End User Demands Driving Innovation, Cybersecurity at ISC West

Crowded show floor aisles and busy booths marked all three days of the ISC West 2016 tradeshow this year, and we’re here to compile some of the top news and trends of the week for you. Here’s what our editors saw:

An Increasing Focus on Cybersecurity

Avid readers of Security will have noticed our dedication to covering cybersecurity risk and solutions over the past three years, and we’re happy to see that the physical security industry’s manufacturers and integrators are similarly investing time, energy and capital into better securing their products and providing IT-friendly solutions for enterprises and the SMB market.

According to Ed Bacco, CSO for the Aronson Security Group, “The threat beat us to the point of convergence.” End users, integrators and manufacturers no longer have any choice when it comes to incorporating cybersecurity best practices into their security systems, as companies that neglect this point open themselves – and their partners, stakeholders and customers – up to risk and, potentially, liability.

A good starting point for evaluating your security partners’ IT risk, he says, would be to develop a cybersecurity scorecard for integrators and even technology partners such as manufacturers. Work with your IT department to determine which factors or documents are most valuable to them, in regards to selecting partners and technology to interact with the network, and when requesting proposals, also request cybersecurity information, Bacco says.

Some companies like Tyco Security Products were explaining how they have a dedicated team of engineers that evaluates and responds to cybersecurity threats and vulnerability reports, sending updates to customers regarding timelines to patches or even an “all clear” if the vulnerability doesn’t impact the product in question.

Facing the Cost of HD Surveillance: Storage

Up to 65 percent of video surveillance systems’ costs reside with network bandwidth and storage. Many security manufacturers at ISC West this year were working to find better storage and bandwidth solutions for end users in order to make ultra-HD surveillance solutions – such as 4K – more realistic. AXIS Communications has its Zipstream technology, introduced at last year’s ISC West, which sets a baseline for the background and only records movement in the image, dramatically reducing the amount of data and bandwidth required.

Other storage manufacturers like Quantum Corp. are working to deploy hardware-based storage solutions, such as tiered storage solutions. As data from HD surveillance, sensors and analytics increasingly brings situational and operational intelligence to the business, so does it bring storage challenges. This is another area where security and IT could complement each other particularly well.

Insight from End Users Driving Innovation

One of the most common threads among our editorial meetings with security manufacturers and integrators this year was how much end user input helped to inform new product decisions.

According to Mitchell Kane, President of Vanderbilt Industries, customer-crafted solutions are built through tight communication with integrators and end users, who deliver requests up to manufacturers. Integrators ask for parts, he says. End users explain what they’re trying to accomplish, and want to know how to get there. Having a customer-facing outlook and listening to requests and suggestions is one of the most important relationships an enterprise has, he says.

We saw hints of end user involvement everywhere we looked, from automating emergency instructions to help security operators and dispatchers deal with stressful situations, to temporary and moveable physical security solutions like metal detectors and crash barriers, to cybersecurity requirements.

How are you communicating your needs, requests and requirements through your security supply chain? What do you feel are the best features an integrator or manufacturer could add to your system?

Weigh in with your comment! What did you see at ISC West? Share your favorite educational moments, innovations and solutions here.