Blogs

Well, we’re just one day away from getting together with our loved ones and feasting on turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, sweet potatoes, loads of other scrumptious offerings and, of course, mouthwatering dessert to cap off our Thanksgiving smorgasbord. As we spend time with our family and friends on Turkey Day and throughout the holiday season, this is a perfect time to focus on all the good things that happened over the past year, especially with the challenges we have all faced due to...

With just about a month or so to go, 2021 has been a year to remember, with M&A activity, including blockbuster deals that seem to be announced every month, lighting up the headlines and pointing to a continuing year of transition. Looking back at this year and the year ahead, Security Systems News readers see this frenzied pace continuing into 2022. For example, in this month’s News Poll, about two thirds (65 percent) of respondents feel this year’s activity is more than usual, with...

Last week, Security Systems News Editor Paul Ragusa was feeling the love. This week, I’m feeling angry and sad. The horrible, unspeakable tragedy that occurred last weekend at the Astroworld Festival in Houston, in which eight people were killed and scores of others injured during a crowd surge at a concert headlined by rapper Travis Scott, created a wave of emotions for someone like me who has attended hundreds of concerts over the years, including massive stadium shows. While I...

It’s been truly remarkable to see the evolution of the security industry since starting here at Security Systems News more than five years ago. Not just within technology, which has exploded with the convergence of physical and cybersecurity, and with cloud, machine learning, AI and robotics gaining traction, but also from a diversity and inclusion perspective, as the wide breadth of voices leading conversations today is refreshing and long overdue. What’s even cooler is high-profile...

As I sit by my living room window looking out at all the gloom following a late-October Nor’easter, I’m smiling from ear to ear because today marks one of the prouder moments for all of us in the Security Systems News family. Why, you may ask? You don’t have to look any further than the main page of our website, as we made the announcement earlier today that three outstanding, brilliant women in the security industry – Kasia Hanson, Antoinette King and Min Kyriannis –...

Security Systems News Managing Editor Cory Harris’ blog last week, Get Smart, got me thinking. Not just about TV shows from my childhood, but the topic of the smart home and how much more “the home” – no matter where and what you call home – is becoming more and more of an epicenter of activity, at levels never before seen in my life. But getting back to fun TV shows from our past (sorry I couldn’t resist!), my mind went to The Jetsons, that fun-loving...

Yes, I was thinking about Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, from the classic 1960s comedy as I came up with the headline for this blog, and more specifically, all the devices he and his sidekick Agent 99 used to fight the international organization of evil, KAOS. Remember the shoe phone? Or the coin-operated door? How about the lipstick remote control? Or the pencil listening device? Flash forward more than 50 years. Just think if Agent 86’s devices were “smart,” life would have been...

If you’ve read our website over the last month or so, you’ve noticed an uptick in the amount of merger and acquisition (M&A) stories we’ve posted, and as Karen Carpenter beautifully sang so many years ago, we’ve only just begun. The wheeling and dealing in the security industry have been hot and heavy during the late summer and early part of the fall season. In case you have not been able to keep up with the goings-on of all the business transactions over the past several...

We are entering a really busy time here at Security Systems News, highlighted by the recent big announcement of the partnership with PSA on our new Integrator of the Year and Bill Bozeman Awards, which took almost a year of hard work and planning to create; the soon-to-be-announced “40 under 40” Class of 2021 winners; the list of Women in Security honorees who we will be featuring with Security Industry Association’s (SIA’s) Women in Security Forum (WISF) in 2022; and, last...

Working together for a common goal often leads to great things. Case in point – check out the top story on our website and you’ll notice the huge announcement we were proud to share this week, as PSA and Security Systems News joined forces to create the new Integrator of the Year and Bill Bozeman Awards, honoring the top systems integrators within the security industry. Months of planning between SSN Editor Paul Ragusa and Candice Aragon, vice president of marketing and events at...