Day 2 ISC West Impressions #ISCW11

Muni Surveillance Panel: Wireless Infrastructure

ISC West 2011

In the morning, I presented at and moderated the panel Muni Surveillance Panel: Wireless Infrastructure. During the Q&A portion, we again discussed how to get video off transit busses and police cruisers. The options vary: cellular broadband; wi-fi hotspots; mesh infrastructure mobility (placing mesh nodes in cars/vehicles); and wireless offload at depots and police stations for non-real-time video.

Below is my presentation from the session:

Or view the presentation directly on SlideShare: ISC West 2011 Muni Surveillance Panel: Wireless Infrastructure

Women in Security Panel

I was not able to attend this session; so if anyone blogged about it, please let me know! (You can link to any relevant posts in the comments).

IMS Research Market Update Panel

Key takeaways on the video surveillance side (I did not capture as much information on the access control or PSIM trends). The presentations focused on the Americas physical security market; so the comments below reference the trends in the Americas rather than worldwide.

• IMS expects M&A activity to continue in video surveillance space
• Per IMS, Axis Communications continues to lead in network video
• Commercial thermal cameras trend: Pelco, Bosch and Axis all have lower cost solutions. Lower costs enable new applications; these cameras are effective for perimeter protection
• The market is all about HD/megapixel; standard definition cameras will begin to (edit 4/18; see note below on timing) be phased out in 2-3 years, per IMS. Phase out of standard definition cameras in the Americas driven by production costs; HD vs standard definition production cost differential negligible. (So manufacturers are really driving this trend, vs the end-users. Big implications for both wireless networking and storage).
• 3D video surveillance (1st time hearing of it) won’t be commercially available for a long while, per IMS
• Per IMS, HDCCTV will have 4-6 percent market share by 2014 (rather small)

[Added 4/18] On the phase-out of standard definition cameras, IMS’s Gary Wong adds: “The phaseout will begin in next 2-3 years, however the vast majority of new network cameras released to the market now will be of HD or higher resolution. IMS Research believes that this trend is common to all manufacturers.”

Networking and More Networking

Thursday was networking overload! By the end of the day, I tried to get out of the company dinner, but the CEO said “absolutely not!” so I did not get to my room until 10 pm. A separate post on the networking opportunities, and how I did against my tentative plan (Tweetups, Networking, and More Things to Do While at #ISCW11) is coming up. As a side note, it’s much nicer to stay at a non-casino hotel – once you leave Venetian, you are done with this place and the whole casino scene.

Note on Wireless

Firetide booth at ISC West 2011

Wireless connectivity was bad! Both at the Sands (3G) and Wi-Fi in my hotel; Venetian suite Wi-Fi wasn’t much better. That is why this post is being published Saturday: I just could not upload the presentation, especially in the evening when I assume more people were on Wi-Fi. Tweeting pictures from the show floor was also a challenge – I could not upload a single one while at the Sands. This picture of the booth was tweeted when the show closed already.

This experience echoed the comment from the co-panelist on the Muni Surveillance panel: if you try to do mission critical communications (and especially video) over a shared network, that network would be the first to let you down in case of a big event. So, dedicated mesh all the way!

(Just to illustrate my point: I was finishing up this post at the airport, and almost commented that their Wi-Fi was the best that I saw in Vegas. But just as I was about to hit publish, McCarran Wi-Fi kicked me off the network, and I had re-login. On the other hand, I’m adding this comment while on the plane using portable hotspot feature on my Nexus S. So wireless FTW, but be careful with mission critical traffic, and have something more solid than cellular or public Wi-Fi).

For more ISC West  2011 posts, see:

• Day 1 ISC West Impressions #ISCW11
• Day 0 ISC West Impressions #ISCW11
• Tweetups, Networking, and More Things to Do While at ISC West
• Attending ISC West? Here’s Where to Find Firetide Team at #ISCW11

By Ksenia Coffman – Connect with me on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Day 1 ISC West Impressions #ISCW11

ISC West is in full swing! Here’s the recap of day 1 of the show.

Follow ISC West virtually through Twitter hashtag #ISCW11

Executive Club breakfast

We started the day with the breakfast with the Executive Club members (Firetide and TESSCO are jointly sponsoring the lounge, so our team was invited). One of the ‘perks’ of being an Executive Club member (besides the very nice lounge) is the access to the show floor at 9 am on Thursday. We’ll see today how many people actually show up!

Security specifiers become mediators

Continuing on the theme of security specifiers, I had a change to sit down with a security consultant who specified a couple of large municipal projects that ended up including Firetide as the wireless infrastructure. He shared with me that in the last year a so he’d been involved more in project mediation and expert witnessing on the projects that he’s not specified anything new (shame!). His new role (and more profitable as it seems) is to mediate between the end-user, A&E consultant, general contractor and the integrator, to avoid going to litigation. Echoing what was said on the yesterday’s panel, one of the issues is the 3-year old, cut-and-paste spec: “in security industry, it’s dog years – the project is 21 year behind the curve even before it gets started.”

Mobile video mesh demo

Another highlight of the day was the mobile mesh demo on Axis Communications booth (check it out on booth 18051). There was a lot of interest in the demo, including the mesh connectivity portion of it.

