Security service - Expert commentary

A true IoT platform is the confluence of Internet, business and sensory data The era of IoT - the Internet of Things - is upon us. A deluge of urban sensory data is flowing into data centers every minute, putting pressure on data-center resources and accumulating at a rate faster than anyone can process. Is the proliferation of sensory data simply evidence of an increasingly intrusive world, or can IoT be used for the improvement and development of intelligence-equipped cities...

Many security company employees say they first learned about opportunities in the field through other employees The nation’s security companies are increasingly turning to U.S. military veterans to fill the ranks of both uniformed guards and management personnel. Getting the best former soldiers, airmen and sailors into the civilian workforce requires recruiting, and some of the best recruiters are other veterans. A wide variety of current security company employees say...

Forty-one percent of cyber incidents involved the energy sector The Bipartisan Policy Center, the Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team, which is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, reports responding to 198 cyber incidents in fiscal year 2012 across all critical infrastructure sectors. Forty-one percent of these incidents involved the energy sector, particularly electricity, according to a February 2014 report. Considering the enormity of the...

The action of a voltage applied to a resistance element, draws power from the switch’s PoE port We often think about a power supply operating in a single format. A power source provides power to a device. You plug it into a wall outlet and that’s all that happens. PoE power is a far more complex. There is interaction between the source providing power and the device receiving power. This interaction is governed under the 802.3 AF and AT standards. These differences...

The focus of Fusion Center is all about video - surveillance, analytics, verification, license plate recognition, VMS, wearable cameras and more Growing demand for surveillance that offers better quality video continues to fuel growth in the IP camera market. According to Transparency Market Research, the video surveillance market will realize a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19 percent by 2019, surpassing $42 billion in sales. High-definition video and network-connect...

As more veterans exit the military at the end of tours, an increasing number will likely be turning to security firms for employment You can identify the military veterans among private security guards by the way they wear their uniforms, according to one security company executive. Each veteran looks comfortable in the uniform and exudes a confidence you don’t often see among those without a military background. It comes as no surprise that security companies like to h...

The stigma of the cannabis industry still hangs in the balance Final installment of 4-part series:The legalization of recreational marijuana use in Colorado and Washington, along with it medical use in about 23 other states, has created an industry made up mostly of small mom-and-pop operators. “While the revenues in this industry are big, the number of people involved is pretty small,”said one security industry insider. That’s about to change as Wall Street...

2015 is shaping up to be a strong year for dealers and integrators The systems integration industry is abuzz. Access control is super-hot, and the product category continues to grow. IP video surveillance specifications are moving along at break-neck speed. New technology categories in the security market – energy management, home automation and interactive services – are helping savvy dealers and systems integrators grow their businesses. But do these companies r...

Marshall Marinace is on a mission - to continue to infuse value into ESA If you haven’t met Marshall Marinace, you probably will soon. He’s the new President of the Electronic Security Association (ESA), and he’s instantly likeable. He’s a homespun security dealer with decades of service who knows that the new world of systems integration requires change and involvement of every member at the association level. Marinace was sworn in as the 41st Preside...

 The increased viability of surveillance video as data will be an opportunity for growth and development Pivot3 2014/2015 Review and Forecast: It was a solid year for the industry – not great, but not bad. The state of the economy and less U.S. government grant money for surveillance in the last year held the security industry back overall.  There were two interesting trends as it relates to server/storage infrastructure for video surveillance. Firs...

Retailers can get more use from video surveillance data, ultimately targeting profitability As the vacation shopping season kicks into high gear, retail organizations have two primary concerns: making a profit on notoriously slim margins and shoring up potential areas of internal (employee) and external threats, including organized retail crime. According to the Global Retail Theft Barometer 2011, published by the Center for Retail Research, total global shrink in 2011 cost...

Think of crisis management and emergency planning as a  customer service Do you have a written emergency management plan? Where is it? When was the last time you updated it? Developing and writing a corporate or organizational emergency management plan can take a long time. Once completed, however, the plan is there for you to access when you need it. In fact, that’s wrong. According to crisis management authority Michael J. Fagel, emergency planning is suppos...

