Poll: Readers favor focusing on a couple of markets at a time

YARMOUTH, Maine—More than half of respondents to Security Systems News' latest poll on emerging vertical markets said that it's good to focus on a couple areas at a time.

“In the first few years of building a company we do not believe it makes sense to focus on a single vertical,” Eric Grist, principal of Grist Security Consulting, said in the poll. “In addition to the perspective of increasing our number of opportunities, we feel that we stay 'fresh' and more up to date, both technically and operationally, by working with organizations representing diverse verticals.”

Forty-seven percent of respondents indicated that health care is the industry's most prominent vertical. Education is the biggest current vertical, according to 35 percent of readers. Eighteen percent pointed to government as the most promising market.

Focusing on a couple of markets at one time is the best business strategy, 56 percent said. Twenty-seven percent said their company expands into as many markets as they feasibly can. Fourteen percent said it's good to only focus on one vertical market at a time.

“We like to diversify our markets to limit our risks. Strategically we do ask each of [our] account managers to focus their prospecting efforts to certain markets and become SMEs in those markets,” one respondent wrote in.

Some respondents pointed to specific technologies as promising growth opportunities. Mark J Young, president of VSS Consulting, mentioned “bringing in autonomous robotic aerial video surveillance system for different markets to the Americas.”

Another reader echoed Young's opinion, “Even though there is promise to improve the healthcare arena, using unmanned aircraft systems to enhance many markets is also very promising.”

“Transportation is [the] most high-profile vertical market,” said one reader.

Forty-one percent of poll respondents indicated that their companies are entering new areas, 35 percent said their business is looking into its next opportunity, and 24 percent reported focusing on current markets.