The Future of Everything

Dec. 3, 2010
How technology will shape the security industry moving forward
Everyone wants to be able to predict the future, but so far no one has come up with the formula to do that. But we've done the next best thing on these pages-we've found the thought leaders in the industry who have made some pretty serious analysis of what's to come. For the integrator, it's critical to know what's going to be prevalent in systems and services so they can plan accordingly, get trained and perhaps out-maneuver the competition.

Storage of video continues to be a major issue moving forward, but compression will help. Cloud computing will become more robust and secure and virtualization will become reality. The scales will begin to tip more to IP cameras, especially as the recession eases, end-users see the value and lower total cost of ownership and prices of network cameras continue to drop. Sensors will become super-intelligent and used to control intrusion, video and other critical monitoring components.

The Smart Grid will affect businesses and homes as energy management takes center stage; standards will emerge here and in other parts of the industry. Mobility and controlling systems from the Web and portable devices will skyrocket. Access control will pair easily with video and other parts of the protected premises. The infrastructure will take center stage as one of the most critical parts of the network and the systems and services running on it. Wireless will gain more traction as robust, secure technologies, making it the perfect solution for commercial protected premises in addition to residential. Software, security as a service, video as a service, remote guarding, video verification, two-way audio, storage at the edge of cameras, managed access, hosted video and more will be integral to the success of the industry's solution providers.