We have a new look! This is the first issue introducing the redesign of both SDM and our twice-annual supplement, Monitoring Today. Thanks to the creative intelligence of our art director, Jennie Rogness, SDM now has an overall cleaner and lighter feel; an entirely new construct for our six columnists’ pages, from Security & the Law in the front of the magazine to Security Networkings in the back; and a new color palette and font set. Most importantly, gracing the cover is a new, more modern-looking logo, which retains some of the same styling as the previous logo.

We are sometimes asked, “What does the acronym SDM stand for?” First published in January 1971 as Security Distributing & Marketing, SDM, as it was called informally, was a start-up by Los Angeles-based Security World Publishing. It was an offshoot of Security World magazine, which is known today as SECURITY and is still part of SDM’s family. The first edition of SDM was 32 pages in length, but included advertisements from 32 companies — indeed demonstrating that security was on the verge of becoming a full-fledged industry at that time.

In August 2001, SDM redesigned its logo, removing the dated “Security Distributing & Marketing” tagline beneath the logo and replaced it with the tagline “New directions for security systems and integration,” which is still in use. By that time, SDM had become known well enough in the marketplace by its shortened name, and there just was no need to use the long moniker any longer.

SDM has a long history of firsts, one of which is the Industry Forecast Study, conducted annually since 1982. Based on a survey among a random sample of SDM’s subscribers, the results of the Industry Forecast Study are presented each January. Survey respondents weigh in on their current financial performance, their opportunities and challenges, and their expectations for the coming year. Collectively, their answers provide a snapshot of the current state of the security industry that gives business owners and managers a glimpse at how their metrics compare with the rest of the industry’s.

This year the SDM Industry Forecast Study, along with the three-person Forecast Panel, attested that 2018 was a stellar year for sales and they expect the strong performance will continue in 2019. The three panelists — a traditional security dealer, a home technologies dealer, and a high-end security systems integrator — experienced growth in total annual revenue from between 7 percent to 20 percent; the Forecast survey respondents had 15 percent growth, on average.

The Industry Forecast Study pins down the vertical market sectors in which dealers and integrators expect to see the most revenue growth for their companies this year. It also looks at how spending will change among various technology categories.

Which factors do you think the survey’s respondents chose as having the greatest effect on sales this year? Well, economic conditions and capital spending by business tied for first place. Which companies do security dealers and security integrators think will present their stiffest competition this year? It’s DIY security companies, by a wide margin. What percentage of security companies offers cyber security services? I, myself, was surprised when I saw this result from the study. Turn to page 36 to read the 2019 Industry Forecast report, and go online to www.SDMmag.com/annual-security-industry-forecast for even more charts, tables and detail from the study.

And for more information about SDM’s decades of leadership throughout the security industry’s passage of time, visit: www.SDMmag.com/SDM_History. We hope you find both to be valuable reads.

From all of us at SDM, we wish you peace, good health, and prosperity in the New Year.