What is the most surprising development you have seen in the security marketplace in the last 12 months? What is the impact of that development?

One of the most surprising developments that we have seen is the increasing involvement of security in the C-suite of organisations. In the past, security often was viewed as a cost centre to manage, but now as more and more organisations realise the value of video surveillance, security has increased its importance across the entire organisation. Going further, organisations are better able to pull from multiple systems to integrate their security efforts into one platform. Focusing on delivering value across all departments within an organisation is a positive development for those entities tasked with security and situational awareness, and positions these organisations for better business continuity, centralised security management and risk assessment.   

In the past 12 months, I have seen end user adoption of cloud-based solutions and integrator willingness to offer such solutions go mainstream. Large corporations are migrating from using their own infrastructure for back office solutions (email, document management, scheduling) to hosted solutions offered by major players like Microsoft and Google. Microsoft and Google are investing heavily in R&D to create wonderful tools and technologies for the cloud. They’re also opening data centres around the globe daily to host these technologies. Not just a hosted solution, the cloud provides a platform to collaborate and aggregate data and develop solutions that can be easily deployed to any device anywhere in the world. The cloud offers security solution providers a truly scalable platform to develop upon, enables end users to pay only for features they use when they need them, and proves integrators a way to create recurring monthly revenue (RMR).

The security market generally is very fragmented, and consolidation of the market is and was inevitable, but the recent scope of it is surprising. First, Panasonic acquired Video Insight, then Canon purchased both market leaders, Milestone and Axis, making them the clear market leader virtually overnight. We also saw Avigilon acquire 96 patents from four different companies. I expect we will continue to see more and more consolidation this year, pointing to a trend of manufacturers offering end-to-end solutions to customers. The indication here is that in the future, manufacturers will have to offer these end-to-end solutions to compete, either through acquisition or through technology partners. This also illustrates that companies without innovative, unique products may have trouble competing in this new marketplace, or they will have to acquire/be acquired to survive as competition and price pressure increase. 

One of the most surprising developments in the security marketplace that we've seen is the trend in operations justifying the majority of capital improvements. Emphasis is being placed on "dollar-ising" all proposals for decisions, and appeals for surveillance and security upgrades or additions are competing against other disciplines in corporations to compete for capital and operations budget money. It has become important for companies to look at overall solutions that address this issue. Sustainable energy options, including solar and wireless technology, are helping to significantly reduce initial capital investment, as well as operational costs like electricity.

The recent introduction of a mobile access credential is absolutely phenomenal. This addition to the access control industry allows for the utilization of the most secure credential, from your smartphone. You simply point and twist your phone to gain access. The read range can be 25 feet in some instances. However, you need not worry about inadvertently opening a door. You must twist your phone to communicate. This eliminates the need for traditional long-range readers. There are readers designed specifically to work with mobile access. For short read ranges, simply tap the reader with your smartphone. One of the test sites for this solution was a large public university. Students put mobile access through the paces. Campus security came back with very positive results. I expect the use of this product and solutions like this will grow exponentially in the coming years.