Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/178290
business is going towards what we call Building Wise Systems Integration where everything is on the same platform." The BWSI approach will reduce the risk of overlap in a building as well as minimize scope gap and help to realize cost efficiencies. Here again, the word integration is in play as Thomas explains ways to layer the card access system into the CCTV system, or the parking gates into the time and attendance system. Thomas says that even though the systems share a common platform, there is no risk of multiple system outages as each system can operate autonomously. Thomas adds, "The security business is very much evolving for us, going ever more technical with ever-increasing amounts of integration to other systems and always with a mind to sustainability and efficiency." Houle Electric Limited division manager Gabriel Ana says the idea of unified buildings, in terms of security platforms, is not a new one and in fact dates back to the late '80s. "It was a buzzword back then, the notion of buildings where everything from lighting systems to access control and CCTV to HVAC could speak with everything else. It didn't go anywhere back then," Ana says, "because the technology wasn't mature enough and the systems were very proprietary. But all that is changing and standardized systems are finally here." The migration from standalone to IP in all of the building systems, including security, is the key. Ana explains, "All the systems in buildings, including security now live on the network and live by the rules of IP systems and devices." Security & Life Safety Systems p.48-49Security.indd 49 ADT's Iain Morton suggests that as a whole the industry has had to become much more agile in response to the growing changes in technology. Morton says, "As IP-centric solutions have become the mainstay of the industry, security has had to adapt to the ever-changing IT world." He adds there is no choice. "The technical knowledge integrators will need to step up their game in the coming year because deploying cloudbased and managed services will require knowledge and expertise on par with learning IT in the first place." Louis Bouchard says there is room in the industry for technology old and new. Bouchard is the executive VP at Mirtech International Security, a company that prides itself on its longtime client list. Bouchard recalls that people were talking about IP cameras years ago. "The cameras were supposed to revolutionize the industry," he remembers, "and everyone was supposed to get on the bandwagon." It took eight more years for the technology to really take off. Bouchard says his job isn't to hook his clients on the latest thing, but rather to assess his client's needs. "It must always come back to what best serves the client," Bouchard argues, "and coming up with a good solution and one that is also cost effective." Bouchard says a great deal of the security hardware being used today has been in the market for a long time. "The thing that has changed," Bouchard says, "is the communication infrastructure where we have gone from hardwired to networkbased systems." That has changed the security game for good, solving issues involving distance, for example, by providing a variety of ways to connect disparate and distant points. Bouchard sums up by saying that, "you can obviously do more with the newer technology but you have to define what the need is and whether those technologies fulfill those needs." ■ APRIL 2012 /49 3/26/12 2:25:20 PM