ASIS 2017 coverage

Excited to be in Dallas for ASIS 2017. My first two days of the show were packed with excitement, including intellectually stimulating keynotes, meetings and sessions as well as conversations with more than 30 companies, from manufacturers to integrators. I racked up about 15,000 steps on day one, but was rewarded with an invite to the Securitas' event at AT&T stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys and the most famous cheerleaders in the world.

As I tweeted out, Securitas pretty much had a 'drop the mic' moment, creating a memorable experience for everyone in attendance, whether you were taking pictures with those aforementioned cheerleaders, catching passes in the back of the end zone (yes, that was me!), or just taking in the warm sound of country rising star Jennifer Nettles. This event will be hard to top next year. Big thanks to Securitas Electronic Security President Tony Byerly!

Back on the trade show floor, I saw a continuation of some of the themes that were discussed at ISC West, from cybersecurity, video analytics and big data, to cloud-based solutions, AI/machine learning, robotics and IoT.

It is also great to see the industry and manufacturers continuing to move away from proprietary systems, as partnerships and playing nice with others is helping these companies provide more comprehensive solutions. The vibe on the show floor, and within the industry is one of open architectures, seamless integration of complimentary products and companies providing open APIs that their partners can write to easily and securely, opening up so many opportunities for both integrators and end users.

And getting back to some of the emerging technologies in the industry today, it finally feels like we are starting to fulfill the promise of some of them, especially in the area of video and data analytics. As many pointed out to me, there is so much more being done with data and meta-data today, as we can now take the data from all of these disparate systems—access control, video surveillance, fire and life safety, for example—and bring them into one platform where that data can be turned into actionable info, providing greater opportunities for integrators to move into the managed services and recurring revenue model, while giving end users the power to leverage their data for not only better and more predictive security, but also operational efficiencies, business intelligence and business continuity.

I also see greater adoption of cloud-based solutions among not only manufacturers but integrators as well. And on the cyberssecurity front, I am impressed with the way the industry has mobilized to address this issue, hardening their products, providing education and resources to integrators so they can speak more intelligently on the topic.

I also see the industry continuing to embrace mobile solutions, whether it is mobile credentialing or having the power to remotely interact and manage your systems. As many pointed out, the same kind of evolution that we have seen on the residential side is moving to the commercial side. People want that same convenience and ease of use and control they have at home in their work and professional lives as well, and the opportunities that can be had with smart buildings and smart cities is really exciting; I am already seeing companies—both suppliers and integrators—making an impact on crime, and mitigating risk using these new advanced IP and cloud-based solutions.

And I would be remiss to not mention all of the M&A activity going on the industry right now. In addition to talk about ACRE selling Mercury Security to HID Global and the recent merger of ipDatatel and Resolution Products, attendees got to see the new JCI, post Tyco merger. Also, there was plenty of speculation and gossip around the convention center about who will be in the next M&A breaking news headline.

This really is any exciting time to be in the industry!