What security lessons did we learn during 2021?

2021 taught us many things, but one of the major lessons we learned was how to adopt and implement an effective return-to-work strategy correctly. Many current projects we are working on and projects we completed in 2020/2021 had some type of COVID-19 component. We are seeing more and more inquiries about managing COVID protocols via mobile applications. We saw a rise in cloud-based access control, occupancy management used for social distancing, visitor management systems, and more. This return to normal has not been a simple process or even a linear process. Still, it's clear that physical security solutions are advancing and evolving in such a way as to bring employees back to work safely and sustainably.

Over the past year, we have seen a significant change in how security is viewed across an organization. The security department is no longer seen as a team dedicated to protecting people, assets, and infrastructure. They are also heavily involved in helping secure the IT network, connected devices, and sensitive corporate data. This trend is driven by the increase in cyber-attacks and the adoption of more network-connected devices. With the focus on digital transformation in the wake of COVID-19, there is a need for greater security overall. As a result, there is an ever-evolving collaboration between IT and physical security teams to help gain a greater knowledge of how to best address increasingly modern threats. We view this as a significant step forward for the industry as it will help us contribute to the business in a more impactful manner.

Customer support continued to be a top priority in 2021. A strong level of customer engagement and ensuring a positive customer experience are significant differentiators in today’s market, where technology is evolving at a rapid rate. As the industry continues to evolve, excellent service is a necessity to help retain legacy customers, win new customers, and build the brand. Security pioneers have more power than ever before, and they are using it to make more knowledgeable purchase decisions. While a provider’s website is an important source of information, customers know that there are additional insights to be gleaned from the reviews and opinions of others who have worked with the company in the past. The digital world makes it easier to research companies but also easier to share our experiences, and that is why strong service must be at the top of business initiatives.

In 2021, we continued to see physical security technology continue to advance by leaps and bounds. Businesses showed increased interest in deploying video with new intelligent capabilities to ensure a more proactive approach to security. The consensus from end users and integrators is that preventing crimes, vandalism, and other potentially damaging events from occurring is the future of the industry. This approach enables stakeholders to reduce liabilities and the costly financial and brand damages associated with them. There is a significant difference between being able to detect and investigate crime and violence and preventing them from happening. The latter requires the right balance of technology and human resources to be effective, and we see more security leaders looking to deploy technologies to support this approach.

The need for greater insights from security systems has become more important than ever before. Stakeholders need information to better understand things like the number of people on their premises, space utilization, and potentially contact tracing. Organizations have come to the realization that access control should be more than just locking and unlocking doors. Instead, they need systems that can deliver operational and security insights about their secured areas leading to more informed decisions and improved operations. As businesses around the world continue to navigate the impact of working remotely, the need to share information, evidence and insights in an easy and secure manner has never been greater. And finally, 2021 gave us a great lesson in the importance of the supply chain and the profound impact it can have on every aspect of the flow of business and our daily lives.

Along with the obvious upheaval of the pandemic, the security industry has also had to react recently to other geopolitical events. Having presented these new use cases, they are likely to influence the development and deployment of security systems moving through 2022 and onwards. Undoubtedly this will continue to underline the need for interoperable systems, but equally, recent events have also seen manufacturers more closely examine their potential supply chain risks. While many of us have been good at managing this, others have been caught out and it underlines the need for supply chain risks to be closely monitored and mitigated. Cyber awareness and defense are also crucial factors highlighted by the recent growth in remote/home working. Corporate environments tend to cater to this very well, but many organizations are seeing worrying holes in their cyber defences. Certainly, this is another area which that will drive business development moving forward.

2021 reinforced the idea that even though threats may change, the need to secure people and assets remains constant. Pre-pandemic, the day-to-day priorities of security professionals and integrators were shoplifting, burglaries, robberies, and fraud. As retail opened back up in earnest in 2021, new challenges emerged. Fights among customers, and between customers and staff over issues like mask mandates and social distancing became common. Flash-mob ORC (organized retail crime) increased to levels we have never seen before, making it one of the hottest issues for loss prevention professionals right now. In response, retailers are investing in proactive solutions, like Virtual Guard monitoring with live audio and video, to intervene in these potentially explosive situations and protect shoppers and staff. 2021 has also been the year AI has gone mainstream, enhancing monitoring with human and vehicle recognition while providing business intelligence with people counting, line breaking, dwell time, and more.

We experienced firsthand our customers’ and partners' increased focus on cybersecurity. The growing adoption of digital transformation across the enterprise has led to increased concern regarding IoT security and networked security devices and services. With the rapidly changing risk landscape, our mission and responsibility as technology innovators are to commit to our partners and customers that we take security seriously. Customers need to have the utmost peace of mind that their systems, data, and devices are protected when working with us. As an industry, we must understand why this is a significant concern. In 2021, cybercrime cost organizations more than $6 trillion worldwide. A recent report also found that people cause more than 50 percent of cybersecurity incidents within an organization. That's why we're highly and continually focused on ensuring the security of people, technologies, and services, and in fact, consider it part of our DNA.

Last year’s security and risk trends highlighted an acceleration of the shift to fully integrated security strategies that optimise performance of existing controls in a more orchestrated fashion. Driven by hybrid work models, staffing shortages, supply chain constraints, limited budgets and lingering pandemic controls, organisations have sought new ways to maintain a duty of care while streamlining operations and optimising performance. Many found opportunities for cost savings by integrating disparate systems that reduced the need for additional hardware and swivel-chair decision-making. With greater control across their operations, security teams also adopted new methods to address crowding and screening efforts within buildings that instill confidence for returning clients and staff. Most efforts focused on improving awareness, increasing understanding of situations and gaining greater flexibility and agility to support the direction of the business. Going into 2022, security practitioners have the experience and systems necessary to adapt to future changes.