Genetec shares physical security trends predictions for 2022

Within months of the pandemic becoming world news, businesses were deploying different solutions to track occupancy in their buildings and control social distancing. Almost two years later, this trend is still growing because those companies are deriving value from the data collected. 

Beyond safety objectives, organisations will embrace the use of spatial analytics data to reduce wait times, optimise staff scheduling and enhance business operations. As businesses give employees the flexibility to split up their work time between the office and home, organisations will be looking for ways in which to best optimise their workspaces. Space utilisation intelligence allows the analysis of employee office attendance and the monitoring of meeting room demands. In turn, companies can then make informed floorplan changes such as adding more desk-sharing options.

In recent years, the demand for video analytics solutions has been strong. As Artificial Intelligence techniques such as machine learning continue to bolster the power of analytics, more and more organisations are eager to invest.

However, because complex video analytics still require very powerful servers for adequate data processing, deploying analytics at the enterprise level isn’t always practical. As we move into 2022, Genetec asserts that video analytics applications will mature in ways that make them easier and more economical to deploy at scale. This evolution will be made possible by vendors who focus on hardware resource efficiency and offer more granular controls for running analytics at certain intervals or schedules instead of on a continuous basis.

Inspiring new strategies

A report issued by Cyber Security Ventures predicts that global crime costs will reach US$10.5 trillion on an annual basis by 2025. With a growth rate of 15% per year, this cost is said to represent the greatest transfer of economic wealth in history.

As more devices are added to the online space and data processing becomes central to operations, businesses will need to remain agile and responsive to the evolving threat landscape. Their customers will also demand greater transparency about how their partners are keeping data secure and private. All of this will usher in an entirely new model for cyber security, suggests Genetec, that relies on continuous verification rather than just hardening networks and systems.

Building layers of protection into a security ecosystem will not be enough. Decision-makers will need to implement more offensive cyber security strategies and choose partners who offer higher levels of automation to stay on top of potential threats.

Supply chain risks

The supply chain issues the world is currently experiencing will encourage businesses to be less dependent on single-source proprietary solutions. Forward-thinking organisations will instead seek open architecture solutions that offer increased choice and flexibility based on requirements and current availability.

There’s more to supply chain issues than the current shortage of goods and materials, though. As cyber criminals become more sophisticated, organisations are under greater pressure to scrutinise the cyber security measures, standards and certifications underpinning their entire supply chain ecosystem.

In a world where organisations no longer have clearly defined network perimeters, Genetec anticipates seeing more businesses and Government agencies broadening the scope of their cyber security policies in order to establish baseline security standards for the solutions they purchase and those vendors with whom they choose to partner.

Move to hybrid cloud

As more businesses take a step towards trialling cloud applications, they’ll quickly understand the benefits of hybrid cloud, which will “produce even greater forward momentum”, states Genetec, “in the adoption of cloud technologies” during 2022.  

This could include implementing a digital evidence management system designed to boost data privacy compliance, deploying a cloud video management system to secure a high-risk remote location or installing a Physical Identity Access Management system in order to better track COVID outbreaks in a building. Organisations still retain their on-premises systems, with operators managing the entire set-up from a single interface.