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Commercial end users are looking to increase security expenditures. However, before you start counting your money, the question you have to ask yourself as an installing systems contractor is whether you have the evermore extensive IT/networking expertise those security directors/managers are also looking for. According to SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION's 2011 Commercial End-User Study, integrators and dealers are increasingly coming up short.
The data shows that 72 percent of commercial end users plan to soon boost security spending. At the same time, lacking IT skills is their primary complaint (42 percent) about security contractors. While that may be a bitter pill to swallow, it should prove inspirational to providers willing to adequately train and equip their businesses for success in the rising arena of networked security solutions.
There are plenty more lessons, insights and inside tracks for security integrators to pursue based on this year's findings, in which the occasional sour notes are fortunately outnumbered by sweet tones. Highlights include: security directors are becoming younger and more technical; 90 percent agree to some extent security systems can reduce manpower needs; 70 percent rate IT security of equal or greater importance than physical security; frustrations with systems integration are rising; integrators have stepped up their customer service; and interest in megapixel cameras and video analytics is climbing.
SSI's seventh annual Commercial End-User Study was conducted in cooperation with Reed Exhibitions, organizers of the ISC events, and Campus Safety, School Bus Fleet and Metro magazines (for more, see Methodology box). Among the rest of the wealth of information to be discovered just ahead, although video surveillance continues to rule the technology/systems roost, sharp spikes were noted for intrusion detection, integrated systems and perimeter protection. Read on to elevate your chances for success in the commercial security marketplace.
View the 2011 Commercial End-User Study results.
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