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ISC West 2019 wrap-up

ISC West 2019 wrap-up

ISC West 2019 wrapped up on April 12 in Las Vegas after another record-breaking year in terms of attendance, according to Mary Beth Shaughnessy, Event Director - ISC Events and Unmanned Security Expo at Reed Exhibitions, who spoke to Security Systems News on the SSN Media Stage during the event.

“The show is bigger this year and we are looking at being up about 4 percent in attendance overall this year,” she said. “We've got a number of new areas that are growing. Our emerging technologies zone has grown over 40 percent from last year to this year. New companies are up year over year and our connected security area is up this year as well. Just overall participation with the security industry, in general, with all of the new technologies coming out — everyone is just anxious and excited to get their products in the marketplace.”

Shaughnessy confirmed what many of us were hearing on the showfloor, as exhibitors noted that their booths were jam packed with quality people each day. In addition, the education sessions were very popular again this year, with overall attendance up.

“The education this year is great, and it is all programmed by SIA,” she pointed out, noting that she is excited to continue the relationship with SIA moving forward. “We've had great attendance, up from last year, at many of the sessions � Some of the top sessions looked at the convergence of physical and cybersecurity.”

The following is a look at my time at ISC West:

Day One: Tuesday, April 9

Excited to be here in Vegas for ISC West 2019, the security industry's biggest conference and trade show of the year.

Started day one on Tuesday with The Advance, The Security Industry Association's annual membership meeting where SIA gave an update to a packed house on the state of the association, while also giving out several membership awards and voting in new members to the board of directors.

Scott Schafer, chairman of the SIA Board of Directors, hosted the event, which he called “the fastest hour at ISC West” and he was not joking, as a lot was covered in just a little over an hour's time.

Schafer pointed out that in addition to the security industry's continued solid growth, SIA is also in very good shape financially and in terms of growth on the membership side, which Schafer was confident will surpass 1,000 members any day now.

On the financial side, the association saw $7 million in revenue, with $6.4 million in expenses, leaving approximately a half million in surplus. Investments showed a 57 percent increase for 2018.

Schafer also pointed out that SIA signed a 10-year agreement with ISC Events with a 5-year clause, which he said is a “very exciting announcement” as the two have many events planned for the future with this continuing partnership.

SIA also gave out several membership awards at the Advance, including:
• Member of the Year Award: Axis Communications
• Chairman's Award: SIA Women in Security Forum
• Sandy Jones Volunteer of the Year Award: Mark McCourt, Cobalt Robotics
• Committee Chair of the Year Award: Chris Grniet, Guidepost Solutions

In addition to award presentations, Sal Mani, security systems manager for Google, spoke on the workforce imperative of developing cross-functional skill sets to stay competitive in the security industry.

New SIA Board members voted in at meeting include:
• Greg Hill, Director, Intrusion Architecture, Johnson Controls
• Kim Loy, Chief Marketing Officer, ACRE
• Jody Ross, VP, Sales, AMAG Technology
• James Rothstein, SVP, Global Security Solutions, Anixter
• Brian Wiser, Regional President, Bosch Security Systems

Day Two: Wed., April 10

Started the first day of the trade show at the Hikvision Media Event, where Hikvision North America's Director of Global Public Affairs Michael Gutierrez, President Jeffrey He, Director of Cybersecurity Chuck Davis, and new General Manager for Hikvision USA and Hikvision Canada, Eric Chen, gave invited press an update on the current state of the company. Jeffrey He addressed some of the challenges that Hikvision faces, with growing anti-China sentiment, trade tensions, tariffs and government bans topping the list, noting that these “will likely impact us on the global front.”

Chen looked at how the company continues to grow and prosper in the face of these growing challenges, noting that in North America Hikvision business showed $7.4 billion in revenue and 18.8 percent in year-over-year growth in 2018, as well as 40 percent compound growth from 2010 to 2018. The company worldwide has approximately 34,000 employees, with 6,000 engineers, he noted.

Chen said the company is “still going to invest in North America,” focusing on SMB and the midmarket and “shifting from product selling to solution selling,” with retail and education two of the company's biggest verticals.

While Hikvision continues to introduce new cameras, like the new 32MP multi-directional camera it unveiled this year, Chen pointed out that this year's theme for ISC is “Focused on Your Success,” highlighting the company's customer-focused programs.

Davis, who teaches ethical hacking and serves on the SIA cybersecurity committee, outlined the company's cybersecurity strategy and milestones over the past few years, including the use of pen testing and ethical hacking for all cameras with a third party; the establishment of a cyber hotline in 2017; cybersecurity education roadshows (22 in the U.S. and Canada); joining FIRST.org, a global incident response organization and consortium; and creating a whitepaper that covers the testing and process of the lifecycle of a product before it reaches a consumer.

“This [white paper] is an important document for us to be transparent, and show that we are holding ourselves to a high standard,” said Davis, noting that Hikvision is the only company to have a code transparency center where “anyone can come and do an audit.”

Noting the importance of the network as the “first line of defense,” Davis said Hikvision's SSL encryption process is held to the highest NIST standards, including the FIPS 140-2 standard.

