Physical Security Information Management (PSIM) is on the horizon of the large-scale security market. As Dimi Kyriakou reports, commercial installers who do their homework and read up on this new technology will be better placed to get their slice of the security pie in the future.

When you think about it, the security world is made up of myriad technologies – CCTV, access control, biometrics, alarms, sensors… the list goes on.

Of course, surveillance of any kind plays a vital role in organisations, particularly those that fall into the commercial category (I’m talking corporate, hospitals, education, government and correctional facilities, just to name a few).

Given that security technologies come in so many different forms, the ability to bring all of these disparate elements together under the one banner is an attractive option for installers to offer their clients.

The good news is that the Australian market is about to see this solution in the form of a technology called Physical Security Information Management (PSIM). If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you will soon. It’s expected to be the next buzzword to hit the industry – up there with the likes of 3D TV and voice control.

What is PSIM and how does it work?
Essentially PSIM is a software platform that integrates disparate security deployments and collects, correlates, illustrates rules and analyses security data. While it is designed to integrate multiple unconnected security applications and devices and control them through one user interface, its open architecture also allows for the integration and accommodation of non-security systems.

While still a relatively new concept to hit the market, PSIM technology does hold a lot of potential – imagine if a simple security card swipe could tell the system what doors a person was allowed to open, or brought up background information such as age, salary and links to their social and professional networking profiles. I’m a fairly cynical person and even I can admit that it sounds impressive!

Some of the research that has been undertaken on this market predicts that, with increased awareness of the technology and its benefits to organisations, the uptake of PSIM technologies will take off on a global basis.

The predicted impact
In July last year, industry analysts at Frost and Sullivan released a report titled Global Physical Security Information Management Market. It provides an overview of the major trends within the market, key findings, strategic insights, restraints and opportunities and a set of recommendations for companies that wish to enter the PSIM market.

According to Frost and Sullivan research analyst (aerospace, defence and security) Krzysztof Rutkowski, the market size is expected to jump from $142.9 million in 2011 to $2.79 billion in 2021.

It is important to remember that such projections don’t always reflect reality. However, as our world becomes increasingly IT-based, the line between security and IT will no doubt become blurred in the not-too-distant future.

“With the increase of IP-based security devices, more information transfers will happen and what will be desired by the end users is a system which will be able to make use of all that information. PSIM is exactly the solution that is currently required by the market and that is why we predict that growth will be so high,” Krzysztof says.

“We predict that PSIM will overtake the majority of the low-end commercial projects and make a strong influence in the high-end projects. This is due to the tailoring possibilities that PSIM also has, which allows organisations to implement the solution to their organisation in the way they want it at a smaller price.”

He explains that the major application of PSIM will be in critical infrastructure, generating 53.8% of the overall revenue. The first responder and commercial segments follow containing 22.1% each.

“The highest growth is expected to be generated from countries containing high GDP and a well-developed ICT infrastructure such as Qatar, Norway, the United Arab Emirates, Denmark, USA, Canada, Sweden, Japan, Singapore, Germany and the United Kingdom. Other important markets will emerge from Saudi Arabia, China and Brazil.”

 Frost and Sullivan ANZ Industrial Practice industry director Ivan Fernandez says the PSIM market in the Asia Pacific is growing at a relatively fast pace; approximately 28.5% per annum from 2011 to 2021.

“Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia are the main countries likely to drive the adoption of PSIM,” he explains.

“The PSIM market in the APAC region mainly generates revenue from critical infrastructure (64.7% of total market share). The other key verticals are first responders and commercial verticals.”

He says the main driver for adoption of PSIM in Australia is the rollout of smart city projects, as well as the demand for a cohesive security system to manage all the devices plugged into it.

PSIM in Australia
Despite being such a new technology, there are already developments underway to service the local PSIM sector.

Zone Advanced Protection Systems is a Sydney-based company that has developed the PSIM software solution Arbitor. This is an integrated, modular and scalable security system integration and system management platform, employing a powerful ‘distributed’ processing and storage architecture.

Designed to be deployed across Local Area Networks (LANs) and Wide Area Networks (WANs), Arbitor can connect, control and integrate to security devices including video recording, thermal imaging devices, fibre optic fence detection systems, access control and building management systems, biometrics, GPS tracking systems and more.

“There is increasing demand for today’s security systems to do more than just detect, alert or record,” Zone business manager Paul Thompson says.

“Security professionals are now demanding tools to both integrate and manage a wide range of products, providing not just an increased level of situational awareness but also the capability to respond in a number of predetermined ways.”

According to Paul, Arbitor allows a fully configurable video display wall; control of all on-screen presentation with assignment of viewing tiles to single cameras, alarm events, recording playback, maps or web feeds; and a suite of analysis tools allows the user to implement, monitor and demonstrate compliance to their specific industry guidelines.

The product can be fully tailored to an individual organisation and event handling procedures, bringing together events and alarms from a host of sources and managing them as part of a predefined response plan. On top of this, Arbitor’s Intelligent Workflow guides the operator through the construction of a process or application with a simple ‘drag and drop’ method. It also has the ability to forward alerts to the public or private telephone network, email and SMS services.

“Its full potential is really determined by the end user’s individual situation, their working objectives and the operational issues they face in achieving them,” Paul says.

“This product is not an out-of-the-box install. In most cases the system will be configured and tested at our facility before installation which would be carried out by Zone staff in conjunction with the security installer.”

This, he says, is resulting in an increasing demand for PSIM systems from the simple (two or three system integration combining their basic functionality) to the complex (total facility security system management via one PSIM portal).

“I think we’ll see PSIM moving into multi sites – smaller sites, but lots of them. It’s not necessarily the complexity of the front end that’s the key now; it’s just that organisations want a common front end across all of the security devices.”

What this means for installers
As PSIM is still developing and making itself known around the world, it may take some time before it really kicks off in Australia. That said, there is a great opportunity for savvy installers to get ahead and learn about the technology now.

According to Frost and Sullivan, the installer’s (and end user’s) lack of knowledge is one of the major hurdles facing the market at the moment. The perceived high cost and complication of installation is also a problem.

“The physical security focus of integrators is hindering the adoption of the solution, as they are still focused on installing what they know best – video surveillance, access control, sensors etc,” Krzysztof says.

“This lack of skill lowers their ability to install integrated systems that add strategic advantage to a company. Another hurdle that PSIM is facing in the commercial segment is the global economic instability which still affects the adoption rate by commercial entities.

“In order to succeed in this market you must be recognisable in the security industry and have deployments implemented to ensure the market of the benefits your products bring. Furthermore companies which offer additional value (e.g. CAD) are likely to capture more of the market.”

It’s a point that Paul reiterates.

“Installers need to embrace this technology because they’ve got an opportunity now to increase their value to their customer. At the moment a lot of installers have that value taken away because some products have become simpler and the customer is more educated about technology,” he says.

“The adoption of PSIM will give the installers a chance to sit down with a customer to ask about the business and what they’re trying to achieve. Then, along with companies like ours, they can come up with a product that is really tailor-made to all the requirements. I think that value-add is really something that the installers can charge for.”

If you consider yourself a savvy installer, don’t stick your head in the sand and watch this lucrative opportunity pass by. Now is the time to read up on the potential of PSIM, before it transforms from a buzzword into a certainty.