Not too long ago, there was doom and gloom about the future of commercial spaces and doubt over whether people would ever work in offices again. That threw into question physical security and Proptech needs. We’ve come through those dark times of worry and fear and the future is looking bright.
Brivo and SDM recently conducted a survey of security integrators and specifiers to better understand the security landscape from their perspective post-COVID. Are offices still necessary? Are security professionals buying physical security technology? If so, what are they asking for?
The results of the survey were overwhelmingly positive
Expected Growth
- Respondents say that two-thirds of security buyers are likely to consider cloud solutions, with that number expected to increase over the next 12 months
- 78% of respondents expect their business to grow this year
What’s Fueling Optimism?
These optimistic viewpoints are well founded. The COVID vaccine is widely available, market opportunity and demand continue to grow and businesses are welcoming employees back to the office. A new, and perhaps unexpected, outcome of the pandemic is the increased demand for cloud-based solutions that have remote, mobile, and integration capabilities to address pain points illuminated by the lockdowns we experienced during COVID.
Security technology expert Lee Odess, author of The 6 Phase Changes Shaping Access Control, points out, “the marketplace is moving beyond high security. It’s going from keeping bad people out to letting the right people in.”
In addition to the demand for more sophisticated physical security technology, there is also specific demand for particular COVID capabilities like occupancy tracking, social distance monitoring, digital visitor management, contact tracing, and self-screening. To this point Odess adds that, “access control is moving from a mechanical single-point solution to a feature of software that might also include temperature control, visitor management, room scheduling, and various other features. Now security is part of a larger ecosystem.”
Most Requested Security System Capabilities
Security integrators hear from their customers that they want modern solutions. The realities of forced remote work have changed Proptech priorities for your customers. Professionals in charge of organizational security want a single solution to manage all aspects of multiple properties from. They want remote management capabilities and mobile credentials for their employees.
COVID-specific requests ranged from touchless door access to mask detection. Occupancy tracking and social distancing monitoring also made the list.
The bottom line is that there is demand, and lots of it. There is demand for integrated solutions that can make organizational security efficient and that can address new health-safety challenges. Do you have the solutions in your portfolio that your customers are asking for?
Read more about the results from the survey in our latest report