Physical security - Round table discussions

According to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to transform all sectors of society, including national security. The physical security marketplace is certainly feeling the impact of the new technology, which has quickly gained prominence as one of the industry’s most popular buzzwords. To assess the more practical aspects of the situation, we asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: How is artificial intelligence (...

Risk is a core concept in the practice of physical security. However, the risk is not always assessed effectively. Ideally, an organization's appetite for risk guides its security strategy and action planning to the minutest detail, including buying decisions for security equipment and systems. We asked this week's Expert Panel Roundtable: How does the concept of risk influence buying decisions in the security market?

A sad irony in the physical security industry has been the lax attention paid historically to the cybersecurity elements of our industry’s systems. However, the picture has improved starkly in recent years as manufacturers have stepped up to meet the cybersecurity challenges and awareness of the issue has become much higher. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What's new in cybersecurity for physical security systems?

Integrators and installers are on the front line of creating most security systems. They are also usually the first point of contact if there is a problem with the system. In general practice, many end users deal with integrators and seldom if ever speak to the manufacturer. Should it be that way? We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: Why does a manufacturer need a direct relationship with an end user?

Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) standards in the broader marketplace reflect a growing recognition that business needs to lead the way in addressing a range of environmental and social issues. Environmental concerns, especially as they impact climate change, are a familiar facet of business life. In addition, social concerns include human rights and equity; basically, an organization's relationships with people. Governance refers to the structure of rules, practices, and pr...

Every security system is unique, of course. Specific to each installation are the problems the customer and the integrator may experience along their journey. However, given the installation of hundreds of physical security systems, there are commonalities that occur. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What are the major pain points when installing a physical security system?

The return of trade shows has been an invigorating development for the security market. The morning-after reviews of this year's shows could not have been more positive. Everyone in the industry seemed to revel in the excitement and momentum as the shows decisively proclaimed: 'We're back.' Continuing that momentum into the future will depend on how well the shows adapt to changing industry trends and repeatedly reinvent themselves to be better every year. Adding feedback from GSX to our earlier...

Big Data is a persistent buzzword in the broader technology realm and in the physical security market. More every year, it seems we see a greater impact of the compilation of numerous data sources (Big Data) on our market. Smart leaders in the industry are looking at the vast opportunities that exist to leverage Big Data into greater intelligence and situational awareness. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What is the intersection of the security market and "big data?"

Challenges of the global supply chain have reverberated into the physical security marketplace in a big way in recent years. Dealers who historically could count on timely delivery of equipment have instead faced extended delays that in some cases have jeopardized their businesses. By most accounts, the situation is improving, so we turned to our Expert Panel Roundtable for an update. Our question this week: What is the current state of the physical security supply chain?

Biometrics is both a mature technology in the physical security world and an innovation perpetually on the cutting edge. Biometric technologies received a boost during the COVID pandemic when “touchless” became a buzzword with particular relevancy to the world of biometrics. Higher security needs, such as “two-factor authentication,” are also driving demand for biometric products. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What are the latest technology trends in...

Some products may become obsolete faster than others, while some may have a longer life span due to ongoing innovation and demand. Technology and security threats are continuously evolving, and older security systems may no longer be effective in protecting against the latest threats. Additionally, older systems may have outdated technology, making them more vulnerable. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: Given rapid technology development, are the lifecycles of security sy...

There’s always more to talk about in our Expert Panel Roundtable discussions, and we appreciate the variety of opinionated responses offered throughout the year. Looking back at 2022, we found several random and uncategorized Expert Panel responses that were not previously published. We have rescued these responses from our cutting-room floor and present them here in the interest of generating even more discussion.

As much as we each seem to live in our own bubble, the reality is that everything is connected and we are all part of a greater whole. So it is with the security market, which can be both inward-focused and also play a role in the bigger societal picture. A couple of recent questions we posed to the Expert Panel Roundtable highlight how the security market can and should interact with society in general.

A multi-factor authentication is a layered approach that requires users to provide two or more verification factors, such as credentials, to gain access to data and applications. If one of the credentials is compromised, the thinking goes, an unauthorized user will still be unable to meet the second authentication requirement and will be denied access to a targeted physical space, computing device, network, or database. Cybersecurity applications have long embraced the idea of MFA, which is also...

Some trends in the security marketplace continue for several years, while others come and go quickly and are soon forgotten. Scrutinizing a trend’s expected lifespan can help predict its impact on the marketplace. Trends that evaporate seemingly overnight are not useful for the greater good, and they can also distract customers from more enduring subjects. Unfortunately, sometimes hype is just hype. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: Which new security trend do you think w...

