As the calendar turns from 2025 to 206, we shift from 2025 security industry reflections to 2026 predictions for the sector. Starting things off is Vinny Peone, president and co-founder of Ignite Strategic Partners and director of marketing for Eastern Security Services and Intelli-Tec Security Services.
Vinny Peone 2026 Security Industry Predictions
Read on to check out Vinny Peone’s 2026 security industry predictions. We’ll have many more predictions from others among the brightest minds in the security industry throughout the month!
Security Sales & Integration: What technology category or solution area do you see as 2026’s ripest, most profitable growth opportunity for security dealers, installers and integrators? Explain your reasoning.
Vinny Peone: I stand by my 2025 prediction: video monitoring solutions will again be the most profitable growth opportunity for integrators in 2026. I’m saying that as someone who markets for dealers nationwide and sees the data: end-users are asking for monitored video more than almost anything else.
Not every integrator offers it yet and that gap is exactly why the upside is so high. The ones who figure out how to deliver proactive video monitoring are going to grow. The ones who don’t will feel it. This won’t just be a growth category; it’s becoming a survival category!
SSI: What’s getting better about the security industry these days? What seems to be getting worse?
Peone: What’s getting better is the number of security integrators getting involved online. Dealers are finally starting to understand the value of social media and digital marketing. More integrators are investing in branding, visibility and community engagement— something that was rare five years ago.
What’s getting worse is the quality of work being delivered by many marketing agencies. There’s too much ChatGPT copy/paste, too many cookie-cutter websites with missing metadata and not enough real content strategy. I work in this space every day and the standard is slipping. Dealers deserve better.
SSI: What’s liable to catch some security industry dealers, installers and integrators off guard in the coming year?
Peone: Most integrators barely understand SEO and far fewer understand GEO. As AI-driven search becomes the default for consumers (ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, etc.), the shift from traditional search results to generative answers is accelerating.
If integrators don’t start creating content that artificial intelligence models can cite, not just index, they’ll disappear from search visibility quicker than they think. GEO will become a required strategy, not an optional experiment.
SSI: What’s the single most pressing challenge that professionals in the security industry must tackle right now? And how would you suggest tackling it?
Peone: The biggest challenge right now is DIY. Integrators need to either do a better job competing against it or strategize how they can offer or support DIY options. I’ve personally watched facility directors and IT teams install their own cloud cameras and access control hardware, only calling a licensed integrator for what they legally must: fire and burglar alarms.
Residential DIY is obviously more prominent, with the biggest brands in the space offering exclusively or primarily DIY options.
How to tackle it:
- Market the value of professional installation, not just the gear.
- Build service packages DIY can’t replicate (health monitoring, remote support, proactive maintenance, system optimization, etc.).
- Consider offering a basic DIY kit or guided-install option to capture the customers who will never hire a full-service integrator.
Ignoring DIY is no longer an option. Addressing it head-on is how integrators stay competitive.
