By Steven Sachoff, editor

BIRMINGHAM, UK—Despite the shadow of the global economic crisis and cancellations from some big name exhibitors, the organizers of IFSEC 2009, which will take place here at the NEC on May 11-14, are confident that this year’s event, buttressed by a new location, a big lineup of new product launches and a carefully tailored conference and seminar program, will deliver valuable dividends to both visitors and exhibitors.

“Things are shaping up for a strong show,” IFSEC events director James Blue told Security Systems News Europe. While acknowledging the financial crisis will mean a somewhat smaller show this year than last in terms of exhibitor numbers, over 600 companies will be on hand, including “most of the big names,” said Blue.

IFSEC was undoubtedly dealt a blow when Norbain announced late last year that it wouldn’t take a stand at this year’s show, but it hasn’t been all bad news. Pelco, which also said at the end of last year that it wouldn’t exhibit, is now expected to take part, according to Blue. “The UK team [of Pelco] will be participating, though in a slightly different style than they have done in previous years,” said Blue.

At the same time, some companies are actually increasing their presence at this year’s show. Samsung, LG, IndigoVision, Extralis, and Dedicated Micros are among those who are upsizing their stands. “They’re all saying this is an opportunity,” explained Blue. “We always say companies should do more marketing in

an economic downturn, not only to maintain business, but so that when they come through it, they come through it stronger.”

The chance to see new technology is certainly one of the main reasons people attend IFSEC, Blue said, and for those with that in mind, this year’s show should not disappoint. There are a lot of new products coming to IFSEC 2009, a fact that’s borne out by applicants for this year’s

IFSEC Awards, according to Blue. “There’s a lot of innovation going on, and the number of [IFSEC Award] entrants is on par with last

year,” he said.

In addition to technology and networking opportunities, IFSEC’s educational content is the other main attraction, and organizers have done extensive research to make sure this year’s program delivers what attendees want.

Considering the economic environment, a free seminar program targeting installers and focused on managing a security business during a downturn should draw a lot of interest. Notable topics to be addressed in the seminar include how to expand your business abroad, making money from new technology and getting skilled-up for IP installation.

This year’s conference program, also based on in-depth participant research, is organized in modules, each of which are a maximum of two-and-a-half hours, in order to make sure people aren’t sitting in a conference room the whole day and can also get out

to see the show. Three themes will be examined over three days. Topics covered include Global, National and Local Protection; Corporate Security Management; and Technological Innovation in Practice. The technical innovation session will be divided into three streams: IP integration and convergence; interoperability and compatibility; and cutting edge technology in areas like analytics and biometrics.

IFSEC organizers are also pushing the international dimension of the show, and based on preregistration figures, this year’s event is on par with last year’s in terms of attendees. According to Blue, 32 percent of pre-registered attendees will come from abroad, with installers accounting for 60 percent of that number. Of that 60 percent, 20 percent have budgets of over GBP 1mln. The exhibitor base is similarly international, with foreign companies accounting for 50 percent of the total.

Visitors are also likely to find a warmer welcome in Birmingham this year. IFSEC has revamped its VIP scheme, Blue said, and all exhibitors and their top customers are eligible for free parking and breakfast in a business lounge.

VIP or not, all attendees will be happy to hear that this year’s show will take place in different halls at the NEC, located on the near side of the airport and train station. With the new location comes a redrawn floorplan, which will mean wider isles and generally easier navigation. SSNE

IMS revises forecast for video downward but remains positive

By L. Samuel Pfeifle, contributing editor

WELLINGBOROUGH, U.K.--In consideration of the difficult months of December, January and February in the world markets, IMS Research has revised downward its predictions for the video surveillance market. Specifically, IMS predicts a small contraction in the analog video market for the Americas in 2009, though IP video sales are expected to grow at better than 25 percent.

Globally, IMS predicts three percent growth for analog and 29 percent growth for IP. However, those predictions represent $750 million less revenue than IMS predicted for 2009 back in November. IMS still sees growth, but the research firm’s predictions are 15 percent less robust after the past three months of watching the market.

Will this mean a quicker transition to IP-based systems as people leverage their network infrastructure, as Frost & Sullivan recently predicted, or will fewer

installations and more price pressure move the date of the crossover back?

“I think there’s merit in both arguments,” said Simon Harris, senior research director at IMS. “We’re currently collecting data for 2009 and we should be able to figure out some real data on that question soon, rather than just guessing. But my gut feeling is that it’s not accelerating the move to IP. I haven’t seen any evidence for that.”

However, IMS is predicting, he said, a crossover to more IP camera revenue than analog camera revenue in 2012, roughly where Frost & Sullivan sees it.

One thing that makes Harris hesitant to sound analog’s death knell is that “there’s still a huge market for low-end systems, low camera counts, where the low cost of cameras and DVRs still has some real advantages to it. It’s going to take a long time before IP can really compete at that low end of the market.”

“It’s surprising how big that low end of the market is,”

he continued. “There’s a lot of small retailers out there. It’s a quite chunky part of the market, and that’s really the mainstay of analog today.”

Not surprisingly, he sees IP taking hold in larger applications, “where the real arguments for IP show more return, the total cost of ownership is less, the lower maintenance costs, those factors really pay dividends for the bigger systems.”

As other industries, and global economies, contract, what makes video surveillance so resilient? “I think surveillance’s importance has escalated,” said Harris. “It’s seen as a must-have now, rather than a nice-to-have. It’s critical to their business procedures that they have good security in place.”

Further, he said, “technology is evolving at a faster pace than it probably ever has before, whether it’s better compression with H.264, or much better image quality with megapixel cameras, the reasons to encourage users to upgrade their systems are really strong for 2009.” SSNE

ASIS 2009 European conference lands in Switzerland

By Steven Sachoff, editor
MONTREUX, Switzerland—ASIS International’s 9
th

annual European security conference is set to take place here April 26-29, addressing a variety of timely topics including the convergence of IT and physical security and returns on security investment.

Entitled “Taking Security Management to the Next Level,” the 2009 conference will be organized in the same successful manner as last year’s event, with opening keynote addresses followed up by smaller breakout sessions on narrower topics which conference delegates can choose to attend based on their own interests.

Keynote speakers at this year’s event include ADT World-

wide president Naren Gursahaney, who will address the issue of security’s future in uncertain times, and Jakob Scharf, the head of the Danish Security and Intelligence Service.

According to René Schwarzenbach, head of the ASIS Switzerland chapter, this year’s program should prove of especially high quality, as over 200

prospective speakers initially expressed interest in addressing the 2009 gathering. The organizing committee had to narrow that down to approximately 30 speakers, guaranteeing “high quality all around,” said Schwarzenbach.

The topic of physical and IT security convergence is becoming more and more important, Schwarzenbach said, adding that he had recently worked on a project for a big bank that was going through this process. With companies often running completely separate physical and IT security operations, two different