James Chong’s presentation in the Next Generation CCTV and Surveillance Theatre takes place in Hall 5 on Wednesday 16 May from 1.15 pm-2.15 pm.
This session will review the state of the Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) market as it stands today and will begin to look ahead at how the market will evolve over the next few years.
For a flavour of what’s in store, Chong offered some clues as to the answers he’ll be giving at the NEC.
Info4Security (I4S): What lessons have we learned in regards to PSIM?
James Chong (JC): There are several lessons we have learned as PSIM has become more widely adopted.
The first is that PSIM should be leveraged to present operators with intelligent, actionable data. The information put in front of operators is directly tied to how effective a team can be at verifying, managing and resolving a situation as safely and efficiently as possible.
A potential pitfall we’ve observed is that organisations try to present every alarm and every event to an operator. The result is an overwhelming amount of data, and no clear approach to resolving the issues at hand.
The second lesson learned is that collaboration and sharing of resources is critical in the current cost-sensitive environment. Whether it’s sharing devices across public agencies or among various departments within an organisation, extending the use of existing resources and investments fosters collaboration in situation management and resolution.
Lastly, we’ve learned that PSIM deployments are not traditional integration projects. As a software-based solution that requires the integration of other hardware and software systems, as well as the customisation of policies, rules and user practices, the full deployment of a PSIM solution requires a non-traditional, multi-disciplined consulting, engineering and installation approach.
The varied skill sets, knowledge and experience required to deliver all of the elements of a PSIM project have challenged security integrators to expand and update their typical project delivery methodologies and resources.
I4S: How has the PSIM market evolved to date?
JC: The PSIM market is growing rapidly. While there are still very few ‘true’ PSIM vendors, there are over 40 companies that have incorporated PSIM as part of their messaging and offering.
Magazines, conferences, the media and analysts are beginning to cover PSIM on a regular basis and system integrators are building teams and expertise for PSIM to support deployments globally.
I4S: What hurdles do organisations face in the adoption of PSIM?
JC: There are several hurdles organisations may face in the adoption of PSIM. From building a business case to show ROI through to identifying what situations to monitor for and the associated response procedures for each situation.
With the help of the PSIM vendor and a systems integrator, though, these hurdles can be overcome.
I4S: How are private and public organisations using PSIM today, and how do they plan to use it in the near future?
JC: Today, both public and private sector organisations are using PSIM to integrate their disparate physical security devices (access control, video, RFID, GPS, CBRNE and other sensors, building management systems, etc) into one common operating picture.
With this view, organisations have the ability, in real time, to verify, diagnose, prioritise and resolve situations according to presented standard operating procedures.
In the near future, organisations will continue to extend the use of PSIM by integrating additional devices and systems and will begin to pro-actively monitor for more complex situations that involve multiple systems and locations.
Additionally, we will see more public/private organisation collaboration and the sharing of information to enable better, more co-ordinated situation management and resolution.
I4S: How will PSIM evolve and change over the next few years?
JC: In five years’ time PSIM will be much more commonplace. There will be a significantly larger number of cities, agencies and private organisations following the leads of the City of Baltimore and New York City’s World Trade Center, creating what we call safe and secure cities wherein there is tight co-ordination and collaboration across jurisdictions and organisations in order to better manage and respond to situations as they unfold.
As public and private sector organisations look for ways in which to more effectively manage and reduce their risks as well as their operational costs, we’ll also see more of them taking a proactive, more collaborative approach to improving the safety of the public, first responders and businesses alike.
