How Capitalism Benefits Security

Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, LARRY ANDERSON, Editor

Mergers and acquisitions in the security industry are giving users cause to wonder whether there might come a time when the security industry consists of only a handful of really big suppliers. Might all this merger madness someday soon result in a version of this month's ISC-West show with only three really big booths?

The reasons for mergers are many and well documented elsewhere, but for users, one benefit of larger suppliers is that big companies typically offer more integrated products. In effect, the larger a company is, the more different puzzle pieces it offers and the more likely they will fit together.

But an apparent downside of the merger of small companies into corporate conglomerates is a possible slowing of innovation, stalled perhaps by corporate bureaucracy or penny-pinching. Our industry offers examples of companies stifled by their new owners, and thankfully others that have found a way to preserve their entrepreneurialism, even in the corporate environment.

Let's not get so blinded by the kaleidoscope of mergers and acquisitions that we lose sight of all the new companies coming along. Turns out that innovation is alive and well in our industry, boosted by scores of smaller companies that enter our market every year. These smaller players are tomorrow's success stories, ISC exhibitors and possible acquisition targets. They can challenge the long-held assumptions of our industry and contribute new puzzle pieces, sometimes changing in the process the shape of the puzzle itself. Some of these innovators come from the information technology (IT) market, from which they bring new approaches and ideas that can be applied seamlessly to the world of physical security. Some of them are early retirees; some are working on their second or third startups.

Luckily, we work in an industry where innovation rules, and good ideas rise to the surface no matter where they come from. Expect our industry's suppliers — including the big companies and the startups — to succeed or fail based on the quality of their offerings. Their fate is in the customers' hands. It is in your hands.

All of which is the beauty of capitalism.

YOUR THOUGHTS

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© 2012 Penton Media Inc.

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