After a five year, personal hiatus, I returned to ISC West. This is the largest US security industry event featuring some of the latest products and training, as well as networking with other leaders in the field. My once annual pilgrimage was getting stale, as technology didn’t seem to be progressing as fast as the next show came around. But boy, what a difference five years has made. The whole security industry now seems to be moving in a different direction. Yes, protection of assets is still the prime mover but, with improving sensor technology, gamification and cloud-based solutions, security is moving into the business intelligence realm. These are exciting times as we are now able to offer our clients systems that can improve the operation of business, and not just serve their protection needs.
I strongly believe that companies such as Google and Apple are having the biggest impact on our industry. What these companies have done is change the client’s expectation on how things should work. I can buy a device from either of these guys and in a few moments have that device running and personalized; operating solely for my needs. Security systems have to work in the same manner.
I used to represent a system that works well on a PC, but won’t work on a Mac. This same system can work remotely on an iPad, but won’t work on an Android device—this is madness, it has to, and will, stop. Clients will reject systems that do not work for their needs on the device of their choosing.
Enter THE CLOUD: Cloud based solutions at least get over the PC/Mac dilemma as their interfaces are viewed over a browser. And, now that app development has become less expensive, a cloud solution can be viewed on pretty much any device connected to the Internet. For this reason, cloud solutions, and Brivo systems in particular, were my standout solution at this year’s ISC West.
Say good-bye to that bag of power supplies.
