Becoming IT Savvy via Standards

By David Bunzel, executive director, the PSIA

Integrators who know IP have an edge over their competitors—and standards can make the move to IP and big business opportunities easier. Those were the key takeaways from a panel discussion about security systems interoperability I participated in at the PSA Network’s recent PSA-TEC conference in Colorado.

One integrator shared how it’s hiring college interns with IT experience to work alongside seasoned industry veterans to cross pollinate each other’s expertise. The Security Industry Association is working with a junior college to develop a curriculum to train students as IT security specialists.

Being IT-ready enables integrators to open new revenue channels and build stronger customer relationships. Why? Because integrators who promote standards and standards-based products are providing customers with more strategic, IT-infrastructure friendly solutions, that have lower up-front costs, are less expensive to upgrade, and future-proofed. Integrators can deliver those benefits with standards-based plug-and-play interoperability.

Plug-and-play capabilities vs. custom programming to integrate different tools also make it easier for integrators to be IT ready. The IT world today is focused on interconnected systems sharing all kinds of data. Standards help ensure that sharing is intentional and controlled by acting as a language dictionary. You may not speak German but with a German-English translator, you and a German speaker can each understand what a specific word means—and whether you want to share it. Working with standards-based security systems, integrators can be precise about what data is shared, how and when, with different enterprise business systems.

Mobile platforms and data analytics tools will be two likely integration points. Many applications developers today are under orders to “design for mobile first,” and many large corporations are trying to monetize the vast amounts of data they collect. Integrators who can show their security solutions will add value to these trends will be seen as strategic business partners and advisers—not just equipment installers. Standards will be critical to that shift in perception and to the revenues that follow.  Bottom line, security integrators who promote standards-based solutions are making a good business case for their customers, as well as themselves.