The transition of security industry to IP-based technology has been responsible for changing the role of its systems integrators, according to a new report from IMS Research.
According to the Security Systems Integration – World – 2012 report, factors including rising competitive environment due to the entry of new IT integrators into marketplace, reduced product margins, and the amplified significance of networking knowledge, have been responsible for the change.
The report also revealed that the adaption would also benefit the users as the world market for systems integration is projected to rise at an average rate of about 10% to 2016.
IMS Research market analyst Paul Bremner said as more IT integrators have been entering this market they have been fundamentally changing the way security systems integrators do business.
"IT integrators have brought their business model of lower equipment costs but higher service costs, and this has translated well when dealing with IP-based technology, which often requires a lot of network planning in the design stage to offer the best availablesolution," Bremner said.
"Design & consultancy services are likely to become a larger part of the typical integrator’s revenues. Such services include risk analysis, vulnerability assessment and client security policy analysis, to name but a few."
The report also revealed that focus on specific vertical markets has been the main strategy considered by some integrators as the as the knowledge gained from a single project would be directly deployed to other project in the same field.
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"The opportunity for design & consultancy revenues is highly dependent on the vertical market in question," Bremner said.
Projects in transportation for example, are much more likely to include design & consultancy revenues than projects in either retail or commercial.
"This is mainly due to the nature of the projects themselves, but is also, in part, due to the different organizational structures found within those verticals."
The report also forecast that the global market for physical security equipment sold through integrators and installers will reach $38bn in 2016.
