Page 16 - Security Today, September 2018

The Door is Open Now is the time for new leaders to emerge within the industry
BIy Robert Lydic
n technology, the industry leaders of to- day are rarely the leaders of tomorrow. Technology innovations are being intro- duced to the market at an increasingly accelerated pace and the established
multi-national companies that have long en- joyed strong market shares and growth rates are being challenged by hundreds of start- ups. This trend is ubiquitous in nearly every industry and vertical market and continues to accelerate year after year. In the physical security industry, this technological disrup- tion drastically transformed the largest sec- tor of the industry in under 10 years and be- came the largest revenue in less than 15 years.
The video surveillance market was un- abashedly transformed with the introduc- tion of the first mass market camera in 1999 by Axis Communications which started a groundswell of change that moved giants. Multi-national, well-funded, established in- dustry giants such as GE, Bosch, Panasonic, Sony, Pelco and Honeywell were upended by Axis, Samsung, Geovision, Milestone, Gene- tec, Exacq, and myriad others.
Technical Advancement
The technological advancements of IP tech- nologies were too rapid for most of the estab- lished companies to react to and they were confronted with “The Innovators Dilemma,” a book and idea introduced by Clayton Christensen, a Harvard professor and busi- nessman. These legacy corporations became classic examples of Christensen’s ideas about leadership. These established industry giants did everything “right” and yet they still lost their position at the top, and in some cases left the industry entirely.
As this rate of disruption continues and accelerates, we can be assured today’s indus- try leaders will be usurped by new innova- tive businesses with unseen ideas in years to come. If we look across the physical security industry it does not take a Ph.D. to see that the next business sector that will be trans- formed is the access control industry.
From a 10,000-foot view, the access con- trol industry seems to have all of the right ingredients, making it extremely ripe for a monumental shift. The access control in- dustry is dominated by large multi-national, multi-billion dollar manufacturers with recognizable brands such as Siemens, Hon- eywell, Johnson Controls, ASSA ABLOY, Dormakaba, Bosch, Allegion, and G4S. The products from these manufacturers are most often proprietary in creation and installation
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and their markets are often artificially pro- tected with geographical or vertical market protectionism for installers.
The installation of the products are very costly and the technology is both antiquated and cumbersome. The functionality of the software and hardware products are genera- tions behind other technology that is gen- erally available to commercial consumers. There are technologies present in other in- dustries that have the ability to transform the access control industry. Combine all of these factors, an industry with a CAGR of nearly nine percent, and a market opportunity that is projected to be over $10 billion in 2022 and one does not need to be Nostradamus to see that the industry will dramatically change.
Blending Advancements
Together
The ingredients are all there for several tech-
nological advancements to transform the in- dustry and for new and different players to emerge as the leaders of tomorrow. Perhaps some of these companies and technologies are already present. If you have had the op- portunity to stroll down one of the major trade shows in Las Vegas, London, or Dubai you have seen hundreds of companies offer- ing their ideas to the market and most be- ing awarded validation with some marquee customer story or award. There are newer hardware innovations creating reductions in labor costs, easy to use software solutions, and opportunities for increased margins for installers and manufacturers. There are also some prominent technological trends that have become main stream—access control as a service (ACaaS), wireless locksets, and mobile credentials which are being promul- gated by dozens of competing companies. Each of these trends offer a piece of the so-
ACCESS CONTROL
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