The industry is counting down to the big industry trade show this fall, the ASIS International 61st Annual Seminar and Exhibits — ASIS 2015 in Anaheim, California. What topics will dominate the traditionally end user-based show in a year of shifting technologies and new capabilities on the horizon? We asked our Expert Panel Round Table to weigh in.
For the past 15 years, people have attended the ASIS trade show floor to see what the hot new technology is, who has the highest megapixel camera, which company has the DVR or access control system with the most features for the best price? Products now offer virtually the same features and the physical equipment cost has dropped to a point that the cost of installing equipment is frequently much more than the cost of the equipment itself. What I am seeing is that people are now less interested in specific product features and cost, and are much more interested in solutions. The “big news” will be a change in focus from simply who has the best new feature (“highest resolution camera!”) at the best price, to who is providing a solution that solves business problems and shows a return on investment (ROI) while being globally monitored and managed.
We will hear quite a bit of discussion on the consolidation of the industry, such as Canon buying Axis and Milestone, OnSSI buying Seetec, EagleEye buying Brivo, NICE Systems selling their video surveillance business to Battery Ventures, to name a few. Most will be wondering and talking about what's next. Additionally, we will see a lot of activity and talk surrounding using mobile devices and cloud services for video, access control and intrusion detection. Do-it-yourself (DIY) solutions also will be a growing topic, with video and intrusion needs especially, such as off-the-shelf systems that can be installed and operated by end users.
We predict the smart (or connected) buildings and cities trend will be a hot topic at this year’s show as companies look for ways to use integrated solutions and information to enhance the safety of urban spaces. As the industry is always looking two steps ahead, security companies will be developing integrated solutions designed to help utilise data for improved quality of life and efficiency, promote safety and security and protect the community environment. Additionally, we’ll see the continuation of the Internet of Things (IoT) conversation among security professionals as the industry evolves beyond traditional security capabilities and begins to demonstrate value in these connected solutions, offering a wealth of highly valuable business analytics. These capabilities will also deliver new visibility and predictive capabilities in various markets and industries.
I think the mantra will be that security is much more than physical detection and protection. Sure, that’s critical, but for systems integrators, the emphasis is on all the new ways they can add value and continue to differentiate themselves in a competitive marketplace. For example, many of the video surveillance companies at the show, where applicable, will focus on analytics and the move to business intelligence in cameras. This is an exciting value proposition for integrators, who can offer their end user customers surveillance along with business and operational insights and processes from those same cameras. Overall, I believe savvy systems integrators who attend the show will increasingly be looking for technology that allows them to provide value-added services to their customers, ones in which they can make the customer “stickier” and also garner additional recurring monthly revenue. So the big news is: it’s more than security!