Genetec Inc, a technology company that provides unified security, public safety, operations, and business intelligence solutions, has released the findings of its state of the industry study. The report looks at how the role of physical security continued to change in 2021 as firms reacted to shifting situations, based on observations from over 2,000 physical security leaders from around the world.
Physical security is evolving from being viewed as a risk-mitigation tool to playing a far larger part in enterprises’ digital transformation.
According to the survey, more than two-thirds (69%) of respondents considered physical security and related data to be “mission-critical.” Larger firms, in particular, are increasingly realising the value in the data collected by their physical security systems, with more than 46% reporting that they utilise their security systems to “increase overall business efficiency, productivity, and asset optimization.”
Several survey respondents stated that they planned to invest in data management solutions in the future year to advance or improve the functioning of their physical security system. According to the survey, a rising number of firms (36 percent) are investing in unified solutions to simplify maintenance, visibility, and data collecting across all of their systems in order to improve functionality and operations. In the 2020 study, the figure was 31%. More than half of all respondents (51%) also stated that they had invested in video analytics to improve the functioning of existing installations and digitally alter their business operations.
“Before the pandemic, physical security’s role in business intelligence and operations was already growing, but over the last two years, it has proven to be a strategic asset in coping with a variety of challenges,” said Pervez R. Siddiqui Vice President, Offerings and Transformation at Genetec Inc. “As we emerge from the pandemic, organizations will contend with three undercurrents; changes in the physical dimension of work as workspaces evolve into hubs for collaboration and cohesion, workflow automation of the mundane in a bid to drive productivity and retention, and board-level interest in achieving operational resilience through integrated risk management.”
With the pandemic forcing restricted access to physical sites, cloud-based solutions that enable organizations to remotely monitor video, control cameras, assess system health, perform maintenance, and update firmware/software have become invaluable.
The survey showed that 45% of larger organizations (with over 1,000 employees) have already adopted cloud solutions which is a significant increase compared to 2020 when only 26% of respondents said they had begun their cloud journey. A massive 94% of respondents said they have plans to deploy cloud or hybrid cloud solutions in the long term.
However, the requirements for hybrid deployment vary by area. Only 14% of Middle Eastern respondents reported that at least 25% of their physical security infrastructure is cloud or hybrid cloud. This might be owing to the harsh regulatory climate in some Middle Eastern nations, since respondents from the Middle East were most likely to choose “hosting data outside your country” as a reason for not using cloud security solutions.
“The adoption of cloud and hybrid cloud solutions is rapidly accelerating in the security industry,” said Christian Morin, Vice-President Product Engineering and CSO at Genetec Inc. “While many physical security departments were hesitant to consider cloud connected solutions in the past, they now better understand the benefits these solutions bring and how it can help them to better utilize their resources to achieve their respective business goals while minimizing their overall operational complexity.”
When asked about the type of solutions they were planning to invest in to advance or improve their physical security environment in the next 12 months, over half of respondent (52%) picked access control.
“Legacy access control systems use outdated technology that leaves them vulnerable to cyber threats, and can cause damage beyond the door,” commented Thibaut Louvet, Director, Access Control Product Group at Genetec Inc. “So it is reassuring to see that organizations are taking the necessary steps to migrate their access control systems to more modern, cyber secure access control systems.”
