Page 22 - Security Today, September/October 2021

The Time Has Come Security technology is set to play a pivotal part in this rapid transformation
By Jason Burrow
Despite the rapid rollout of vaccines, the impact and ramifications of COVID-19 will be long felt in almost every part of the economy. Many businesses have needed to pivot and adapt quickly to new ways of working. They have felt the pressure of operating with fewer staff and the burden of having to monitor and manage operations remotely.
In addition to the impact of the pandemic, each industry sector also needs to contend with its own set of specific challenges. Among them, brick and mortar retail adapting to the rapid shift to e-commerce; logistics operators ramping up operations to meet unprecedented demand; the pressure for oil, petrochemicals and energy producers to cut CO2 emissions; corporate enterprises attracting and retaining talent; or healthcare and assisted living providers dealing with an increasingly aging population.
Beyond these myriad challenges, all businesses also need to be prepared to deal with the uptick in extreme weather events, the shift to green energy, the increasing sophistication of cyberattacks, potential civil unrest, insider and terror threats and the continued need to manage with day-to-day safety and security operations.
Analyst firm Grand View Research predicts systems integration to dominate the physical security market through 2027, even
before factoring in COVID-19 and the need to migrate operations and workforces to a virtual environment. Deloitte reports the acceleration of digitization, as a result of COVID-19 pointing toward technology for improved preparedness, cybersecurity, identity and access management, and flexibility.
Tech-savvy security and facility managers know that, in order to evolve and adapt, they need to eradicate disparate systems and silos of information. Systems integration is not confined to only the realm of large businesses - small to mid-sized organizations, and even homeowners, are realizing the benefits a more integrated approach for video, access, and audio can deliver to them.
A CENTRALIZED APPROACH
Upgrading to a centralized security and safety solution will help staff and control room operators respond to incidents and threats quickly, while also improving workflow to manage day- to-day operations. Even a minimal level of integration, such as pulling together access and surveillance, makes security and safety operations easier to operate from a single interface. This also allows for a rapid and practical way forward for complex, multi-location organizations.
Additionally, organizations can benefit from integration with dozens of building management systems – from IP audio,
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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 | SECURITY TODAY
DISPARATE SYSTEMS
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