In 2017, physical security services are predicted to trend towards offering more specific solutions as well as a higher level of integration and service. The thought is, instead of viewing physical security as a series of connected hardware and software systems, industry experts see a movement towards systems such as Guardtek that provide more of a security as a service.
The world changes ever faster due to new technologies. But why does it move so quickly? Because industries are changing their needs, the consumers are changing too and the world needs to move in the same direction.
2017 is expected to be the year that will increase the demand for security as a service as a key component of successfully run security operations. In an industry where control is essential and multiple details are going on at the same time, there are Security operations management systems like Guardtek that will lead the way.
In an article from IFSEC Global titled ¨Top trends in security tech to expect in 2017”, Johan Paulsson, Chief Technology Officer at Axis Communications details the reasons why he feels the industry is moving in this direction of security as a service:
- “Systems like GuardTek will “not only take away the burden of managing the complex systems involved, but also reduce the costs of keeping those systems up to date and secure”. The result “will not only free up internal resources which could be better focused elsewhere, but also improve the service level of the security system and enable better device management”.
- Security industry will continue trending towards more specific solutions to individual problems. Customers look for integrate solutions in one unified system. They want that system to be adapted to their needs and customized based on the site and post. “The end to end solutions could tackle a specific issue”. Customized Saas systems, like the one provided Trackforce, provides a key advantage to physical security providers, allowing the supervisors to adapt the system to all possible scenarios and update the reports in real time.
- The article also states that in 2017 the security industry will see an increase in the use of artificial intelligence. “The benefits are that although all customers are different, the environments and locations they are based in tend to fall into the same general categories, with people exhibiting the same general behaviors. Once those behaviors have been ‘learned’ the patterns that underlie them can be shared, enabling the system to flag up when something unexpected occurs”.
According to another interesting article “6 trends to watch in the security guard industry” from propertycasualty360, we can find other relevant trends for the security industry in 2017.
- Expanded responsibilities. “Security guard firms are contracted to protect people and property in a wide variety of industries”. The firms are starting to be asked to provide additional services outside of security, and this trend will increase in 2017. A multifunction and customizable software can completely avoid communication or dispatch issues for these companies, as they will be able to adapt the software to each customers’ growing needs. With a system like GuardTek, for example, companies will be able to keep all incident and activity reports centralized and categorized in a digital logbook.
- Remote video monitoring. Customers contracting security firms are increasingly asking for remote video monitoring. They believe that even though there is a high initial investment on equipment, it will reduce costs in a future.
- Increased specialization. Security firms used to work with a big variety of clients. Nowadays, the trend is to specialize in industries such as schools or hotels. This can also differentiate you from your competitors.
The trends indicate that the industry is following this path of offering security in addition to other services. Specialization and customization are the stars this 2017. Therefore we will see an increasing demand from security providers for customizable Security Management Software that will provide an easier way to manage the security operations.
If you are not a user of a software such as Guardtek we encourage you to contact Trackforce today to learn how to stay one step ahead of your competitors.