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Rob Ratcliff was the Content and Community Manager of IFSEC Global.com. He is a self-confessed everyman in the world of security and fire, keen to learn from the global community of experts who have been a part of IFSEC for 40 years now.
We spoke to IFSEC’s Premier Partners before this year’s show about the big trends in the security industry. The main theme running through these interviews seemed to be making business simpler, a trend being mostly driven by the end user.
Jeroen Cleijne, Panasonic’s European product manager, spoke about more cameras recording into the cloud instead of just local NVRs, something that is “more convenient” for the end user of the surveillance camera.
Similarly, Risco’s UK & Ireland sales manager for intruder detection systems, Mike Lawrence, spoke about how the consumer market for smartphones has led to increased demand for app technology allowing end users to have up-to-the-minute information on their security systems remotely.
Meanwhile, representatives of Anixter and D-Link both spoke about convergence and IP — hardly a new trend, but very much an ongoing one.
Anixter’s Security Solutions VP for marketing, Steve Anson, explained how they have been a part of this convergence in other industries through the years, starting with voice and data in the 90s, and now reaching the security industry. “The guys who are doing the network integration today are also needing to understand how they can learn more about the security applications, and how that fits into their network,” he said.
Apprentices
On a slightly different note, Simon Banks, managing director of CSL Dualcom, spoke about how apprenticeships are in the spotlight, both on a national level generally and specifically within the security industry.
CSL Dualcom helped set up the 100 in 100 apprenticeships campaign in 2011 with Skills for Security, a campaign that annually aims to get over 100 young people into apprenticeships in security companies.
He also spoke about how installers are looking to add value to their businesses and find new business streams, and the desire from end users for simpler, more mobile, information-rich security systems is certainly one element that will allow them to do this.
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The Future of Security Remains End-User-LedWe spoke to IFSEC’s Premier Partners before this year’s show about the big trends in the security industry. The main […]
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24 Comments
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JonathanL
May 28, 2013 10:40 am
End Users should drive the innovation and market of products. Products converge and we are connected in a dozen different ways in daily life and it only makes sense that we should be able to use an of thos different connections to manage our affairs. It is awesome that the market is responding to this in the way that it has and meeting the end users on their terms. But I supposed if they were not willing to then the end user would eventually move on to some one who would be willing to.
I agree and think it’s really interesting how much more pull the end user seems to have in recent years. The expectations from the end user have a much bigger impact on the rest of the market than they used to, and manufacturers are desperate to engage with them and get them services they need and want.
I feel that security is in hands of the end user. If we are responsible and aware on what we publish on the internet and other sources, then we can have a control over our data security.
I think the key thing is that it’s customer’s expectations from consumer marketing that is driving the greater push from end users in the commercial security space.
safeNsane
May 30, 2013 7:53 am
While at first that sounds like a decent enough idea I can’t say that I see too many companies going that route as a total solution. Archiving to the cloud I would love but live recording to the cloud just seems like a bandwidth hog that is going to have latency issues.
Broadly agree, safensane. It makes sense to back incidents up to the cloud but a constant stream, at current bandwidth levels, is nuts. Poll results in March backed up that most people think Cloud-based Video Surveillance as a Service isn’t possible with current bandwith limitations.
Well end user is the one who interacts with the customers and other stake holders; yes there is more control for the end user to ensure the security is tight. But there are some factors that are beyond the end user’s control.
@Jonathan Lipscomb – I think end user cannot take the sole responsibility of the security, the devices itself need to be secured enough to communicate with each other. I think business should have risk teams to evaluate the risk they have in every step they take and identify loop holes and provide solutions.
@Robert Brown – the end user cannot take the blame for everything, I think the user and the IT department needs to take the blame for any security breach as a result of system backdoor or another technical reason.
“I feel that security is in hands of the end user. If we are responsible and aware on what we publish on the internet and other sources, then we can have a control over our data security.” @N De Silva – I am not saying you are wrong there is always a user involved and he / she could make mistakes which could be a security breach, but what if IT systems fail to protect the network and the data.
safeNsane – If you are going for a cloud, then you should have good bandwidth to support data access and sync. It all depends on the type of business, as some don’t need cloud, some could have some of their data on cloud.
@Robert Brown – I too have to agree as at times the bandwidth makes me go mad. Sometimes the service provider promises on bandwidth and they provide a slower connection. . I think they should never over promise and under deliver; this will frustrate their customers,
@N De Silva – yes customers are very important to a business, it’s the driving force to the business. Its always good to ensure that your customer data is always safe.
THis is a good point. With the way that security products are ‘rated’ can we honestly say that we trust the manufacturer’s assertions on how secure the technology really is? Should there be a more rigourous testing programme?
I think it’s about utilising the ‘power of the cloud’ (as Microsoft and all the other software giants seem to say!) at the right time, not all the time. For backup of the most important video evidence — great. Especially when you’ve had an intrusion, if that data can be immediately stored off-site then it’s that bit more secure. But as an alternative to an NVR it’s, for now at least, a non-starter, I think.
Yes I would hope that you have good bandwidth but a decent number of camera pushing live images out to a cloud based service and then someone sitting in the same office streaming those feeds back to a workstation so that they can view the images live seems like it’s going to be a huge headache to me.
