Security Systems News is a monthly business newspaper that reaches 25,100 security installers, product distributors, central stations, engineers & architects, and security consultants. Our editorial coverage focuses on breaking news in all major se
Issue link: https://ssn.epubxp.com/i/467395
briefs www.securitysystemsnews.com march 2015 SEcUrITY SYSTEmS NEWS suppliers 38 ADI goes express in S.C. MELVILLE, N.Y.—ADI in February opened its second express store in Charleston, S.C. "There's roughly 30 to 40 other mar- kets out there that we think we could actually open an ADI Express Store in," Rob Aarnes president of ADI North America, told Security Systems News. Aarnes stressed that would come after methodical assessment of the existing locations. ADI opened its frst store in Omaha, Neb., nearly a year ago. Not much differentiates the express store from a full branch in capabilities, Aarnes said. The main difference is the size; express stores are less than half the size by square footage. This branch was, in part, frst dis- cussed back in late 2013. "We decided we were going to open four in the next 12 to 18 months. … We knew we want- ed to open two ADI Express, and two standard [branch locations]," he said. ADI opened branches in Jackson, Miss., and Mobile, Ala., in December 2014. Sightlogix on NERC CIP PRINCETON, N.J.—The new manda- tory physical security requirements for protecting the nation's electric grid are explained in a new whitepaper, pub- lished in January by smart thermal cam- era provider SightLogix. The NERC CIP-014 reliability standard was developed by the North American Energy Reliability Corporation. "The need for reliable intrusion detection systems to protect electri- cal assets has never been higher," said John Romanowich, CEO, SightLogix. "The concepts outlined in the NERC standards represent a sound and effective security practice for detecting and responding to breaches quickly, and smart thermal technology is ide- ally suited to meet the real-time aware- ness NERC requires for protecting the nation's power grid." HID settled in Austin AUSTIN, Texas—Secure identity solu- tion provider HID Global in February announced it had completed the con- solidation of its world headquarters and North American Operations Center here. HID was also recognized by three organizations for successfully imple- menting sustainability guidelines in the design, construction and operation of its 250,000 square feet of manufactur- ing, offce and warehouse space. "We are very proud of our accom- plishments, and grateful for the tremen- dous support we've received from the Austin community during this process," said Jason Bohrer, vice president and general manager for HID Global's North American Operations Center, in a pre- pared statement. By Martha Entwistle V A N C O U V E R , B r i t i s h Columbia—Avigilon in January announced it spent $13.3 million acquiring video analytics patents that extend into behavioral rec- ognition, video segmentation and meta-data and more. This deal comes one month after the video surveillance pro- vider spent $80 million to acquire patents from ObjectVideo. "Avigilon is clearly trying to lock in IP in a whole range of ana- lytical algorithms," Jeff Kessler, Imperial Capital's managing director of institutional research, told Security Systems News. It's a smart move, Kessler said, because "ObjectVideo's patents do not go [heavily into] behav- ioral analytics arena." The patents come from four separate companies: Behavioral Recognition Systems (BRS Labs), Face Double, ITS7 and VideoMining. Avigilon did not disclose the amount it paid to the individual vendors. Unlike ObjectVideo, which sold all of its intellectual property A patent play Avigilon follows up its $80m purchase of OV patents with a $13 million BRS buy to Avigilon, BRS Labs sold Avigilon some select patents "that are associated with video analytics," BRS Labs president John Frazzini told SSN. BRS Labs still owns "more than 60 patents and count- ing," he said, including many patents related to video data analysis. BRS Labs "will contin- ue to sell and support its AISight 4 legacy product and it will con- tinue to expand its new AISight 5 platform." BRS "brings artifcial intelligence to the analysis of data as it applies to the security industry," Frazzini explained. And while that will continue to include data from video sur- veillance, BRS Labs also "goes beyond video to include multi- sensor analysis … into other areas more closely aligned