The security industry can be like a house built on sand without professional standards in place Picture the scene: You’re suffering from a persistent pain and so decide to take a trip to your doctor to get it checked out. You step into the consulting room but, before you can speak, he looks you up and down, haw and hums, and then writes out a prescription. Would you be happy that drugs prescribed in this manner will cure your ailment when your doctor has not even bothe...

AlliedBarton actively seeks out and hires family members of veterans through employer assistance groups  AlliedBarton Security Services implemented its program to hire veterans five years ago. “Our CEO Bill (William C.) Whitmore announced one day that ‘we’re going to have a lot of American heroes coming home soon, and I want to give them jobs,’” said Jerold Ramos, Director, Strategic Recruiting and Military Liaison with AlliedBarton. &ldquo...

Physical access control system architecture should be built to use the changing IT infrastructures of today’s organizations to their fullest It’s time to completely rethink physical access control systems with an eye toward the changing world of information technology. Today’s physical access control system architecture only leverages existing network hardware technology – it doesn’t utilize the organization’s full IT infrastructure, which...

ISPs are often under-delivering on promised network speeds and bandwidth Regardless of where you stand on net neutrality, there’s a bigger slice to the story – how to monitor the health and performance of a network to ensure system performance. While an Internet fast lane for everyone makes sense, the reality is that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are often under-delivering on promised network speeds and bandwidth. And while the Federal Communications Commissio...

The Security Girl has become much more than a brand for American Fire & Security By Deborah O'Mara, SourceSecurity.com's dealer/integrator correspondent In the security industry, you want to be different, and what’s more memorable than a company avatar turned ambassador that sports some rockin’ pink hair? Only The Security Girl’s hairdresser knows for sure! Erica Wood, chief security officer and co-owner of American Fire & Security (AF&S) i...

Integrators are embracing the many ways the cloud helps smaller companies succeed Hosted and managed security services aren’t for large enterprises only. SMBs (small-to-medium businesses) are taking advantage of the inherent operational and cost efficiencies of deploying managed services. Web-based or cloud services like access control and video provide convenience, ease of use and lower total cost of ownership. Cloud services are accessed without downloading and mainta...

Quantifying information provides insights for business to improve performance management The ability to measure and analyze the effectiveness of security operations is extremely useful – not only for identifying and addressing an organization’s vulnerabilities, but also for demonstrating security’s mitigating impact on overall risk levels along with the higher-level value security delivers to a business. Brian McIlravey, Co-CEO at PPM, explains how security m...

 How might "competing technologies" impact HDcctv’s efforts to gain traction as an alternative to IP? Editor's Note: HDcctv Alliance has announced that Dahua has opened its patented HDCVI technology to the global video surveillance industry as the basis for HDcctv's AT 2.0 standard. For additional elaboration on what the move means to the growing market for higher-resolution CCTV, we approached Todd Rockoff, chairman and executive director of HDcctv Alliance. Sourc...

A value management process with clearly defined steps and procedures is critical In a highly competitive marketplace, where organizations need to ensure they are contracting for the best possible services, value must be visible. This starts with aligning with the right service provider – one that is dedicated to the organization’s success and has the people and processes to make an impact. Certainly most, if not all, service organizations say that they strive t...

Security officers work diligently to protect people and property and are often first on the scene of an emergency. Working alongside police, paramedics and firefighters, security officers demand our collective respect. The Freedonia Group reports that the demand for security officer and patrol services is forecast to rise at an annual rate of 4.6 percent through 2014 to $25 billion and the number of officers employed by private security firms is expected to increase 2.6 perce...

Companies that have developed a culture of openness can provide and receive feedback at all levels “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down” is an old Japanese saying that took hold in our post World War II corporate America culture. This phrase encourages an unspoken rule of conformity combined with an authoritarian hierarchical structure. Today it is important for business leaders to consider the impact this has in American workplaces. Brent O’Bryan...

Networking is a powerful way to effectively converge and integrate security In an ever-changing world, business organizations require efficient security partners in order to focus their expansion towards growing economies. This physical expansion leads to a need for expanded and enhanced security programs to protect a growing network of people and facilities. In this article, Renae Leary, Senior Director, Global Accounts, at ADT Worldwide, provides an insight into cost-effecti...