Trends & Opportunities in Today's Evolving Security Market
Keynote Address by Bob Eck, President and CEO, Anixter

On November 10, Anixter President and CEO Bob Eck gave the keynote address to the 2009 Securing New Ground conference. Below is a summary of that speech.

When Anixter President and CEO Bob Eck took the stage at the 2009 Securing New Ground conference, he noted how the strategies and concepts that drove Anixter to enter the security market eight years ago were starting to payoff. "The key concepts that drew us to the security industry are starting to play out for everyone in this room today," Eck said. "It is the evolution of the security space—driven by IT and security professionals—that first drew Anixter to the security market." Anixter sees the continued march of traditional security toward IP as the best route for companies to grow their business and improve their bottom line.

As a Fortune 500 value-added distributor that operates in more than 50 countries around the world, Anixter provides communications infrastructure support and products to a wide variety of markets and industries. "When we initially entered the security market, we were primarily targeting industrial and information technologies," Eck said. "This formed how we look at the security industry."

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View from the Top
Moderator, and SNG producer, Richard Chace, Security Industry Association CEO/Executive Director, introduced representatives from four companies at the top of the electronic security industry. They presented their view of market trends and direction for 2010.

Ken Francis, General Manager, Integrated Systems Division, GE Security

Francis described the key reasons why GE Security defined the 2009 economy as both friend and foe:

• Commercial construction slowed down and the focus shifted to retrofits.
• Reduced capital expenditures and revenue recognition rules created sales growth of "value" products. "We saw a larger number of smaller transactions across our channel and distributor partners."
• Residential security was resilient despite the drop in new construction.
• Training is now virtual. "There is increased acceptance of virtual based training and we think it's a trend that's here to stay."

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Changing the Boundaries for RMR
Moderator, and SNG producer, Sandy Jones, Sandra Jones & Co., introduced this Securing New Ground panel by saying, "We're going to look at the security market today and the changing boundaries for recurring revenue. RMR is not just for burglar alarms or for fire alarms any more. There are infinite possibilities we've asked three industry experts to help us explore."

Emerging technologies enable new RMR

ADT is the largest alarm monitoring company in the world. "My job is to look 2-15 years out, " said Jay Hauhn, ADT Vice President Technology and Industry Relations, "and to determine what technologies will impact ADT products and services. I believe that new and innovative RMR opportunities will be enabled by three types of emerging technologies: Those that are truly emerging, existing technologies emerging in security, and no longer emerging technologies that are not yet mainstream.

"Emerging technologies include power harvesting, which is about five to six years out; cellular long-term evolution or 4G, which enables more of the machine-to-machine interfaces our industry specializes in; solid state hard drives; and IP Version 6, which will make over two million IP addresses possible for every square meter on earth and make doing IP much easier.

"Existing technologies emerging in security include a service-oriented architecture, data mining, cloud computing, mesh RF networks, mass notification, and Software as a Service (SaaS). Finally, two technologies that have been around for a while but are not yet mainstream are video analytics and megapixel video."

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Keeping an Eye on Your Enterprise
By Lisa Roy, VP Global Security and Safety Solutions, Johnson Controls

Technology is blurring the security market.  But it's not security technology that is mixing things up. Instead it is the tools and applications of business systems that are redefining access control, surveillance, and reporting.

Instead just talking about cameras and card readers, the conversation is moving to risk management, cost reduction, and an enhanced user experience for all occupants of a facility or campus.

Successful security integrators are taking a holistic approach; breaking down the silos not only between physical security, information security, and IT systems – but between building information systems and business applications as well, allowing systems to work even more collaboratively and efficiently.

"We continue to see an increase in the market looking for single-source providers to deliver comprehensive solutions spanning planning and consulting, enterprise technology, implementation and service," said Lisa Roy, Johnson Controls, Vice President Global Security Strategy.

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Security-as-a-Service: What to Look for in a Provider
By Steve Van Till, President & CEO, Brivo Systems

With more and more vendors beginning to offer Security-as-a-Service or "cloud" applications, it's important for buyers to be aware that not all services are created equal, particularly when it comes to protecting your data.

To help this situation, we've put together our own top five guidelines, below, to help those who are looking into this important new delivery model

The question here is not if your SaaS vendor's employees can access your data—they probably can, and should, under certain circumstances—but whether there are controls and audits in place that can tell you about it. A common scenario when you may want a SaaS vendor's employee to access your data is in a technical support context. Or perhaps in the case of responding to an alarm or emergency event. Other than these or any other specifics in your vendor's Service Level Agreement, there should be no unauthorized access whatsoever, and there should be external audit reports to prove it.

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