with the big data side." Frazzini said Aisight is being used for SCADA data analysis now, and that the company will be doing more "multi-sensor data applications" specifcally with information-security data applications. SSN By Martha Entwistle V I E N N A , Va . — T h e n e w CEO of VidSys is not new to the company. James Chong, who on Jan. 26 was named CEO of the PSIM provider, founded VidSys in 2005 and has also served as CTO. Chong replaced Michael P. Jackson who had served as CEO since 2013. In his new role as CEO, Chong said he plans to "help accelerate our strategic growth as well as product innovation and direction." VidSys sees "the opportu- nity to enter other markets we may not have played in as aggressively before." Specifically, Vidsys is look- ing to "catapult" into the IoT and information manage- ment markets. "Over the past year we New CEO for VidSys Chong takes over for Michael Jackson have been developing more strategic alliances with part- ners," Chong said, notably with HP where VidSys is "leveraging big data analyt- ics and social media [com- bined with physical security and information manage- ment]." Chong declined to reveal revenue figures but said the company is growing and that it's seeing more demand for adoption of its PSIM p ro d u c t s . " I n e n t e r p r i s e and in the federal govern- ment space [for example] the RFPs and RFQs have increased over the past 12 months," he said. Chong said customers are no longer asking, "What is PSIM?" but instead "How can we implement PSIM for our environment?" SSN By SSN Staff OSAKA, Japan—Panasonic on Feb. 3 announced it has an agreement to acquire VMS provider Video Insight, based in Houston. Panasonic plans to acquire all shares of Video Insight. Terms of the deal were not released. Imperial Capital advised Video Insight. Panasonic said the deal is "part of its strategy to expand business opportunities for both companies in the education market in North America." Video Insight will continue to be run by founders J. Robert Shaw and James Whitcomb. The company was found- ed in 2002 and has more than 25,000 customers in the financial, government, re t a i l a n d t r a n s p o r t a t i o n sectors, and it has 6,500 school and campus customers, accord- ing to Panasonic. Panasonic has a 2018 revenue target of about $84 billion. "B2B solutions, including security systems and video surveillance, will play an important part in achieving this high growth globally," the company said in a statement. "We believe this partner- ship will help us accelerate innovation, enhance product development and allow us to provide our customers with better security solutions for years to come," Panasonic CEO J. Robert Shaw said in a statement. Panasonic had $65 billion in revenue last year. SSN Video Insight is now part of Panasonic John Frazzini By Martha Entwistle MELVILLE, N.Y.—Honeywell announced in January that Ron Rothman, who has been with the com- p a n y f o r 30 years, has retired. David Paja, 45, took over as presi- d e n t o f Honeywell Security Group on Jan. 19. Ralph Sevinor, president of Wayne Alarm Systems in Lynn, Mass., has worked with Rothman for more than 30 years. "I am saddened to hear that Ron Rothman is leaving. He helped to truly form our indus- try. It will be a great loss to the industry," Sevinor told Security Systems News. Sevinor called Rothman "a true security professional who had the industry in his veins." Rothman has served as presi- dent of Honeywell Security Group since January 2010 and will remain with Honeywell through June to assist with the transition. Paja will be based in Melville, N.Y., and will report to Alex Ismail, president and CEO of Honeywell Automation and Control Solutions. "Ron has been a strong and passionate leader. ... He built lasting cus- tomer rela- tionships and drove the devel- opment of innovative products and solu- tions that helped transform the market," Ismail said in a prepared state- ment. Paja has been with Honeywell since 2003, but he has not worked in the security divi- sion. Most recently Paja served as VP and GM for Honeywell Transportation Systems in China and India. Previously, he was VP of global marketing for Honeywell Turbo Technologies. Paja will lead Honeywell's $3-billion global security busi- ness, a provider of security products and technologies, and distribution company ADI. SSN Ron Rothman retires David Paja named new president of Honeywell Security Group Ron Rothman David Paja industry consolidation