How to Transition to a Security-as-a-Service Model

What if a security system could do more than just protect? What if it could predict, optimize, and even grow your business?

Security systems are increasingly integrating cloud-based solutions for more flexible and scalable uses beyond security. This is changing how organizations procure security technologies, from one-time purchases to subscription-based services that allow them to modernize, scale, and redeploy the technologies for changing needs.

Providing security-as-a-service creates promise for security integrators. It can help them create closer, more active relationships with customers and bring in lucrative recurring revenue streams. In fact, the managed security services market is expected to grow from about $38 billion in 2025 to almost $70 billion in 2030.

However, transitioning to a security-as-a-service model requires integrators to rethink nearly every aspect of their business.

From Security to Business Outcomes

The shift to security-as-a-service begins with understanding the evolving capabilities of security technologies. Today, a security camera is no longer just a camera. Combined with artificial intelligence, it’s a sensor that can create insights to serve an organization in many ways.

In a retail environment, cameras can still be used to detect and record theft, but they can also be used to analyze foot traffic, dwell times, and wait times in checkout lanes. These insights can help retailers make more informed staffing decisions and uncover opportunities to improve customer experience.

In a manufacturing environment, cameras can help companies meet their uptime and safety goals. They can, for example, pinpoint abnormal equipment behavior to identify potential maintenance needs. And they can flag issues like improper procedures, misplaced chemicals, or blocked fire exits that could endanger the health and safety of employees.

Providing security-as-a-service offerings for these and other use cases requires understanding an organization’s needs outside of security and how technologies like cameras and sensors can serve them. It also requires having different conversations with customers and with stakeholders from cross-functional teams.

In addition to addressing security needs, integrators will also need to understand how to connect security systems to operational, financial, and customer experience outcomes. Integrators who understand command-and-control software platforms can enable customers to aggregate all building data that can be normalized, analyzed, and presented to business leaders in a meaningful way.

All of this requires expanded skillsets and new ways of structuring contracts. Integrators will need to determine if they can build up the expertise internally or if they need to partner with a third party to deliver the operational intelligence that their customers need to realize better business outcomes, or help them monitor adherence to safety protocols and support regulatory reporting.

Delivering this broader value proposition requires work and a willingness to change. But it also opens doors to new ways of working with customers. It allows integrators to expand into other relevant and adjacent technology areas that are all connected devices today, like environmental sensors, occupancy sensors, connected safety, and even audio-visual.

Managing Transition Challenges

For many integrators, security-as-a-service requires them to fundamentally rethink their business model. Rather than bidding on a project, completing it on time, and moving on to the next one, integrators now need to establish service-based relationships with customers. Those relationships must address a wider range of outcomes and also be closely maintained on an ongoing basis.

Some challenges that come with this new approach include:

Technical expertise gaps: Smaller integrators may lack staff with technical knowledge and experience in areas like analytics, cloud-based systems, and integrating with enterprise platforms.

Expanded stakeholder conversations: Teams who have traditionally been experts in security and IT now must be able to understand how to achieve a wide range of business and operational outcomes.

Broader, less-defined offerings: No two security-as-a-service offerings will look the same. Integrators must understand how to deliver video, analytics, access control and intrusion, reporting and bundled subscriptions in ways that meet each customer’s needs and are priced competitively.

Integrators may be able to develop the skills they need in-house to address these challenges, but they also don’t have to do it alone. Supply-chain partners they rely on to provide the technologies required for their security-as-a-service offerings can also provide consultation and support to help them plan, build, test, and scale their offerings. Key areas where partners can help integrators include:

Design and engineering: During a transition period, integrators may not want to immediately build out teams to create customized security-as-a-service offerings for each customer because it can be difficult to find top talent in today’s labor market. Design and engineering expertise that’s available through a partner can help with needs like specification development, system layout, and on-demand engineering.

Assessments and surveys: These services can provide guidance on how many cameras are needed, where they should be placed, and how to achieve comprehensive coverage across a facility. Network audits and/or wireless site surveys get customers thinking beyond just traditional security (e.g., camera placement). Such services can be valuable for integrators that don’t yet have dedicated staff for this function or that aren’t accustomed to deploying cameras for non-security applications.

Project deployment: Services such as kitting, staging, and pre-assembly support can help streamline deployments, reduce time spent on site, and help make sure equipment is ready to go when it arrives. Giving these tasks to a supply chain partner can also free up integrators to focus on higher-value aspects of customer engagements.

Scaling projects: Scalable deployment services can help integrators deliver consistent, reliable results for projects that span multiple sites or geographies. These services can include pre-testing and logistics support, and they can be especially useful for integrators that are expanding their security-as-a-service offerings to larger customers.

A Practical Approach to Getting Started

Security-as-a-service isn’t an all-or-nothing proposition. Integrators can adopt it starting with small steps. Rather than overhauling their business overnight, they can offer security-as-a-service offerings for select projects or customers, leveraging partners to augment their teams and pilot the offerings without large upfront investments.

This dip-your-toe-in-the-water approach can provide valuable learning opportunities. For example, integrators can test demand for their offerings, refine pricing models, and gauge how well they can meet customers’ needs under this new model. Once they’re confident in their offerings and their capabilities, they can scale to broaden their offerings.

New Offerings and Stronger Relationships

With physical security converging on the enterprise technology stack, security solutions can offer both safety and operational solutions. Integrators should be clear about what outcomes are important and prioritized by the end user and then collaborate with the manufacturers and channel partners to deliver value.

Security-as-a-service reimagines how security technology is delivered, consumed, and valued. For this new model to work, integrators need to embrace a larger and more consultative role with customers, expanded relationships with their partners, and new ways of deploying technology outside of security applications.

Those willing to change will be rewarded with stronger, more meaningful customer relationships and the enhanced financial stability provided by recurring monthly revenue.