The buzzwords in security provide a decent parallel to the technology advancements in our industry. Over the years, our language has evolved to encompass new concepts that have transformed our business. Buzzwords can sometimes be dismissed as overblown compared to the current state of the technology, or even as marketing hype. But the language we use to describe the industry’s technologies often reflect our changing marketplace. Sometimes the challenge is keeping up with the latest buzz. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What’s the new buzzword in security and how does it reflect the changing market?
There are many buzzwords in the security market, but one I think warrants additional consideration is the Open Platform. Products and services built on open platforms enable close collaboration and development of solutions between manufacturers and developers. An open platform can be as simple as an SDK (Software Development Kit) or API (Application Program Interface) that allows developers to connect into a vendor’s larger ecosystem of functions and capabilities. Unique capabilities can be added on an à la carte basis to solve distinct customer challenges. With AI-based security cameras, analytics plugins have been developed that pass detailed metadata to popular VMSs to trigger real-time alerts or aid in advanced forensic searches. Having a powerful AI camera do everything possible out of the box would be cost-prohibitive and wasteful if the functions weren’t used. Having SDKs and plugins enable a level of flexibility and customisation that can precisely match customer requirements.
When it comes to video surveillance, ‘proactive security’ is at the forefront of our customers’ minds. They care about being equipped with the necessary information to act before an incident escalates. An effective and efficient way to achieve this goal is by deploying AI-powered video analytics. Historically, there have been valid concerns about video analytics producing false positives, but now, the technology has made rapid progress where it allows operators to respond to incidents in real time, stopping a problem from becoming a crisis. This precise data provides granular and actionable knowledge, ranging from configuring rules-based alerts that trigger notifications on anomalous behaviour to licence plate recognition technology. Proactive security is attainable, but it will also soon become the status quo in physical security, as it is smarter and simpler to mitigate risks proactively and not reactively. The age-old adage of ‘prevention is better than a cure’ applies to security too.
While not a new concept, the use of containerisation is a recent development methodology in the physical security industry, and one that is likely to fundamentally change the way security software is developed, purchased, and consumed by end users. Containerisation allows organisations to choose applications from a portfolio of solutions stored in the cloud and run them on any device that supports containerisation. Applications can be easily added as needs grow and updates can be made to specific software without affecting other programs. Containerised solutions can be quickly deployed by systems integrators to meet the changing needs of their customers, and access rights to applications can easily be tailored to operators’ job functions.