Jay Hauhn is the Chief Technology Officer and vice president of industry relations for Tyco Integrated Security. He is among the most respected veterans in the security industry and has been a champion of innovation for close to three decades.
I had the chance to sit down and talk with Jay during a lull at this week’s ISC West conference in Las Vegas to pick his brain on various topics relevant to our industry.
Steve Lasky: The ultimate end game of the “Internet of Things” movement is aimed at making our devices, gadgets, appliances and transports all interconnected in the name of convenience and data collection. What is your take on this trend?
Jay Hauhn: “The term should really be rebranded the “Internet of Everything” since the future certainly is migrating to the day that everything will eventually connect. All devices, people and organizations will all have their own IP addresses and will be able to communicate. It is not like the internet of things is coming, it is here!”
Lasky: As security becomes more network centric and edge devices increase in number, what does the future hold?
Hauhn: “The edge devices that are here today are not new. Many have been with us for awhile. You’ve heard me pontificate over the years regarding where this industry is going as the networks expand. I think it will be all about the data. We are moving away from simply providing physical deterrents to a world of taking collected data from all these interconnected devices and using them to help us mitigate risk and make informed and proactive decisions. We are now looking at that data being use for a complete business management solution and with that the entire ROI character of security changes.
I still see video driving this data capture movement and the advancement of analytics will bring the value of all this data to another level. I’m still a huge believer in analytics. I’ve never really considered myself a big privacy advocate, but you start to consider some of the evolving uses for video surveillance and the data that will be available, it can be a scary proposition.
Lasky: The good news is that all the security needed for mobile data platforms can be implemented with available technology. The bad news is that increased security has usually meant increased cost and inconvenience to the end user. Doyou see mobile options improving security’s future?
Hauhn: “When you consider how far we have come in a very short time in the mobile video area it is very exciting for today’s security end user. To have the ability to walk your facility or be remote and still monitor activity and be connected to your location and staff just makes security personnel so much more efficient.
“I also think that the evolution of Google Glass will revolutionize the way security directors approach their daily activities and how you analyze events. I just think that this has so much potential. Consider how it could impact, say, guards touring on campus. The guards will have the potential to better coordinate their duties and monitor situations with integrated guard tour software. There are a lot of innovative possibilities.”
Lasky: Video is certainly one of the most aggressive drivers in security today, how can dealers and integrators increase RMR opportunities?
Hauhn: “Well if I had that answer I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you! I’d be retired on a beach. But seriously, we need to figure out how to really create video applications that are truly cloud-based and then coming up with a way to monetize it in this managed services environment. There are a lot of people looking to come up with that solution and essentially do for video what Brivo has done for access control as a host cloud-based service. Everybody here is trying to figure that out. If bandwidth was free it would already be done.”
Lasky: As CTO how are you trying to position the company and stay a step ahead of your competition?
Hauhn: “We are putting an intense focus on technology and innovation to differentiate ourselves and ensure we aren’t selling the same flavor everyone else is. We used to be comfortable being a close follower, but there is more of a risk-taker attitude here now, and our customers will be the beneficiaries.”