Next, I headed over to the Genetec booth, where I spoke with Andrew Elvish, VP of marketing and product management and Derek Arcuri, product marketing manager, who outlined some of the company's cool new features in the new version of Security Center, the company's open-architecture platform that unifies video surveillance, access control, automatic license plate recognition (ALPR), communications and analytics. Some of the cool new features include customizable live dashboards, enhanced privacy protection features, a brand-new map-driven mobile app, and new functionalities that help users actively monitor the health of their system and ensure compliance with cybersecurity best practices. What makes Genetec stand out from the crowd, Elvish noted, is its “unified enterprise platform that gives a unique view into the data, allowing you to make informed decisions.”

Over at the FLIR booth, I met with Fredrik Wallberg, director of marketing - Security & ITS, and Haley Coveny, public relations coordinator, who explained that the company is looking to be more of a “solution provider” rather than just a provider of products. In addition to its wide range of thermal camera solution, FLIR highlighted its new solutions for Smart Cities and perimeter protection applications. The company's new TruWITNESS wearable sensor platform is designed to expand true, real-time situational awareness for public safety operations. Combining video, audio, location data and IoT capabilities, TruWITNESS enables sensors to send alerts and stream data back to a central command center running FLIR United VMS for improved incident analysis and intervention.

Moving to the G4S/AMAG Technology booth, I spoke John Kenning, regional CEO for G4S Americas, who spoke about the company's continued commitment to using technology to help security professionals be more efficient and accurate, whether they are out in the field or back in the command center. The company is also taking a more “risk-based” approach as a “trusted advisor” who is there to evaluate and consult based on operational and compliance needs. “We are a top 5 integration business and a top 3 man-guarding business, which is a great combo.”

Next, I visited with Benjamin Bryant, global public relations consultant for IDIS, which celebrated five years at ISC West with a comprehensive showcase of the South Korean manufacturer's IDIS Total Surveillance Solution. Highlights of the company's fifth anniversary with ISC West included areas of special emphasis on cybersecurity, deep learning analytics and facial recognition, and solutions for the retail and banking sectors. On the product side, the company released its new Compact IR Fisheye, featuring its dual-side dewarping in a smaller, more versatile approach. The company also unveiled its new 12MP Panamorph Fisheye and the full IDIS Compact Solution.

At the Allegion press event, Robert Lydic, Allegion's VP of PACS OEM Business, discussed how Allegion brings strength to the security industry with a legacy of knowledge and quality behind them and how that strength will be leveraged into forward-thinking solutions with the right balance of security, convenience and efficiency. Allegion is “a five year old company with brands that have been around for 100 years,” he said, noting that these are brands that people trust, such as Von Duprin, the producer of the first "panic bar" style door mechanism, and Schlage, one of the oldest and “most tested and trusted” lock manufacturers. Lydic also noted that Allegion's mobile ecosystem is founded on the belief that providing physical access control should have an open, secured architecture offering customer-centered solutions.

Day Three: Thursday, April 11

Started the day bright and early at 5:30 a.m. volunteering with Mission 500, which hosted its 10th annual Security 5k/2k, bringing the entire industry together for a great cause. As Mission 500 Founder George Fletcher and Board Chairman Tim Purpura pointed out at the award ceremony on Thursday, this year's race was a huge success with more than $145,000 raised to help Mission 500 children and families in need. It felt good to get out there with SSN Regional Sales Manager Brad Durost, and walk — yes walk, sorry! —along with others to help this amazing organization.

Started the morning with Alarm.com, with Matthew Zartman, director of communications, who gave me a tour of the latest and greatest on both the residential and commercial side of the business, where the company has been growing its presence, especially in the SMB space, Zartman noted. For example, Alarm.com is making it possible to manage access control and video across multiple business locations. Just as Alarm.com informs the homeowner using data in Insights Engine, it can use data on the business side to provide business intelligence on top of access control and video surveillance management.

I next visited with Robin Regina Baker, CTO, SilverShield, which was showcasing its cloud-based safety and information system at ISC West, demonstrating the capabilities of their visitor management and communication software. Originally developed for school campus applications, the software incorporates a fully integrated suite of modules including visitor management, lockdown initiation and more. Designed to expedite emergency security procedures, the SilverShield Visitor Management System enables manned or unmanned visitor screening at all types of facilities. In addition to offering an incident and event management system, the company's in-app SilverShield HR & Safety Resource Center connects schools and businesses with local, highly trained security professionals to develop a security assessment, plan and documentation.

Visited next with Alcatraz AI, winners of the Judges' Choice Award in the SIA New Product showcase. I spoke with CEO and Founder Vince Gaydarzhiev about the company, which specializes in secure facial authentication for physical access control, replacing badging in the workplace with AI-based enrollment and anti-tailgating alerts. The three-year-old startup, which was founded by a team coming from Apple, NVIDIA and Lily Robotics — with venture-backing from JCI Ventures — is currently doing pilots with mid-size and large corporations in Silicon Valley. The company is using AI and machine learning, he pointed out, to simplify the enrollment process and make it as seamless and painless as possible.

