Q&A

Steve Hunt on the Physical Security Industry

Steve Hunt predicts a much-needed shift to end-user focus and open architectures for physical security manufacturers and integrators. (Part of the What Happens Next security predictions series.)

By Joan Goodchild, Senior Editor

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Can you give an example of how this is hurting companies that use these products?
For example, one company I spoke with uses an access-control deployment from Honeywell. The system is excellent for opening doors and managing privileges. But they donâ¬"t have a state-of-the-art visitor management system; a system where you log in visitors at the front desk and give temporary privileges. This company I spoke with, a large insurance company, tried to bring in a best-of-breed visitor system and integrate it into the Honeywell access control systems they were using. Honeywell pushed back hard and refused to let them do it.

What kind of comments did you get in response to your post?
Folks who agreed most loudly were the obviously the end users. But I got feedback from surprising source: consultant and integrators. They actually said: "It almost sounds like you are blaming us for perpetuating this model when all we are trying to do is make a buck."

But I am kind of blaming them, the consultants and integrators. Consultants specify what they know. And what do they know? They know the products of the big companies. Why? Because the big companies send them on these boondoggle training programs to fancy resorts and hotels, give them formal training in the product and so-called sample specification sheets. The sheets say: "If you ever come across an access control or video surveillance deployment like this, hereâ¬"s how you should specify it." And it gives a cut and paste from the Siemens catalogue, or the Bosch catalogue, for consultants to use with out using much creativity.

So, I think the consultants are kind of pawns in this big business. And the integrators, they face a different challenge. They, for the most part, do not sell in the sense that IT integrators sell. IT integrators are more inclined to listen to needs of a customer and perform what I call a consultative sale that includes listening and creative problem solving. In physical security, it's rare to find that. Most integrators are order takers. "How many cameras do you need? Ok, we'll ship them on Thursday and screw them into the wall." That's about it.

Where do you think the physical security industry headed? Will these practices change?
Physical security is still the big ship that is slow to turn. It's turning and times are changing. Things are getting better, but it's still fraught with a lot of tradition that makes agility in tech decisions difficult.