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Qui custodit vigilum?

It’s amazing to see how the security industry works. It seems so dull and boring (unless you happen to be a security officer, in which case you prefer dull and boring as it gets very dangerous otherwise). In this issue we have another winner of an article from Dr Craig Donald that touches on a pertinent point of who’s protecting the watchers. That’s where the heading to this column comes from in case you were wondering. Now Mrs Harris can rest easy knowing my years of school Latin achieved something, although I wouldn’t put any money on the accuracy of my translation.

A little later in the magazine we have no less than three articles focused on new solutions for the guarding market, changing the traditional approach we’re all used to (and somewhat cynical of) and making it into something more powerful, measurable and even safer for the guards. This is an evolution that has been a long time coming, especially the better use of data to gain intelligent insights. And some of these improvements are in favour of the customer, who can now see exactly what they are paying for.

And talking of data, big data is also becoming big business in the security industry as we note in another article in the same section. We will be delving into the big data concept more in the new year, it promises to be an interesting investigation.

Looking ahead, in future issues we will also be delving into a company that has developed its own security management platform, it’s a PSIM platform with more useful features, and look at how it is being rolled out in Gauteng, even in a safe city project. Arguably, this project is a world leader so stay tuned.

Accessing everything

You will also have noticed that the 2015 version of the Access & Identity Management Handbook was bundled along with this issue of Hi-Tech Security Solutions. The handbook is our annual roundup of what is happening in the world of access control and identity management, containing the latest trends, opinions and a bunch of case studies that show what local and international companies are doing in this field to streamline their businesses. It’s not all about opening and closing doors anymore; integration and custom development is the name of the game and our local enterprises really are taking the lead.

Unfortunately, while there is a lot of information in the handbook itself, there are also a few articles we couldn’t get in because of space, so please watch out for the Access & Identity Management Handbook e-zines we send out, there will be additional information in them as well as on securitysa.com (of course).

And most importantly of all, if you have any comments, criticisms and suggestions, please let me know at andrew@technews.co.za, we know there is always room for improvement and we’d love to know what you’re looking for in Hi-Tech Security Solutions.

Andrew Seldon

Editor

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