Issue link: https://securitytechnologyexecutive.epubxp.com/i/431828
8 SECURITY TECHNOLOGY EXECUTIVE • November/December 2014 www.SecurityInfoWatch.com CONVERGENCE Q&A; B y Ray B er n ard, P SP, CH S - I I I Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Q: A: I'm a recently-graduated IT network specialist. How can I obtain vendor- neutral information about networked physical security systems? Until recently, that would have been a difficult task. However, the Security Industry Association (SIA) has stepped up to the plate by launching a semi-annual electronic publication: SIA Technology Insights — which should now be considered required reading based on the increasing rate of technology change. In earlier decades, you could almost always find a recently - written book about access control or security video or alarm systems and other technologies that would present an accurate picture of the technology capabilities, along with recent innovations. You could utilize such reference material for at least five years, and then keep yourself updated by trade show attendance every few years. For at least the past six years, that has no longer been the case. Technology Rate of Change The rate of technolog y change today proceeds at an astounding pace, and the rate of change keeps increasing. Hard drive capacity and cost (see Figure 1) make a good visual representation of the general rate of change trends across all aspects of computing and networking tech- nology. The price erosion for hard disk storage over the years is startling: according to statis- ticbrain.com, the average cost per gigabyte fell from $437,500 in 1980 to $0.05 in 2013. As can be seen in Figure 1, during the ten-year period from 1996 to 2006, the maximum capacity of hard drives jumped from 1 GB to 500 GB. In the following one year, it jumped that much again — while the cost per gigabyte fell by nearly 50 percent. Computing power and network capacity trends show similar graphs (see Figures 2 and 3). Wired communication speeds have increased 10,000-fold in the past three decades, and computer processing power has increased over 30,000 times in the same time period. All three trends have the combined effect of significantly lowering the cost of security video deployments while at the same time significant- ly increasing their quality and capacity. When 10 years worth of technology change can occur in a single year, and when the annual rate of change keeps increasing continuously Vendor-Neutral Point of View Providing vendor-neutral state of technology information is challenging when not vetted by non-biased third party (continued on page 36) Write to Ray about this col- umn at ConvergenceQA@ go-rbcs.com. Ray Ber- nard, PSP, CHS-III is the principal consultant for Ray Bernard Consulting Services (RBCS), a firm that provides security con- sulting services for public and private facilities. For more information about Ray Bernard and RBCS go to www.go-rbcs.com or call 949-831-6788. Mr. Ber- nard is also a member of the Content Expert Faculty of the Security Executive Council (www.Securi- tyExecutiveCouncil.com). Follow Ray on Twitter: @RayBernardRBCS