Heading to ISC West? These technologies will be at the center of plenty of discussions and demonstrations.

Drones are being tested out in surveillance applications, particularly by police.

Below are 20 top security technology trends of ISC West a year ago, I believe those are still relevant and will continue to be for this year’s show. However, there five others I anticipate joining the party this time. They are: 1. Surveillance drones and robots; 2. Wearable devices; 3. Virtual reality; 4. HD analog; and 5. DIY and MIY.

6. Cloud ― Less infrastructure costs, centralized storage and anywhere access of security data are attractive drivers for end users to adopt cloud services, which offer integrators plenty of new recurring revenue stream opportunities. Several manufacturers will be releasing devices with cloud connectivity, some of them also offering the datace
nter services to support it all.

7. Smart homes ― The connected home craze has gained momentum to the point ISC has established an SSI-sponsored pavilion dedicated to it this year. Expect to see compelling offerings from the usual players as well as lots of newcomers tasting security as well as fledgling startups.

8. Internet of Things ― The powerful IoT trend has helped fired up M&A activity in and around the electronic security industry and so expect to see many more devices that connect to the Internet and also communicate among each other. This is a rising force for commercial as well as residential applications.

9. Wireless ― Better WiFi reliability, Bluetooth integrations and adoption of Near-Field Communications (NFC) are among the drivers fueling ever-expanding products and applications here. And why not? The cost savings and flexibility can be substantial.

10. Sustainability ― Long scoffed at as not having much relevancy for security, some vendors are now keenly focusing on reducing the carbon footprints of their devices and systems.

11. 4K video ― With four times the resolution of 1080p, this has generated the most surveillance buzz of late, especially for commercial/industrial security. Several suppliers will show real-world applications of 4K cameras and supporting components.

12. Mobility ― Whether integrators looking to do remote diagnostics, company owners wanting to remotely manage their facilities, security personnel needing connectivity on the go or end users desiring heightened convenience, app-based access and control of security systems anywhere, anytime continues to be a huge movement.

13. Cybersecurity ― Running physical security systems on enterprise networks with LAN/WAN connected devices has elevated concern about hacking vulnerabilities. This year we will see a continued recognition of both the threats and opportunities that brings.

14. Bundles ― To better serve both integrators or more traditional security dealers that are not especially adept with IT network skills as well as simpler SMB customer deployments, many manufacturers will continue to offer complete off-the-shelf system solutions.

15. Interoperability ― Many vendors’ booths will look like rainbows of logos showing off how their products are officially interoperable with an array of other technology providers. This is great for integrators as it eases assembling seamless integrations, even if the promise sometimes exceeds the field results. Open APIs and SDKs are seemingly available to all interested parties.

16. Affordable advances ― Prices are anticipated to continue to plummet while features increase to produce very compelling value propositions.

17. Video expanding into access ― Several video surveillance manufacturers, particularly those with strong competencies in software development, are seizing additional opportunities on the access control side. Expect to see more vendors jumping in and those that already have expanding their lines.

18. Easy GUIs ― Vendors will continue to move away from engineering-fulfillment bells and whistles to concentrate on more intuitive interfaces that are easier for end users to learn and use, as well as emphasize useful functionalities in real-world scenarios.

19. Analytics ― The advancement and proliferation of security devices and systems, particularly video, is creating almost limitless opportunities to pull together what had been disparate data to analyze and make smarter decisions for operations as well as security. We will see continued breakthroughs to take advantage of this metadata.

20. Partnerships ― Many vendors, once all about propriety and playing everything close to the vest, will continue to throw their arms open to embrace collaborative product/system and branding opportunities.

21. Hardware vendors try software ― Looking to move beyond commoditized boxes and ways to make their products more relevant moving forward, many traditionally component-based suppliers are either creating their own integrated software, OEMing it from someone else or openly partnering with a specialist to expand feature sets.

22. Software vendors try hardware ― The corollary to the above is vendors well known for programming expertise expanding into selling components. Besides the additional revenue it can allow a more unified solution.

23. Easier installs ― An integrator’s best friend is the vendor who truly knows installation pain points and comes up with innovative solutions to hardships and hassles. More modular designs, easily-hung devices and self-finding network components will continue to show how manufacturers are listening to their customers.

24. Enhanced imaging ― With megapixel imaging almost standard, manufacturers are continuing to introduce technologies that produce greater clarity and usability. At the forefront of this movement are wider dynamic camera sensors and IR/thermal technologies that can capture images in little to no light.

25. Edge intelligence ― To lessen the burden on the network with continuous streams of video data choking the pipelines, many suppliers are concentrating on cameras that are more self-contained and only communicate with a centralized network as needed. This is really taking off now that flash media is becoming more robust and cost effective.