IFSEC International is unmistakably one of the most important events for all security professionals.
It is here that, for one week every year, the leading lights of the security industry come together under one roof to demonstrate technologies and future market trends. IFSEC 2013 was no different.
After many discussions across the week with customers, partners, and industry commentators alike, the recurring conversations were most definitely around the topics of cloud services, mobile access, and integration.
These three areas are undoubtedly driving innovation and development within the security industry, responding to a need for security solutions that can be remotely managed, are available anywhere at any time, provide key technical benefits, and help end users manage their businesses and budgets.
Whilst all three of these trends are interconnected, and none should be developed alone, for the purposes of this article, I will look to address each one in turn.
The cloud
Over the past five years, the cloud has passed into the business (and consumer) lexicon. It’s easy to see why. Flexible, scalable applications delivered as a service and on demand have reduced the up-front capital expenditures an organisation must make to implement a range of solutions. Systems can morph quickly according to business requirements, and security systems are no exception.
For example, video solutions hosted in the cloud allow any business — an office, a retail store, or a hotel, for example — to pay for a specific set of monitoring and storage services that perfectly matches its needs. These services can be implemented, turned on or off, and scaled up or down quickly to adapt to the organisation’s changing requirements and the space where its employees operate.
The cloud is delivering more cost-efficient, flexible, and scalable solutions. This is a huge benefit for end users and an area of business opportunity for installers. Almost every conversation I had at IFSEC 2013 suggested that demand for cloud services in our sector will continue to grow aggressively for the foreseeable future.
Integration
Lowering capital investment is also an important business case for the second of our three megatrends: integration. In today’s tough economic environment with tighter budgets and more scrutiny on spending, a CFO needs to be reassured that investments are adequately future proofed. Integration is one of the easiest ways of ensuring that a purchase will deliver return on investment against the total cost of ownership, providing flexibility and scalability for cost-effective evolution in line with company requirements.
Cost aside, integration also provides more visibility and control over multiple systems. With IP adoption continuing to increase, security managers demand and expect security systems (access, intruder, CCTV) not only to talk to one another, but also to enable easy integration with other applications, like HR or building management systems.
Mobile
Cloud-based solutions — accessible through any Internet connection — and the increasing demand for integration are also making mobile technology more important. From a cloud perspective, giving security managers quick access to video surveillance systems anywhere at any time is a huge advantage, particularly if the individual is regularly offsite. Rather than worrying about potential issues back at the base, the manager can log in from a smartphone or tablet for instant peace of mind — an important benefit for any security professional.
IFSEC 2013 reconfirmed that, as an industry, we are continuing the drive toward a more customer-centric approach to delivering value-added services. As manufacturers, we need to continue to focus on our product offerings and focus on change through innovation. At Honeywell, we strive to ensure that our customers have access to and take advantage of the opportunities that continue to arise from cloud-based services, mobile, and, most importantly, integrated solutions.
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I think integration should have been at the top of this list, I agree with the statement that with constrained budgets companies are looking for ways to future proof the solutions they look into but I also think they are looking for solutions that are compatible with what they already have. There are tools out there that allow you to install a new system and work with existing equipment and I believe those are the tools that are going to move to the forefront.
Every company wants to integration with their systems at appropriate cost and cloud is one of most effective way to integrate our portable device, however there has been security concerns with cloud too
Tools that enable a phased transition you mean, rather than an all-out brand new install?
I think cloud security concerns are to a degree unwarranted, but I’m keen to keep this discussion on physical security technology so I won’t go too far down that road!
The trends were not listed in order of priority, but agree that integration is, and has been, extremely important in ensuring organisations maximise the potential of the security solutions they deploy. Not only in terms of the integration of existing legacy systems, but also ensuring that those systems can be upgraded cost effectively over a period of time, through the use of hybrid technologies for example.
I agree wholeheartedly that end users and purchasers are looking for integration as it relates to backwards and forwards compatability. Integration with legacy systems is happening more often than not, with IP cameras going over legacy coaxial cable, analog cameras in areas not requiring high resolution (i.e. service corridors) being maintained and digitized by means of an encoder, and so on. As far as integration between various system types, it’s one of these things that is talked about far more than it has been implimented. The means to integrate all of these systems have been around for years, and the… Read more »
@Jonathan Poon I agree with your point. I am of the opinion that lagacy equipment do not become useless immediately after shifting or migrating to new tech. I feel that it is really a difficult task to let go what you were doing already and for so long. It will be very costly entity. I think Co usually make a progessive change while using both tech in hand and tech in adoption.
@George Brown true. I think the shifting to cloud has taken up pace in last few years. The security concerns are true but it is not stopping the popularity clouds are gaining. I think we are well aware of threats to cloud and will definitely find a way to immune it from threats may be not completely but definitely to a comfortable level. Till we are working on it we need to make few make shift arrangements for the security of our data like private clouds, keeping archives in cloud etc.
So people just aren’t interested in integrating these systems, despite what manufacturers would like to think?
There’s no point getting rid of it if it’s still working and doing the job you need it to, that’s correct.
That’s always the dilemma faced, to rip out a perfectly good system cannot be justified.
Well, manufacturers are certainly interested in integrating things. And I think theres some hope on their part that if they publicize it enough, the demand will appear. Part of the problem could be departmental. If the access control system is managed by the Human Resources department and the CCTV system is managed by security, you can have departments working against integration efforts. We’ve seen that on gaming projects as well. I think the people looking to integrate is a subset of the people who would really benefit from integration. Not saying I agree with that, just that it has been… Read more »
Agree and I support the idea that we should keep the aspect that works and improve on them