I’m glad I’m not the only one thinking that this could be a problem. I do think that pushing your archives to the cloud is a good idea especially in the event of an emergency. Say you have a fire or a storm that damages property. If your archives are on site they may go up in the fire/storm and you won’t have them readily accessible for investigative purposes. We’ve used security camera recordings for insurance claims several times and if our data center blew away I’d like to have footage of that to show the insurance company.
Well, it’s literally insuring yourself as well. I was reading about Google’s data centres and how pretty much of all of their data is mirrored at least once in case of failure. Imagine the scale of that.
I agree, a lot of this is a method of self insurance. Google does it very well and I wish everyone had the money to follow their lead. It’s hard enough some times to get your core infrastructure done right, never mind a backup site.
yes, you are right, as this days Co. with money could afford to do it right way… but same as death and taxes you could not escape backup as one day you will need it…
End Users should drive the innovation and market of products. Products converge and we are connected in a dozen different ways in daily life and it only makes sense that we should be able to use an of thos different connections to manage our affairs. It is awesome that the market is responding to this in the way that it has and meeting the end users on their terms. But I supposed if they were not willing to then the end user would eventually move on to some one who would be willing to.
I agree and think it’s really interesting how much more pull the end user seems to have in recent years. The expectations from the end user have a much bigger impact on the rest of the market than they used to, and manufacturers are desperate to engage with them and get them services they need and want.
I feel that security is in hands of the end user. If we are responsible and aware on what we publish on the internet and other sources, then we can have a control over our data security.
I think the key thing is that it’s customer’s expectations from consumer marketing that is driving the greater push from end users in the commercial security space.
While at first that sounds like a decent enough idea I can’t say that I see too many companies going that route as a total solution. Archiving to the cloud I would love but live recording to the cloud just seems like a bandwidth hog that is going to have latency issues.
Broadly agree, safensane. It makes sense to back incidents up to the cloud but a constant stream, at current bandwidth levels, is nuts. Poll results in March backed up that most people think Cloud-based Video Surveillance as a Service isn’t possible with current bandwith limitations.
@Robert Brown: Yes indeed. Customers are the driving point of any business. It can be retail or wholesale, still the force remains the same.
True. Any pushes from yourself that you’ve seen come to fruition?
Well end user is the one who interacts with the customers and other stake holders; yes there is more control for the end user to ensure the security is tight. But there are some factors that are beyond the end user’s control.
@Jonathan Lipscomb – I think end user cannot take the sole responsibility of the security, the devices itself need to be secured enough to communicate with each other. I think business should have risk teams to evaluate the risk they have in every step they take and identify loop holes and provide solutions.
@Robert Brown – the end user cannot take the blame for everything, I think the user and the IT department needs to take the blame for any security breach as a result of system backdoor or another technical reason.
“I feel that security is in hands of the end user. If we are responsible and aware on what we publish on the internet and other sources, then we can have a control over our data security.”
@N De Silva – I am not saying you are wrong there is always a user involved and he / she could make mistakes which could be a security breach, but what if IT systems fail to protect the network and the data.
safeNsane – If you are going for a cloud, then you should have good bandwidth to support data access and sync. It all depends on the type of business, as some don’t need cloud, some could have some of their data on cloud.
@Robert Brown – I too have to agree as at times the bandwidth makes me go mad. Sometimes the service provider promises on bandwidth and they provide a slower connection. . I think they should never over promise and under deliver; this will frustrate their customers,
@N De Silva – yes customers are very important to a business, it’s the driving force to the business. Its always good to ensure that your customer data is always safe.
THis is a good point. With the way that security products are ‘rated’ can we honestly say that we trust the manufacturer’s assertions on how secure the technology really is? Should there be a more rigourous testing programme?
I think it’s about utilising the ‘power of the cloud’ (as Microsoft and all the other software giants seem to say!) at the right time, not all the time. For backup of the most important video evidence — great. Especially when you’ve had an intrusion, if that data can be immediately stored off-site then it’s that bit more secure. But as an alternative to an NVR it’s, for now at least, a non-starter, I think.
Yes I would hope that you have good bandwidth but a decent number of camera pushing live images out to a cloud based service and then someone sitting in the same office streaming those feeds back to a workstation so that they can view the images live seems like it’s going to be a huge headache to me.
I’m glad I’m not the only one thinking that this could be a problem. I do think that pushing your archives to the cloud is a good idea especially in the event of an emergency. Say you have a fire or a storm that damages property. If your archives are on site they may go up in the fire/storm and you won’t have them readily accessible for investigative purposes. We’ve used security camera recordings for insurance claims several times and if our data center blew away I’d like to have footage of that to show the insurance company.
Well, it’s literally insuring yourself as well. I was reading about Google’s data centres and how pretty much of all of their data is mirrored at least once in case of failure. Imagine the scale of that.
I agree, a lot of this is a method of self insurance. Google does it very well and I wish everyone had the money to follow their lead. It’s hard enough some times to get your core infrastructure done right, never mind a backup site.
yes, you are right, as this days Co. with money could afford to do it right way… but same as death and taxes you could not escape backup as one day you will need it…
this days you have no other way… customer data must be safe and secure or you will pay it one way or other at the end…
@Robert Brown: Yes true there are many. Il list it down and post it in a couple of days.