Like any year, 2022 was full of surprises for the physical security industry. Adapting to supply chain shortages, lightning-fast technology development, and changing occupancy patterns in a shifting labor market were just a few of the factors that kept security professionals guessing in 2022. Wonder what the new year will hold? We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What will be the biggest surprise for security in the year ahead (2023)?

As cloud-based systems become more common, Video Surveillance as a Service (VSaaS) is becoming mainstream in the physical security marketplace. There are certainly benefits for manufacturers and end users, but we asked our Expert Panel Roundtable to focus on the benefits to the dealer channel. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What is the impact of video surveillance as a service (VSaaS) on security integrators?

For decades now, usernames and passwords have been a critical, and highly visible, element in data protection and cybersecurity. However, the use of passwords is a far-from-perfect approach to protecting access to computer systems. Nowadays, newer, more sophisticated forms of user identification and authentication have emerged on the scene. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: Is the password on the brink of extinction in physical security? Why or why not?

Connectivity is literally the difference between products operating individually and those combined into a more powerful system. Many of the devices that connect today’s security products reflect mature technologies that have been proven over time. However, innovation is also driving the need for new approaches to connectivity and networking. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What are the new developments in networking and connectivity for security?

How has the security end user’s ‘buying journey’ changed in the age of the Internet? If nothing else, the online age has simplified access to information about various security products and systems. However, easily accessible information could enable a customer to delay contacting a manufacturer or systems integrator until further along the decision-making process. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What role should the Internet play when customers are research...

Generally speaking, security becomes a topic of conversation among the general public only after something bad has happened. The context in these situations is: What went wrong? Largely absent from awareness by the public at large is how often things go right; that is, how often security systems work as intended to avoid expensive or even deadly consequences. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: How can the industry communicate the value of security to the public?

With fewer employees working in the office, and more of them working from home, it is no longer necessary for each employee to have their ‘own’ desk. Rather, desks may be used by various people at different times, as needed on an ad hoc basis. This arrangement, known as ‘hot desking,’ maximises space efficiency and reduces unneeded office space. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What will be the impact of ‘hot desking’ on the security marketp...

PropTech (property technology) is a term that describes electronic tools used in the real estate industry. It’s a buzzword that has made its way into the physical security industry, often in connection with access control. For the latest insights on the trends of security in PropTech, we asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What is the role of security as property technology (PropTech) transforms the real estate market?

With the worst of the COVID pandemic’s impact behind us, most would agree that the security industry was transformed by the interlude, as were most other elements in our society. But what will be the lasting impact on the security market – positive or negative? We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: Is post-pandemic security more effective than pre-pandemic security? How?

Security is critical in the government sector, as much as any other vertical. Successful systems must promote public safety while also facing onerous requirements when it comes to cybersecurity. From a global perspective, the world seems less safe than ever before, suggesting an even greater role for security technologies. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: How can security address the challenges of the government market?

The Metaverse sounds like the plot of the latest summer action movie. In reality, it’s a technology - or, more accurately, a group of technologies - that will likely have a transformational impact on a host of markets. For security, the Metaverse has an extensive list of needs. It also presents some opportunities. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What does the Metaverse mean for security?

The buzzwords in security provide a decent parallel to the technology advancements in our industry. Over the years, our language has evolved to encompass new concepts that have transformed our business. Buzzwords can sometimes be dismissed as overblown compared to the current state of the technology, or even as marketing hype. But the language we use to describe the industry’s technologies often reflect our changing marketplace. Sometimes the challenge is keeping up with the latest buzz. W...

Technologies and trends in the security marketplace come and go with some regularity. But how can you tell which trends are gaining traction and which amount to ‘the flavor of the month.’ For guidance, we asked our Expert Panel Roundtable: Which new security trend do you think is here to stay?

It’s safe to say there has been more change in the workplace in the last two years than ever before. Driven by the pandemic, technology has both allowed greater flexibility for employees and enabled continuing prosperity for many companies that otherwise would have had to cease operation. But have security protocols and practices done enough to enable companies to keep pace with the changes? We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: Have security protocols and practices kept up w...

The price of a security system and the value it provides are two different things. For end users, the objective is to minimize price, while maximizing value. A system may both have a higher price and provide greater value, but not always. Because customers want to pay as little as they can, it is necessary to make a case that a system provides the best possible value, whatever the cost. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: How can customers go beyond price to maximize the ‘...