I next met with UmboCV, which was featuring its new product, AiCamera, one of the first cameras in the industry with “AI processing on the edge,” said CEO and Co-Founder Shawn Guan, who explained that the company always believed that the best video security experience comes from a perfectly integrated solution of intelligent Internet devices and the cloud, powered by machine learning. He showed me how the company's new AiBullet camera increases event detection distance while reducing baseline bandwidth usage to a fraction of a typical Internet camera. Guan also showed me how the camera provides 150 feet of daytime and nighttime event detection.

At the ISS booth, Shawn Mather, director of sales, gave me a tour of the booth, demonstrating why the company is one of the leaders in the VMS business, demonstrating how the company's native, or in-house, analytics help differentiate the company from other VMS providers. On the product side, the company recently introduced its SecurOS v.10 VMS featuring an updated, highly-intuitive GUI designed to accommodate multiple clients and the ability to easily manage large systems with infinite scalability. And while the company creates its own analytics in-house, he pointed out that it also fully integrates with top companies in the industry today, such as Axis, Hanwha, and Bosch.

I next spoke with Tracie Thomas, vice president of marketing for Boon Edam, which demonstrated its integrated entry solutions that mitigate tailgating at ISC West 2019. Integrated with access control and biometric technologies, the company's security entrances demonstrate “real world” capability to “stop piggybacking and tailgating,” she explained. The company also continues to show how it integrates with other companies to provide a comprehensive solution and experience from the perimeter all the way into the building and key areas within the facility. The company's focus this year at ISC is to “show end users what the total experience is when you have key partners,” said Thomas. She pointed to key integrations with Stonelock, IrisID and HID Global, as examples of Boon succeeding by partnering.

At the Sielox booth, I met with Karen Evan, president and CEO, who was excited to be celebrating the company's 40th year and a newly designed website. The Sielox portfolio of layered security systems address the complexity of providing the right combination of features and configurations to best accommodate specific applications and needs. Featured solutions include: the new release of Pinnacle v.10.4 Access Control Solution; Sielox CLASS Crisis Lockdown Alert Status System; AnyWare Browser-Based Access Control Platform; and the company's highly-touted 1700 Intelligent Controllers.

Off the show floor, I met with Stehapnie Mayes, VP, business development and Greg Alcorn, divisional director - transport and infrastructure, for Synectics, a global leader in the design, integration, control and management of advanced surveillance technology and networked security systems, for environments where security is operationally critical. With over 30 years' experience, Mayes pointed out that the company has gained an intimate understanding protecting critical infrastructure and assets, including oil and gas, gaming, transport and infrastructure, and high security in public spaces. By integrating systems and bringing relevant data into one platform, or “one pane of glass” as Mayes noted, the company's technology allows operators to be more efficient and accurate, preventing incidents, as opposed to reacting to them.

Day Four, Friday, April 12

Started the final day with a keynote from Juliette Kayyem, a national leader in America's homeland security efforts, as part of the SIA Women in Security Forum breakfast event highlighting the group's efforts since forming last year. SIA's Women in Security Forum is a group for both women and men that offers programs, professional development opportunities and networking events with the goal of supporting the involvement of women in the security industry.

Kayyem, who is the faculty director of the Homeland Security Project, Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, gave a truly inspiring talk on the major events that have shaped her life and career, including raising a family while trying to create a Homeland Defense program after 9/11.

In addition to booth visits and covering events, I was able to do many video interviews on all three days of the trade show on the SSN Media Stage on the trade show, which can be found at www.securitysystemsnews.com/videos in the weeks following the show. The following is the list of video interviews I conducted at ISC West:

• ACRE: Joe Grillo, CEO
• Arcules: Andreas Pettersson, CEO
• AvantGuard: Justin Bailey, President
• Briefcam: Stephanie Weagle, Chief Marketing Officer
• DICE Corp.: Cliff Dice, CEO and President
• Dynamark: Hank Groff, Senior VP, Sales and Business Development
• ESIConvergent: Pierre Bourgeix, President
• IDIS: Keith Drummond, Senior Director of Sales and Marketing
• JCI: Eli Gorovici, General Manager, Tyco Access Control and Video Solutions
• Milestone: Tim Palmquist, VP Americas
• Mission 500: George Fletcher, founder, and Tom Nolan, director, strategic partnerships
• Morse Watchmans: Tim Purpura, International Sales Manager, George Lawson, Account Executive
• National Monitoring Center (NMC): Woodie Andrawos, President
• OnCam: Scott Brothers, Chief Operating Officer
• ONVIF: Per Bjorkdahl, Steering Committee chairman and Stuart Rawling, Steering Committee member
• Pivot3: Brandon Reich, Vice President, Security and IoT
• Qognify: Marc Whalen, Vice President of Sales
• Rasilient Systems, Sean Chang, Co-founder, CEO and President
• SAST: Nikolas Mangold-Takao, VP Product Management
• USI Insurance Services: Robert Tockarshewsky, Vice President, Property & Casualty

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