Last month in SDM we offered an outlook for 2018 for the security industry. This month begins our State of the Market article series to help you strategize about the types of products and services your company will offer to the marketplace.

This issue features the cover story, “State of the Market: Video Surveillance 2018,” the first in our annual series of articles about the current viability and potential for future sales in five main technology categories: video surveillance, alarm and monitoring, access control, fire alarm, and connected home. The articles, comprised of a good balance of formal research and anecdotal reporting, are written to help security professionals plan the types of products and services they will offer to the marketplace.

In the article, Associate Editor Tim Scally, writes, “Video surveillance is still king of the product categories as far as revenue and sales growth in the security industry, but several factors are tempering its growth. The market is still strong, however, and replete with opportunity.” While there is plenty of cause for optimism and confidence, Scally writes, growth may have slowed slightly due in part to declining camera prices, saturation and a leveling off of the transition from analog to IP technologies.

Featured on the cover is Tony Varco, vice president of the security division for Convergint Technologies, a company ranked No. 2 on SDM’s Top Systems Integrators Report. Varco — as well as the many other security integrators, security dealers, manufacturers and distributors — touch on the factors affecting sales of video systems, such as the Trump administration and regulations/compliance, technology and the Internet of Things, and ongoing threats such as crime, terrorism and cyber security.

Two very useful pieces of this story are “Government Watch” with SIA’s Jake Parker, on page 44; and “All Aboard the Cyber Train” on page 49, which offers a variety of perspectives on this critical subject. “Our clients are moving toward the model of having their integrators manage the cyber security for all the devices installed on their network, removing the client’s IT group responsibility for managing the devices,” reports Ben Powell, sales and engineering manager at Strategic Security Solutions, and one of many opinions on the matter.

We hope you enjoy this article and others in the issue. If you’d like to be part of our State of the Market series by agreeing to an interview, please contact the Editor at stepanekl@bnpmedia.com.

How to Apply to the SDM 100 & Top Systems Integrators Reports

The qualification process for the SDM 100 and SDM Top Systems Integrators Reports is underway for 2018. Both are annual reports produced by SDM, which rank security companies by their recurring monthly revenue and by their North American systems integration revenue, respectively.

Ranked companies benefit from increased visibility that can help them attract funding, position their companies to potential employees as a stable employer, and advertise their companies to customers as a top security provider in their marketplace.

To apply, visit www.SDMmag.com/SDM100Report or www.SDMmag.com/Top-Systems-Integrators-Report and click on Apply Now. You will have the choice to select a link and apply online, or print the application and complete a hard copy. We look forward to receiving your qualification form this year — the deadline is Thursday, March 1.