. Mounting positions often survive, though they are worth re-examining rather than inheriting, because the original positions may have been chosen around the limitations of analog cameras.
What usually does not
The cameras and the recorder. Coaxial runs can sometimes be reused with converters, and that is occasionally the right answer in a building where pulling new cable would be genuinely disruptive, but it caps what the system can do and it adds components that can fail. It is a compromise worth making knowingly rather than by default.
The question that decides the price
Was the original cabling run to a standard, or run to whatever reached? That is answered by testing, not by looking at it. A system extended piecemeal over ten years by several different hands is often cheaper to re-cable than to diagnose, and an installer who tells you that early is saving you money rather than upselling you.
Upgrading in stages
Upgrades do not have to happen in a single visit. A common and sensible approach is to replace the recorder and the highest-value camera positions first, leave the remaining analog cameras running through converters, and migrate the rest as budget allows.
This only works if the end state was designed at the start. Staging into a plan is efficient. Staging without one produces a hybrid system that nobody can fully service.
The network question
IP cameras live on a network, which analog cameras did not. That raises questions the original installation never had to answer: whether the cameras share infrastructure with the rest of the business, whether the switch has the power budget, and where the recorder sits. On most upgrades this is straightforward. On buildings with no suitable location for equipment, it becomes part of the job and should be priced as such.
What to ask for on an IP upgrade
An assessment of the existing cabling with test results rather than assurances, and a clear statement of which runs are being kept, which are being re-terminated and which are being replaced. An upgrade quote that does not mention the existing cable has not looked at it.
Upgrades are usually cheaper than people expect, because more of the existing plant survives than they expect. Elite Security tests rather than assumes. More in the blog, or start with low-voltage cabling.