An Industry Paradigm Shift

For many months now I have been talking and writing about what I perceive to be a fundamental change happening in the security industry. This change may be more or less prominent in the various segments of our industry but it is certainly going to affect the industry as a whole. The shift is most evident when you remember back several years to when manufacturers could develop and then depend on a network of loyal dealers. Those of you that have been in our industry for more than just a few years will certainly remember when each integrator or service provided was identified by the products they offered. As a dealer you were known as “a Lenel house” or “an AMAG dealer” or some other way to identify the manufacturers with whom you had formed alliances. Gradually these alliances started to fade as service providers began to take on a second, then a third, and eventually many lines of equipment that compete with each other. There are many reasons that dealers have increased the number of lines they carry, and one could argue that the manufacturers brought this on themselves by trying to put too many dealers in a specific geographic location, but the fact remains that loyalty to any one manufacturer is mostly a thing of the past. Many dealers now extol the virtues of having access to as many lines of equipment as they can get, and still maintain well trained install and service departments.

The paradigm shift then takes place, from the manufacturer’s perspective, in how they get their products to the end user. More and more I am seeing manufacturers that feel it is necessary to reach around the service provider and market their products directly to the end user. They still need dealers and integrators to install and service their equipment, but they feel more comfortable pulling the business through to the dealer in a scenario that gives them much more control over what equipment is finally installed – theirs!

Service providers, on the other hand, find this new path to market to be troubling and yet an answer to their long ignored request. Dealers have, for as long as their have been dealers, asked and harangued manufactures to bring them leads. What they wanted was a qualified target for the manufacturer’s equipment, not necessarily an already “sold” end user client that has his mind made up and has a close relationship with the manufacturer. This close relationship makes the dealer nervous because it takes control of the sales process out of his hands. He feels relegated to the role of a hired installer as his position as “owner” of the long term relationship erodes.

It would be an interesting dialog to hear from both manufacturers and service providers on this subject. I’m sure the issues are much more complex than I have outlined here and the view from each side is certainly different from the other.

Let’s hear your point of view!

CPP Exam

I did it!! For about two years now I’ve contemplated the idea of attaining my CPP designation. CPP (Certified Protection Professional), for those of you not familiar with the security industry, is offered by ASIS (American Society for Industrial Security) and is our industries most sought after professional designation. About two months ago I enrolled in a weekend preparation course offered by the GLAC (Greater Los Angeles Chapter) of ASIS. I finished the course a week ago today (April 12, 2008) and then sat for my exam yesterday (April 18, 2008).

I guess this post would have a whole different spin had I not passed the exam, but I did. CPP is attained by only the top 3% of security professionals and it is not at all uncommon for someone to fail the exam their first time out. I was more than a little nervous going into the exam. It’s the type of nervous that builds over time so that by the time I sat down at the computer terminal for the actual exam I was desperate to pass and get it over with. You are allowed 4 hours for the exam and I took every minute of it. By the time a clicked “finish” I had to close my eyes and yet try to see (like when you were a kid at the scary movies) my exam results. When the word “congratulations” appeared on the screen the relief I felt was enormous.

I’d like to offer up a special thanks to Rod Mulvay, my GLAC Review Course mentor and Hank Gatlin and Mark Creighton my group team mates. It’s truly a team effort to get through the course and a supportive team makes all the difference in the world. I look forward to serving as a mentor next year.

The next revolution in the security industry

It seems to me, and I’ll welcome all opposing or supporting observations, that the next revolution in the electronic security industry is forming on the horizon. I claim no special ability to foresee the future, as is evidenced by the fact that I still own TYCO stock that I purchased in the late 90s, but I’m certain that the next revolution in our industry will be in the prevalent use of SDKs and APIs for integration of disparate systems. Technological advances such as the .NET framework and Linux OS have opened the door for the integration of computer based systems in ways that we have just never seen before. If you’re an access control, CCTV, digital video, intercom, ID badging or other building systems manufacturer you are no longer operating in a closed environment and the proprietary systems of years gone past either have or will be replaced by systems that adhere to conventional standards and protocols. Even, and some would argue especially, if you are a security peripheral device manufacturer such as cards, readers, cameras, and sensors you will need to learn to live and prosper in an open protocol environment. This is good news for the manufacturer, the systems integrator or service provider, as well as the end user. This win-win-win scenario creates, in our industry, a momentum that simply can’t be denied.

Currently, in the traditional manufacturer-to-integrator-to-end user market channel, the two end players are providing the market pressure to comply to open standards and to provide a usable SDK for development with their products. The manufacturers are realizing the benefits of having multiple third-party subsystems seamlessly integrated with their core software and hardware offerings and the end users are realizing that if they choose the right integrator they can have a customized system that meets their exact needs. The more forward thinking integrators are now capitalizing on the end user’s new paradigm and they are hiring or training their staff to be able to provide customized software development using the SDKs and APIs available from the manufacturers.

If you’re a sophisticated security system end user you have probably already figured out that if you want a specific DVR or badging system, for example, to integrate with your access control system you need to choose an integrator with software development capabilities. If you do, you’re likely to get what you want. If you’re a system integrator you’ve probably run across opportunities to provide integrated systems that required high level software integration using a manufacturer’s SDK. And if you are a manufacturer you’re probably beginning to realize that in order to stay competitive and to provide all the features and flexibility that the end user wants, you will necessarily need to open up your system to third party developers. These forces in the market require that we all use open standards. I, for one, believe that it is coming and that it is a good thing for our industry.

Purpose of ElectronicSecuritySystems blogspace

The purpose of this blog space is to provide a forum to facilitate information exchange and networking for manufacturers, resellers, integrators, and end users of electronic security systems. All posts appropriate for those with an interest in electronic security are welcome; however, special emphasis on new technologies and disparate system integration using an SDK is encouraged.