Blog: PSIM Trends

Security Information Integration is No Longer Just a Dream

An interesting article on SecurityPark.co.uk by Gary Ball last week highlights a number of the challenges faced when trying to have a complete and total security solution. Two key failings of most security systems he mentions are:

1) Coexistence of Cyberspace, Personnel and Physical Security - without integration, there are holes in the security plan

2) Lack of automation - Automation is difficult to achieve in physical security, as the author points out, because, "physical security has only been effective when used with trained operators to monitor and interpret in real time the events displayed on their monitors." You cannot automate something solely managed by humans.

At the end of his article, he asks who will "make the bold moves to develop new solutions to these problems."  However, this has already begun with the introduction of Physical Security Information Management (PSIM).  Here's how....

1) PSIM integrates any number and variety of disparate physical security and surveillance assets into one operating picture, making relevant, real-time information available at a responder's fingertips. Now, with most assets within an organization being network-based, this interoperability is crucial (and effectively links together cyberspace, personnel and physical security).

2) A true PSIM solution takes situation assessment and management from a reactionary mode to a proactive mode, allowing organizations to apply intelligence to the information from various physical security devices and systems, determine the cause of the alarms and then automate the resolution of the situation. This helps reduce false alarms and eliminate human error.

PSIM is a rapidly growing industry that analysts predict will continue to grow for the very reasons Gary Ball outlines in his article - we need a way to integrate all of our security assets in order to take a proactive approach to situation management.