No one involved in security today has failed to notice the rise of the term “converged security.” There have been a number of articles published on this very forum about the worlds of physical security and IT coming together.
Typically, converged security marries physical, logical, and information security with risk management, business continuity, and disaster recovery on a common network enabled by IT on the IP network. As security professionals, whether we like it or not, this trend is not only here to stay but destined to grow — and rightly so, if we are honest.
Cisco’s Guido Jouret wrote in September 2012: “Analysts estimate that by 2013, more than 50 percent of all video surveillance deployments will be managed by IT on the IP network.” There’s no doubt this growth is being aided by society’s adoption of the Internet, which has been faster than the adoption of any previous technology. A clear example easily associated with our industry is telecommunications, which has undergone a revolution since the emergence of the first VoIP solutions in 1992.
In addition, IT professionals are working to increase network traffic, whether to embed themselves further into a client enterprise or to bring them more power in their host organisation. This makes the consolidation of bandwidth-hungry video surveillance and associated security devices on to the corporate network an attractive proposition — more traffic means more power. It is also true that, when carried out correctly, convergence brings clear client benefits in terms of information superiority, flexibility, scalability, cheaper implementation using common infrastructure (often financed from shared budgets), and increased control by utilising and sharing resources.
Big names to fall?
Does that bring two worlds to collision? Well, it will certainly culminate in a shift in market dynamics and a blurring of boundaries. As with telecoms, there will be some fallout. Some established industry names may well disappear, new ones will take their place, and the industry giants will vie to introduce products and services that others have traditionally offered.
However, this convergence may also offer a new age of cooperation for the common good. After all, converged security involves a diverse array of skills and technologies, which a client is unlikely to address purely with an in-house team.
It is also likely to lead to a new breed of security manager — one with a good, broad knowledge of the business organisation and a working knowledge of the various security disciplines. This will certainly require a more professional approach if that manager is to stand alongside IT peers in delivering secure risk mitigation measures throughout the organisation. The introduction of the Register of Chartered Security Professionals, supported by bodies like the Security Institute and ASIS UK, offers a recognised benchmark of a security manager’s professionalism and ability to learn and apply knowledge.
Few technology vendors have the in-house resources to design and implement the full converged security solution. Traditional security companies will lack the broader IT knowledge, and IT will lack the experience in deploying an array of physical security systems. Glitches in physical security can have disastrous consequences — hence, the industry’s round-the-clock service response.
Clearly, companies will feel the need to acquire skills through either time-consuming recruitment or mergers and acquisitions. Alternatively, the more expedient route is forming close, mutually beneficial, strategic alliances across industry sectors. These partners in turn need to engage more openly and develop stronger, more robust, and meaningful relationships with the relevant stakeholders in a client enterprise focusing on business justification in the pursuance of total corporate security and smart management.
The open and honest partnership approach to delivering projects will become more prevalent as converged security blends with life safety and building management systems and we move toward intelligent buildings and smart cities.
Free Download: The Video Surveillance Report 2023
Discover the latest developments in the rapidly-evolving video surveillance sector by downloading the 2023 Video Surveillance Report. Over 500 responses to our survey, which come from integrators to consultants and heads of security, inform our analysis of the latest trends including AI, the state of the video surveillance market, uptake of the cloud, and the wider economic and geopolitical events impacting the sector!
Download for FREE to discover top industry insight around the latest innovations in video surveillance systems.
There is more good than bad that could come from the cooperation of the IT and Security worlds. The combination of IT data processing and Security data recording alone could be used to identify trends in the environment being secured. This could allow you to both realized what activities could be streamlined to improve efficiency and what activities are really out of the ordinary and should be looked at closer. Sure some redundancies may crop up and need to be removed but this will only lead to a faster, stronger system that is ultimately more secure.
It always collides but I cant see a winner or a looser in that battle. I feel they both need each other to overcome the barriers.
@N De Silva I don’t think of it as seeing winners and losers necessarily right out of the gate but you will see smaller companies swallowed up or run out of business by other companies and you will see mergers or changes in trends that could ultimately render a companies products useless or obsolete if they are unable to keep up with the market. Its a lot like evolution the companies that can keep up and change will thrive and the ones that can’t will go the way of the dodo.
IP technology as a disruptor has profound implications for the existing market participants as the challenges they face are considerable. A very different skill set is required to sell, design, install, manage and support these systems. The new systems have to work on the user’s IT data network or inefficiently duplicate a network for surveillance. This means the IT department will be a key influencer, if not the actual buyer. The existing players need to know IT managers and their buying behaviour. They need to understand the impact of video on the corporate network and they need to understand server… Read more »