A broad brushstroke and a fine focus of opportunity

Nov. 8, 2010
Partnerships to help drive the security industry forward
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was recently a featured guest on CNN and while I'm not sure of her politics, or her true aspirations for that matter, I liked what she had to say at the moment. She talked about the importance of everyone working together, of common goals, of partnerships and alliances.

Secretary Clinton, you just may have something there. In many ways, this discussion can be tied to the security industry, up and down the proverbial channel. Coming off a highly successful ASIS show in Dallas, it hit home that partnerships are what will continue to drive the industry forward. Isn't that a far cry from the proprietary nature on which this industry was founded? Many of my ASIS Texas sources and others, for that matter, point to the fact that now and even much more in the future moving forward partnerships will drive the deployment of surveillance systems. And of course Dallas is a perfect example. An entity known as Downtown Dallas Inc., led by Martin Cramer CPP, was successful in getting a round of millions from private businesses and others to fund the wireless camera system installed by integrator BearCom.

As a broad brushstroke, partnering, open platforms and profitability-with an emphasis on the total solutions approach-there you have it, the true crux of the 56th annual ASIS conference. It was evident everywhere; Stanley Convergent Systems partnering with Axis to bring the latest camera technologies to its dealers and their customers; ImmerVision with its 360-degree field of view lens that can work with oodles of different cameras; Milestone with its open platform video management software solutions that keep adding happy partners and extending the connectivity for end-users and their reseller customers; HID, with its goals to bring physical and logical security to smart phones next year-wave your cell phone embedded with the technology by a reader and you can be approved or denied access. This is only the beginning. (Be sure to read Publisher Carol Enman's column on page eight for lots of other cool stuff she saw at the ASIS show.)

Manufacturers and the reseller channel understand now that they can cross-market into many different channels, offering a whole approach specified to the end-user's needs. Interoperability sessions and networking events from PSIA and ONVIF understated the need for stuff to work together, to foster a complete end-to-end product. Integrator breakfasts by Niscayah and others; kicking field goals at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, the fun was there but there is seriousness in the way the industry forges ahead to achieve success-and it will all be built on partnerships, cooperation, service, solutions and interoperability, as well as bundling for the customer.

It's hard to believe we're talking about the November issue, but here we are. We've got the scoop on the super-hot transportation vertical market written by Assistant Editor Natalia Kosk and guess what? There's a partnership angle to this as well; read about it starting on page 24. Managed and embedded access control are buzzwords of the day and there's content on this rising star on page 38. Is mobile video secure? Find out on page 34. Compression got you befuddled? Pivot3's Kevin Klemmer has the answers on page 46.

We're all in this together and the security industry is large but yet friendly and familiar to those of us who have been here for awhile. Working in partnership, in every way possible, and telling the story of how the industry is poised to be the connectivity partners for the future, is how we will succeed now and in the future.

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