ASIS 2010ASIS 2010, I: Major market, technology trends

Published 28 October 2010

The four trends we noted on the floor of ASIS 2010: companies are reorganizing after acquisitions; a big emphasis on integrated solutions, more specifically: manufacturers are repurposing and re-grouping products to create specialized solutions for certain vertical markets; three buzz terms this year: cloud computing, whole building integration, and energy management; then there were IP cameras — everywhere, with manufacturers emphasizing education and training

This is the first of three articles summarizing the major homeland security market and technology trends manifested by the companies and the technologies they showcased at the 2010 ASIS International event in Dallas, Texas

It is now two weeks since the 2010 ASIS International 56th Annual Seminar and Exhibits was held, and this is a good time to reflect on the event, the exhibitors and participants, and the trends in the security market which found expression in it.

We do not have the official figures yet, but our impression, and the consensus of many of the attendees is that the 56th ASIS International event was bigger and better than last year’s show in Anaheim.

Security Director News notes that the show may have taken up a little less real estate as the result of smaller booths for some, and the crowd did not compare to four and five years ago, but there were many big snazzy booths, and manufacturers seemed pleased with the steady traffic, especially on Tuesday.

Noticed on the floor

Martha Entwistle is right to point out that what stood out from the show floor at ASIS 2010 were four things:

A number of companies are reorganizing after acquisitions and reintroducing themselves.

There was a big emphasis on integrated solutions, more specifically: manufacturers are repurposing and re-grouping products to create specialized solutions for certain vertical markets. Indeed, you could not help but notice that more and more booths were organized around their vertical market solutions.

One example: Asked what he has been working on since the closing of the ADT/Broadview deal this spring and the reorganization of ADT into separate residential and commercial businesses, John Kenning, president of ADT Commercial, said he has been working on “the verticalization of the commercial sales organization.” Entwistle notes that ADT commercial is bundling the integrated services it will offer commercial customers, and there is a lot of excitement about video monitoring services in particular. Kenning also announced ADT is giving its Aurora, Colorado monitoring center a major facelift, and creating a new customer briefing center — to open in January — which will have life-sized interchangeable demonstrations of complete product solutions for different vertical markets.

The vertical market emphasis was also apparent at the Samsung booth, which displayed a verticalized solution for campuses that has proven successful, and is being used internally as a model to create comprehensive solutions for other verticals.

Three buzz terms this year: cloud computing,