Three Guesses on What the Rise of the Tablet Means for Physical Security Solutions
Posted on Thu, Dec 23, 2010 @ 07:50 AM
Gartner says worldwide media tablet sales are on pace to reach 19 million units in 2010 with 60% of those sales in North America. They predict 181% growth for 2011 to more than 54 million units. Gartner goes on to say that cellular/Wi-Fi tablets will grow from 55% of sales this year to 80% of sales by 2014.
Source: Gartner October 2010
So what does the rise of the network-enabled tablet mean for physical security providers, users, and integrators? Here are my three best guesses.
Guess #1 – For security system manufacturers……thin is in.
Most tablets contain limited computing power to operate traditional thick client applications. At best you can have a small purpose-built application that allows you to access information and capabilities stored elsewhere. Manufacturers will be driven to create tablet applications and/or use standard browsers to provide access to their back-end platforms. This will help to drive the adoption of common standards and speed up the eradication of proprietary thick client security applications.
Guess #2 – For end-users….. fixed posts go mobile.
Once security system users are freed from their desks by tablets, the viability of a fixed-post guard operation will be diminished for many customers. Rather than posting Security Officer Sam to the console room in front of a bank of monitors, it’s likely that Sam will be roaming the campus with an iPad under his arm and a smart phone on his hip. It’s debatable if we will even need the traditional fixed-post security operations center for anything but the largest and most sensitive facilities.
Guess #3 – For security integrators….a little more gray hair.
If you thought application compatibility issues with various operating systems and browser versions were a challenge to manage, wait until your customer expects your security application to run on four different tablets over their Wi-Fi or cellular network. Integrators will have to master yet another platform for security applications in an environment that requires advanced networking and IT security know-how. I’m sure many smart integrators will view this as another opportunity to underline the “value-add” in Value-Added Reseller.
Those are my three best guesses on how the rise of the tablet will impact physical security applications. One thing is not a guess, the tablets are here and reproducing like rabbits. Here at Brivo it seems like each day I see a new person toting their tablet to meetings… are you ready for the rise of the tablet?
- John Szczygiel