Megatrends outline opportunities, challenges for businesses and practitioners, says Dunning

YARMOUTH, Maine—Tara Dunning, vice president of global security and infrastructure strategy and sales for Wesco, notes that with the swift technological change in the security industry, integrators are faced with delivering networked solutions that fulfill end user needs and confront cybersecurity risks like never before.  

Dunning is an advisor for the annual Security Industry Association’s Security Megatrends report that offers analysis on the 10 top trends affecting security industry businesses and practitioners over the next three to five years.  

Among the trends featured in the 2025 report are IT/OT Security Convergence; first-time Megatrend Platform Aggregation; Visual Intelligence, not Video Surveillance; and the No. 1 Megatrend, Evolution of the Channel.  

An ‘increasingly more relevant’ Megatrend  

IT/OT security convergence leaped from No. 10 in 2024 to No. 5 in the current report. Dunning calls this convergence an ‘increasingly more relevant’ Megatrend that offers the security industry more of an opportunity to provide value, along with the physical and cyber risks associated with these larger, more complex networks. 

Citing how cameras have transformed into the ultimate sensor, both as a tool used for monitoring, and also as a platform for connecting and hosting other sensor types, she said, “The expansion of that smart edge, and the edge network where all these sensors sit that are connected to the camera, really combines everything. It not only hears, but it also sees and gathers a very large pool of data. When you think about IT/OT convergence and cyber risks, certainly we're now crossing over to where there are multiple decision-makers about what goes on the network.”  

‘Integrator challenges’  

Explaining the evolution of the channel as the top Megatrend, Dunning pointed out that outside of video surveillance, fire intrusion, and basic access control, integrators are finding it ‘harder and harder’ to keep up with trends like AI-enabled solutions. She notes that integrators should take advantage of opportunities to double down on customer needs and emphasize the “security” of being a security integrator. 

“Our traditional integrator community is now becoming more than just installers; they need to be master systems integrators and partner with other contractors to be able to fill a whole solution,” she stated. “At the end of the day, the end customer wants to be able to go to fewer people to purchase a total solution than just these disparate solutions.” 

Prioritizing data  

As the No. 6 Security Megatrend in 2025, platform aggregation saw an explosion in the number of available options used today by security and facilities that has created challenges in understanding trends. Dunning says that platform aggregation allows end users to utilize best-of-breed applications that may not operate together effectively, creating a single, holistic viewpoint or dashboard of your operations without having to sacrifice high-quality platforms or technologies.  

“End users have multiple applications, whether it's point-of-sale applications, CRM applications, access control applications, or building management applications,” she explained. “The question becomes which data should be prioritized. How do you leverage that data? How do you integrate it into actionable insights? Platform aggregation is really about how you aggregate that data to be useful, manageable and effective.”