Updated: March 13th, 2007 05:09 PM EDT

14 Tips for Implementing IP-Based Security Systems

From network access control to fail-over, IP security experts weigh in on trends and tips at distributor's road show

Kyle Candler (standing) kicks off a recent session at a touring roadshow from ScanSource which brought together VARs, end users and integrators for discussions of new technology and IP-integration trends.

Last week I had the chance to attend a ScanSource Security Distribution traveling roadshow that featured vendor partners HID, DvTel and ProCurve Networking (from Hewlett Packard). They made a stop in Atlanta (not far from ScanSource's home in South Carolina), the first of many locations that will take them from Philly to San Francisco to Miami, plus a lot of stops in between.

With an attendance that was well split between IT VARs and traditional security channel integrators (and a few end-users in the mix, too), the discussion was poignantly focused on the migration to network solutions. That is, after all, DVTel's primary strength, and ScanSource likewise comes more from the telephony and IT distribution space than the traditional POTS-alarm-system arena.

Being a vendor-sponsored event, clearly a number of attendees were there to hear why they should be dealing or buying certain technologies, but I'm going to spare you the sales pitch and move right into what I think were the more interesting and universal points made during the half-day program on March 8.

So, let's hit on some of the tips that speakers like Steve Rice and Shahar Zeevi from DVTel, Kyle Candler form ScanSource, Steve Harrison from HID Global and Rodney Turner from ProCurve Networking gave:

Tip #1: "The security industry is not limited by technology; it is limited by imagination." This was a quote Kyle Candler attributed to industry consultant Thomas Norman, CPP, PSP, CSC. I agree with Candler and Norman that these are words our industry can live by -- whether we're using the available technologies or hired to integrate disparate systems.

Tip #2: The physical security market for 2007 is worth $6 billion. Rice (DVTel) lobbed this number into the air and tacked on the statistic that some 70 percent of that $6B number is credited to integration and consulting services.

Tip #3: IP-type security systems need to be designed to allow fail-over. Let's face it: everything made by man will eventually fail. It wasn't easy to create systems in analog video to automatically allow for things like recorded video failover. But in the IT systems world, failover is part of the standard process for operational continuity.