Tech to dominate 2022 physical security trends as Omdia releases its predictions

Technology industries have both enabled and benefited from digitisation for the better part of the last 50 years. And, as Omdia’s latest physical security trends for 2022 report reveals, technology is now having a significant impact on the security industry.

Understanding the opportunities and impacts of transformative technologies today means being able to see how the pace at which they are developing has accelerated. While AI, IoT, Computer Vision, and the Cloud are not really new technologies, they are coming together in new and powerful ways and fundamentally changing businesses, fuelling innovation, disrupting industries, and creating both threats and opportunities for all.

Omdia has identified the following seven trends to pay attention to in 2022:

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The full report, which expands on the following trends in more detail, is available for free download from Omdia’s Physical Security Intelligence hub, here >>

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New edge AI SoC product announcements in 2022

Omdia expects several new System on a Chip (SoC) developments and product announcements to come in 2022, supporting edge-based AI and enabling greater processing power of data to take place on the camera. SoC tech also enables more accurate video analytics, a reduction in required bandwidth and increase scalability.

Distributed storage increasingly gaining popularity

Omdia believes that the surveillance camera is fast becoming the most important visual sensor in the growing trend of smart cities. As higher-resolution cameras and more intelligent video applications are utilised, distributed storage is required to handle the growing data loads. Distributed storage can split data across multiple physical servers which behave as one storage system, and are often geographically dispersed.

Increasing value placed on software

The software market will continue to grow faster than the equipment market in 2022 and beyond, believe Omdia analysts. As AI develops and cloud-based architecture becomes more prevalent, security platforms that integrate both software and hardware will gain in popularity. Both vendors inside and outside of China will continue to invest in AI algorithms, with the potential being much greater than that of the older analytics market.

Product stratification of access control equipment

A shift away from the traditional office workspace is having a profound effect on the access control market. Equipment is consequently being utilised for more diverse applications, such as having growing significance in the healthcare, utilities and infrastructure markets. In addition, ‘smart’ locks in the residential market is set to push it beyond the demand for private sector office applications – previously the mainstay of the access control sector.

The blurring lines between Security and IT integrator

Both security and IT integrators are beginning to realise the potential in being able to offer customers with highly customised solutions that encompass IT, security and building management integration. Drivers behind this include the ability to provide customised solutions via analytics and AI to customers, the acceleration of end-users identifying building management technologies to serve emerging needs, and the growing awareness of security at boardroom level.

Hyperscalers in the control room

Data feeds into control rooms has grown significantly in recent years, which has led to the adoption of cloud-based services to support in handling the data. Hyperscalers, such as Microsoft’s Azure and Google’s Cloud, will therefore begin to increasingly become a part of public safety and control rooms market due to their ability to offer Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) solutions.

The rise of the LTE/LMR hybrid devices for Mission Critical Communications

Cellular technologies such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and the advent of 5G will empower the traditional Land Mobile Radio (LMR) networks and enhance it with broadband capabilities supporting large speeds and high security. Omdia expects 2022 to be the year that hybrid LTE/LMR devices to be available, which customer demand will help drive.

Coming out of 2021, Omdia is positive on the outlook for 2022. Optimism surrounding new evolutions of transformative technologies, market and technology capabilities will continuously drive innovation.