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Skills, problem or potential?

We’ve all heard about the skills shortage in the security business as well as almost every other business segment in the country. And as we have become accustomed to, the government is doing nothing to alleviate the problem, apart from the usual speeches and meaningless jabber (however, PSIRA seems to have a plan, watch this space).

And while it seems to be trendy to talk about a skills shortage while doing nothing to train competent people, industry will have to make a plan if it wants to see itself survive. As security moves more into the digital world, traditional ICT skills are required. And these are in short supply unless you’re prepared to pay a good salary.

Companies that understand this and pay what they have to are the IT companies. They are quite comfortable with all things IT, and adding cameras and NVRs to their sales list is a small change for them, but a huge change for their customers who can rely on a trusted partner to handle their security as well as other critical services. As we have noted many times in Hi-Tech Security Solutions, this will be a huge challenge for security installers and integrators who are only dipping their toes far enough into the IP world to be able to get a job – most often at cutthroat margins.

But let’s not go into that again. We know many installers and even some integrators today rely on their distributors to offer additional services: planning, design, commissioning and so on. There are distributors who incorporate these services into their pricing, but there are also those selling these services as a value-added add-on.

At the recent Milestone MPOP event held in Johannesburg (the report is in this issue), Peter Biltsted mentioned that integrators need to get out of the margin game and add value by developing their own integrations. If you’re doing the same as everyone else, the margin competition will kill you and you won’t ever be able to afford top skills. Peter mentioned that integrators who add value can increase their margins to 40% in some cases – and who wouldn’t want that.

Another comment I heard in passing at the event was that many distributors are overwhelmed at the requests for installation assistance. Someone suggested that an entrepreneur with the money and knowhow should put together a company that specialises in commissioning projects. This team could come in at the request of an installer or distributor without interfering with their customers and get the job done. Apparently that’s a golden opportunity, so feel free to cut me in on the commission.

But perhaps it’s time security got serious about skills and put its money into it. There is no shortage of people willing to learn and I’m sure a deal can be made to allow sponsors to get value from their investment – or they could spend a bit of money for the good of the industry.

Perhaps the industry as a whole could also take a leaf from Milestone’s book and focus on community. If more people partner to deliver the optimal solution, your cut may be less but you could end up with more work in a specialised field. There again, if the market only goes for the cheapest quote we’re all up the creek without a boat.

Andrew Seldon

Editor

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