Mobile video mesh demo at ISC West 11 - 'Firetide-inside'

The mobile mesh node is placed in the trunk of the car, while a fixed mesh node is located on the booth. This setup is what we call “infrastructure mobility” – the police cruiser is now essentially a mobile command center, connected to the mesh infrastructure and able to control the cameras on the fixed network. (For more information on infrastructure mobility, please see Technology Behind Wireless Infrastructure Mobility).

Social media for dealers and integrators

On Wednesday, I presented on the panel Social media and web marketing for dealers and integrators.” Here’s my presentation – gives you food for thought on why it’s important that you get started with social media now.

Or view the presentation directly on SlideShare: ISC West 2011 Social Media for Dealers & Integrators

See you at the show!

The show opens today at 10 am. I hope to see you in my session Muni Surveillance: Wireless Infrastructure (10:15 am to 11:15 am Thursday April 7, Room 204), and on Firetide booth 24083!

Follow @firetide and @kseniacoffman on Twitter for updates from the show. For the ISC West Twitter stream, follow hashtag #ISCW11.

For more ISC West  2011 posts, see:

• Day 2 ISC West Impressions #ISCW11
• Day 0 ISC West Impressions #ISCW11
• Tweetups, Networking, and More Things to Do While at ISC West
• Attending ISC West? Here’s Where to Find Firetide Team at #ISCW11

By Ksenia Coffman – Connect with me on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Day 0 ISC West Impressions #ISCW11

The ISC West 2011 show has not started yet, but I’ve already been in Vegas for almost a day and a half, so a daily recap is in order.

Register for a free ISC West exhibit pass courtesy of Firetide

The booth setup went smoothly, apart from a monitor damaged in transit, a video camera that finally gave out, and a shipment that did not arrive (aka the usual). But, the wireless is up and running, so it’s all that matters!

Working with Security Specifiers

On Tuesday, I was able to join one of the ISC West Education sessions: Working with Security Specifiers. The panelist presented a good mix of perspectives: integrators, consultants and end-users. Here are a few take-aways (adopted from my tweets from the session):

• Practitioner perspective: relationship with vendor and support they are able to provide are more important than intricate differentiators between vendors
• Consultant perspective: Include manufacturer into the process, in addition to integrators, consultants, end users [KC: music to our ears!]
• Integrator’s perspective: Goal of an integrator: Mitigate risk; provide compliance; deliver ROI for the project, and most importantly: build a long-term relationship with both the consultant and the end-user for ongoing project success
• How can RFP response stand out? One example: send CEO to the pre-bid meeting!  (And provide your home number so that the end-customer can reach you) – That approach really stood out for one of the panelists.
• How can you compete with a “low-bid integrator” in your RFP response? Define the price in terms of long-term value and project life cycle, vs “bill of materials.” Also, show domain expertise in a particular vertical; without a track record for this particular type of install, the integrator will be learning on the job at the user’s expense.
• Validate claims of your bidders – e.g. visit offices of your prospective integrators (consultants may play this role)
• One of the speakers (an end-user) cautioned against using a consultant who may be a one-man shop. He advised: Don’t be afraid to approach larger consultant firms with a smaller project; they may use junior associates who would work under a senior member’s oversight
• New construction vs retrofit: in former case, harder to get to end user and communicate value. Consultants can be the conduit.
• RFP needs to be written based on an assessment, not cut and paste from industry spec – This was a common concern regarding MEP firms (mechanical, engineering, plumbing).
• When the panel was asked  “how do you handle a situation where a spec is clearly cut and paste?” – the integrator on the panel had an interesting perspective: Don’t just assign blame; use cut-and-paste or old spec as an opportunity to develop a relationship and educate the consultant for *next* project.

Overall, it was an interesting session: it was educational to see the emphasis on relationships and track record (although it’s hardly surprising).

Women’s Security Council

Another highlight of the day was the Women’s Security Council kick-off reception at the V Bar in the Venetian. I got there pretty late (7:30 pm) and was surprised to see the great turnout – most of the bar was dedicated to the event with a good crowd mingling. (Compare that to the conference session above, where I was the only woman among the 80-90 attendees).  I ran into the women I knew before, some who I only exchanged emails with, and met some new people. Thanks to Rhianna Daniels and the entire Council for organizing! Find out more about Women’s Security Council at the organization’s web site: http://wscouncil.com/

The show officially opens today at 10 am. I hope to see you in my session Social Media for Dealers and Integrators (4 to 5 pm Wednesday April 6, Room 202), and on Firetide booth 24083!

Follow @firetide and @kseniacoffman on Twitter for updates from the show. For the ISC West Twitter stream, follow hashtag #ISCW11.

For more ISC West  2011 posts, see:

• Day 2 ISC West Impressions #ISCW11
• Day 1 ISC West Impressions #ISCW11
• Tweetups, Networking, and More Things to Do While at ISC West
• Attending ISC West? Here’s Where to Find Firetide Team at #ISCW11

By Ksenia Coffman – Connect with me on Twitter or LinkedIn.