Predictions for a Security Scenario in Post-Coronavirus World

The industrial security management has never witnessed such situation where no past experience or the templates are available which could be used. Many industries increased the security manpower, whereas equal number of organizations minimized their security workforce. 

Boom time or gloom time, need of security goes up!

As long wealth creation is not made illegal, more and more security is needed in the society as those riches accumulated need good securing.

When times are bad, social norms and discipline are slack and wen anarchy prevails, the need for efficient security goes up and every one rich and not so rich needs the security for family and him. It is therefore Effective Security is for all the reasons and all the seasons.

This lockdown offers Challenges as well as opportunities:

Challenges for mediocre performer to remain relevant and up to the expectations or else they will perish in the changing work environment. Those who take this period as opportunity will see their reasons to diversify and secure new arenas. For them it is the moment of glory and opportunity to consolidate their niche creation. The drones are needed to perform more diverse function such as use of thermal cameras, area sanitization, que control and delivery of medicines and food. Similarly security personnel will be needed to operate drones and robots in the quarantine areas. They need to quickly learn new skills. 

Challenge to continue with reduced Manpower:

The Security Chiefs will need to do lot of balancing. There is reduced manpower and heightened security. Threats are increasing yet manpower is decreasing. Failures will not be forgiven and forgotten.

Yet, against all odds, if he is able to successfully manage with reduced manpower, he will be compelled to downsize his security force in normal times since this lockdown period will be referred as benchmark.

Thus the security chief need to keep record of threats with which he operated with reduced manpower during the lockdown period and present it to the management if it is will to continue take those risks during normal times also.

 Opportunity to learn new skills:

The security chief most certainly needs to learn new skills such as CCTV Audits, Risk Assessments, flying the drones, handling the robots and remote supervision and communication with his team and Top Management. Failure to learn some technical aspects of the production, operation, maintenance related to his industry will ensure career enrichment and failure will ensure perish.

The appearance of COVID-19 has caused radical changes that reach into every aspect of day-to-day life. The coronavirus has impacted the way we work and conduct business, the way we get medical care, the way we shop, and the way we make decisions. With so many unknowns hanging in the air and so much left outside of our control, it’s natural to focus on the things we can make an impact on, like the security systems we use to help protect our homes and businesses.

Life and property safety is not something that can be put on hold; it’s essential, now more than ever. So of course, security companies are looking at how they help people with fresh eyes and making shifts that allow uninterrupted service.

But how many of these shifts are temporary, and how many will remain? What does security look like in a post-COVID world? We asked some of our security experts here at Guardian to weigh in on the changes they are seeing that may be here to stay.

Key trends that will emerge from the Growth Opportunity Matrix

Connected Work: Reformed connected work scenarios will drive the need for cloud everything. New subscription-based models will witness a growing demand for UCaaS offerings that are enterprise-ready and can seamlessly integrate with existing legacy tools.

Lights-Out Operations: Autonomous “lights out” operations will drive demand for remote asset management solutions, and service providers will focus on data management strategies and data-driven business models.

Connected Living: An increased adoption of contactless surfaces post-pandemic will drive home automation and security markets. Systems encompassing voice activation technology will become increasingly popular among consumers. Smart home devices sales will see a 30% YoY increase for the fiscal year 2020.

Technology Advancements: Pandemic preparedness will speed up AI deployment and accelerate the pace of AI innovation. Between 32 million and 50 million US jobs could be increasingly assisted by technology to reduce health risks and safeguard productivity.

Supply Chain Optimization: Seamless integration of end-to-end digital supply chains will increase traceability, sustainability, and transparency within the supply chain ecosystem.

Human Augmentation: The adoption rate of customer behaviour analytics by enterprises will grow by 20% for the period 2019-2025. Post-COVID, behavioural data will be used to enhance healthcare systems, financial services, and cybersecurity.

Smart Cities: Increased spending on technology by smart cities will lead to a surge in the adoption of digital tools like crowd analytics, and increased focus on developing digital platforms and apps for citizens.

Digital Health: Digital health driven by telemedicine and robotic care will become the new standard of care delivery. The standardization of service across the care continuum will require an increase in the number of service and technology providers.

Geo-political Balance: To protect themselves from economic fallout due to COVID, global organizations are coming together to restore geo-political and economic balance. Organizations like WHO, the UN and other public/private NGOs are working on rebuilding nations by ensuring that economic stimulus programs are prioritized.

 COVID-19 has had an impact on multiple facets of our lives, including the way we work, conduct business or leisure. While some of these impacts have been shifting into major trends, the underlying technology transformation has been significantly accelerated. While this disruption has highlighted several gaps in the existing operating models, it also provides an opportunity to build more resilience in the system; this is where companies should strategize, build and grow in these times of adversity.

Frost & Sullivan’s recent analysis, Post-Pandemic Growth Opportunity in the Global Security Industry, finds that the security industry has tremendous investment opportunities despite the economic slowdown witnessed due to COVID-19. Under an aspirational recovery scenario, the global security industry is likely to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.3 percent, garnering revenue of $140.6 billion by 2025 from $109.3 billion in 2019. The conservative forecast scenario predicts that the industry will generate $131.01 billion between 2019 and 2025, at a CAGR of 3.1 percent. In the pre-COVID-19 forecast, the industry was estimated to increase at a CAGR of 7.1 percent, generating revenue of $164.97 billion over the forecast period.

“COVID-19 will cause a brief slowdown in the security market after almost a decade of uninhibited progress,” said Danielle VanZandt, aerospace, defense and security industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan. “Additionally, while some security sectors may find themselves experiencing a slower recovery than others, much of the industry will witness a shift to more service-based solution offerings after years of hesitance by customers to adopt these solutions.”

What does the future of physical security hold in a post-COVID-19 world?

Taking the chance to look at this topic and researching just a few of the many challenges presented really opens eyes to the innovation needed from the physical security manufacturing sector. The manufacturers are again being asked to design the future.

Trying to predict the requirements based on the vast events of the last few months, means accelerated R&D, redesigning systems, collaboration and most importantly, an innovative approach to physical security that hasn’t been seen in decades.

Previous crime figures have been replaced with new challenges. Who would have thought that the storage of aircrafts would ever be an issue when so many of them were in the skies? The future means taking the basic principles and adding to them.

Physical security will still need to deter, delay and detect but at the same time it will need to be adaptable and rapidly deployable. Moving from civil engineering intensive systems to foundation free solutions will be a clear winner on the rapid and adaptable stance, but again this requires systems that can offer the 3Ds. Suddenly, in the nation’s interest is becoming key. The speed at which systems and solutions can be tested and certified will be a key factor in the innovation process.

The ability to view the future as different to the old normal will be the biggest factor. Because those that can’t change, won’t survive.