by Brianna Crandall — January 23, 2017 — Keith Bloodworth, CEO of CNL Software, a global provider of physical security information management (PSIM) software designed for complete integrated situation management, has released his predictions for the global PSIM market for 2017.
With market analysts across the board predicting very high growth in the PSIM market — on average about 25%, but some as high as nearly 35% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), the question is not whether PSIM has a value proposition, but how systems integrators (SIs) can engage and work with PSIM vendors, says Bloodworth.
CNL believes that those who have already been working with physical security information management are seeing the benefits of their investment with increased revenue, increased margin, and improved customer relationships.
Bloodworth discusses the future of physical security information management software and predicts the demise of some of the so-called entry-level “pseudo” PSIM vendors in 2017, as well as an increase in the entry PSIM market share taken by video management system (VMS) vendors. He expects to see ongoing significant growth for enterprise-level PSIM vendors, where PSIM is a customized, mission-critical solution for the client, with tailored user interfaces, workflows and standard operating procedures.
Acquisition and consolidation
The overall acquisition trend has continued throughout 2016, resulting in more major consolidation, and Bloodworth believes that for end-users, it is beneficial that these leading market players are buying exciting new technologies, in turn making them more accessible through their larger distribution networks and potentially able to consolidate new products and services.
Mixing technologies
The rise in the use of mixed technologies from multiple vendors to build an end-user application, as required and defined by a client, is where PSIM and other third-party vendors, particularly with analytics, can offer huge reduction in operations, costs and time by allowing automation in event identification and process, says Bloodworth. Analytics used on their own are not a solution, but as part of a wider, more encompassing operation, can add detection and tracking as well as identify from vast amounts of video data from multiple vendors.
The mixed use of security assets to support business operations has become a new and growing development recently, adds Bloodworth. Mobile phones and tablets are used to communicate to and from the control room, managing operational incidents in the field such as accidents, equipment maintenance and logistics, and more. In this way, security assets are used to support business operations and pave the way for even further investments in security technology as it is supporting the business mission.
Drones — friend or foe?
Fast emerging in the first responder community is the use of low-cost drones, which can be deployed and utilized as fast and geo-flexible CCTV cameras for incident management. However, the problem for many control rooms is that drones are also in the hands of the criminals, so detection and elimination will also come to the control room. “One of the major benefits here for PSIM is the ability to rapidly change and add new technologies in a fast-changing world,” explains Bloodworth.
Federated approach
“Users of multiple numbers of control rooms are now looking for them to be aggregated and managed from a central command facility, maintaining both local and centralized operations. CNL Software already has several very large examples,” continues Bloodworth. The DHS, Armed Forces, Government and ministries are obvious areas in need of this federated approach to PSIM. “And this is an area set to grow as a specialization in the next few years.”
Cybersecurity
Today, cybersecurity represents one of the biggest threats to security as large-scale aggregations increase the threat surface. Partnerships are becoming catalysts for co-operation between cyber vendors and physical security specialists, to offer end-users a complete solution. CNL Software, as founding members of the IoT Security Foundation, is working with the cyber industry to both understand and meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. “We do not, however, believe we should be a cyber vendor, just encompass the best solutions via our PSIM platform,” says Bloodworth.
PSIM raises its game
In 2017, enterprise physical security information management will continue to raise its game in areas that were once the reserve of defense contractors and semi-military companies, foresees Bloodworth. Many of these applications will be at a scale that only dedicated PSIM products will perform, both defining and confirming the requirement for PSIM in verticals where security hugely impacts business efficiencies.
PSIM will oppose the industry trend and — in contrast to other security systems — its greater capability and value creation will drive its growth, as opposed to ever-reducing prices. Will 2017 be the breakthrough year for PSIM? Perhaps not, but it will be the year that many of the global SIs start to define strategies for their participation in this growing market — both in importance and revenues, predicts Bloodworth.
