Big ISC West exhibitors feature cybersecurity and name changes

LAS VEGAS—Some of the biggest exhibitors are approaching the show with new topics top of mind, for some it's cybersecurity, for others it's branding after a name change.

“Throughout the day, every day of the show, we're going to be presenting our stance on cybersecurity; what people need to do to protect themselves against existing threats, what do people need to do to make sure their customers are protected, [and] what Hikvision is doing to make sure all products are safe,” Alex Asnovich, head of marketing, director North America at Hikvision USA, told Security Systems News.

Photo on left is a rendering of Hikvision's booth design for the upcoming 2016 show.

While the company has discussed cybersecurity on the show floors of other trade shows, 2016 will be the first year Hikvision is doing cybersecurity presentations at its ISC West booth. “I think it's going to resonate well with the audience at the show, including our partners and customers,” Asnovich said.

Hikvision, for the first time, is among the top 10 largest exhibitors at ISC West, with real estate covering 3,000 square feet of the show floor. That's up from 2,400 square-feet in 2015 and 400 square-feet in 2014.

Hanwha Techwin, previously Samsung Techwin, is another top 10 exhibitor this year with 4,500 square-feet of show floor space. The company is using ISC West to show off the new brand, new color scheme and new logo. “We're going to change that fairly sizable banner that's going to [cover the length] of our booth. � It'll say Hanwha Techwin with our [new] logo,” Tom Cook, company VP of sales for North America, told SSN. The company announced its new name in early March.

James Marcella, director, technical services at Axis Communications, told SSN that Axis will be showing off a cybersecurity platform at ISC West 2016, something the company did “on an invitation-only basis last year—but we're making [it] more mainstream this year.”� Marcella called the platform a “collaboration with a group of partners to create an edge-core cybersecure solution for any customer who's ultimately concerned about the cyber integrity of a total system.”

This platform can “lock down the edge devices—the cameras and encoders—and transmit securely from edge to core video,” Marcella said, and the company will be demoing it at the show. Axis released a cyber-hardening guide late last year.

Cook said, “It's really exciting to show a new company name � and we expect a lot of buzz.” The Hanwha Techwin logo is three orange circles; the company's new color scheme is orange and grey. Samsung's original color was blue, with an oval around the name as its logo. Hanwha's booth will be similar to Samsung's booth in the past in that it will feature the company's partners, Cook said.

“We're attaching the Hanwha Techwin name to the Samsung brand so people can understand: Hanwha Techwin offers Samsung products,” Cook said. “We're not abandoning the Samsung brand name at all, which is—I think—very critical. People accept it, they know it.”

Cook mentioned that the company will have more opportunities under Hanwha, “We think there's a lot more investment possibilities and growth acquisitions with this company, and we're going to show that off.”

Cook said that cybersecurity education would be a new initiative for Hanwha in the future; it was a well-received topic at the company's March dealer meeting, where the new name was announced.

What is going to bring people to Hikvision's booth? What is going to bring people to Hikvision's booth? “I think it's a combination of interest in our existing products that are targeting SMB � but in addition to that we're pursuing larger projects and enterprise-level opportunities. This is why, this year, we're focusing on some specific verticals; and education, retail and critical infrastructure are the verticals we chose to showcase at ISC West this year.” Asnovich said.

Asnovich said, “Every show we have a theme for the booth. This year it's: great products, greater partnerships.”

Hikvision is showcasing its partners, in part, through the company's new �#HeartbeatOfSecurity campaign. “It's talking about our integrators � and it's really the story of those integrators that work in in all sorts of challenging environments,” Asnovich said. “They're really in the trenches, and we believe that they are the unsung heroes of the security industry.”

Also at the show, Hikvision will be unveiling a new level to its dealer program. The three levels currently are silver, gold and platinum. The new diamond level is designed to meet the needs of enterprise-level customers, Asnovich said. Diamond-level partners will get “enhanced certification and training support, [and] additional discounts on top of the lower levels.”

On left is a photo of Axis' booth from ISC West 2015, the company will have a very similar booth this year.

For the first year, Axis is attracting attendees to its booth with an iBeacon Zone sponsorship. Attendees with the ISC West app who enter a certain zone of the show floor will get a notification on their phone with info on Axis' latest products.

“Our goal is to drive people to our booth because we believe that once we get them into our booth and we can show them the technology that we've brought to bear and the partnerships we can leverage � will really help us drive that integrator community that traditionally attends ISC West, to seriously consider Axis products,” Marcella said.