Get to know Taylor Carr, Vice-President, Business Development & Integration for Securadyne Systems, and learn how Securadyne’s enterprise security executive customers are addressing cybersecurity in their enterprises.

What specific trends are you seeing with your security executive customers?

            I continue to see an increase in the number of service and maintenance agreements with our existing and new customers. Many customers have an explicit need to maximize their security investments, increase their systems’ lifecycles and obtain the best ROI possible. More end users are looking to leverage their physical security solutions across multiple functional areas within their company. Internal customer teams such as operations, IT, facilities and marketing are interested in utilizing these once core security systems to help solve various business issues and refine area-specific processes.

What major risks/issues are your security executives facing?

            One is cybersecurity: As companies tie more systems and sensors to LANs, MANs and ultimately WANs, the risk of having these systems and data compromised escalates exponentially. Second is mobile device management: Many businesses are looking to shed costs by allowing both employee and third-party partner devices access to company networks and systems. Each time external access is granted to these systems or networks, there is an increase of potential bi-directional data flow and risk of malware insertion. Third is increasing regulatory compliance: The increase of regulatory oversight such as CFATS, NERC CIP 5, PCI and SOX are mandating increased security measures and tighter controls to both physical areas and data. Identity, access and information management will continue to be key focus areas for many security executives.

How are your security executive customers addressing cybersecurity in their enterprises, and how are you assisting with that?

            Many have revised their security road maps to include comprehensive cybersecurity plans. The need for network monitoring, port provisioning and mobile device management solutions are on the rise, and we are seeing more offerings catered to both the logical and physical security space. Further, there has been an increase in interest to leverage the “cloud.” Services such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS) will enable our customers to stay current with the latest technology and cyber protection solutions.

Do you see your security executive customers looking to upgrade their analog video systems, or are now they asking for IP video systems?

            Virtually all of the new video solutions we have deployed over the past few years have been IP-based. However, we still have many customers with existing large analog systems, and they need to operate, expand and optimize those systems today. Enterprise security executives are asking for a migration path to IP while maximizing their analog investment. Manufacturers and software developers have done a good job of developing various hardware and software solutions that will help enable us to bridge our customers’ gaps and build an IP migration roadmap.

What types of specific access control trends are you seeing with your security executive customers?

            The most common and pervasive access control trend is the advancement in hosted and managed solutions. The SMB market will continue to grow, and those businesses will need affordable and scalable solutions to meet their current and future business needs. I believe this space will develop significantly over the coming years. Further, I anticipate we will see an increase in hosted and managed services catered specifically for the enterprise space. Managed services such as remote database administration, application disaster recovery, and load balancing are on the rise. Securadyne is also seeing more enterprise customers looking to take their mission critical system head-ends to the cloud. These head-end solutions are being deployed in various environments, including dedicated server, colocation, public clouds and private clouds.

What types of specific ID management trends are you seeing with your security executive customers?

   We have multiple national and global customers who operate enterprise systems in highly regulated industries. Regulations, directives and standard bodies such as HSPD, CFATS and The Cleary Act are increasingly mandating tighter control for ID management in multiple industries. Many existing systems in the field do not have critical human capital management systems communicating with access control or identity verification solutions. I believe we will continue to see an increase in demand for these types of integrations and solutions.