Much has been said about the power and effectiveness of cloud computing capabilities when it comes to cutting-edge physical security solutions. A new report from Verkada shows that 92% of security leaders believe the “future of physical security is in the cloud.”
The cloud-based building security and operating systems company — with headquarters in San Mateo, CA — surveyed 1,518 IT and physical security leaders who were contacted by The Harris Poll. The goal of the report was to assess how physical security experts were viewing the current transition from on-premise security apparatus to cloud-based, accessible-from-anywhere options.
The results show that leaders in the security space — even those who might have been wary in the past — are embracing the cloud. The poll revealed that 86% of respondents who have not completely moved to the cloud “plan to do so,” which includes “90% of those wishfully on-premises setups and 85% of those with a mix of cloud and on-premise.” About 75% of those who participated said they plan to make the move to the cloud within the next year, while an additional 96% said they will do so “in the next 18 months.”
One thing that is consistent whenever advancements in any kind of technology are discussed is the hesitancy of some stakeholders to embrace change. This has happened from the early days of the airplane to the Internet itself.
Cloud computing has been the same. This report shows that even those who were leery of this technology and how it could be harnessed for physical security are now changing their tunes.
“Most respondents believe cloud security has improved over the past five years and will continue to advance, providing better protection against emerging threats,” reads one top-line finding of the consensus among poll respondents.
Underscoring much of the reticence in the past when it comes to cloud adoption has been qualms over how this tech would integrate with existing systems. This report shows that 85% of respondents think that “it is very/extremely important to have multiple physical security products integrated into one centralized system.” This means that leaders in the field understand the necessity of the cloud as a way to augment and unify existing systems.
Going off that, Security Today recently covered the release of the report. They point out another key finding: how this all relates back to artificial intelligence (AI). The security site writes that more than 80% of survey respondents believe that AI-powered video analytics tools — think automated alerts and predictive modeling tools — “will have a major impact on the future of proactive physical security postures.”
This survey in many ways is confirmation of what the physical security community already knows — the cloud is here to stay. Those who embrace it will be best equipped to keep themselves, their businesses, and the clients they serve safe and secure.
Peter Cavicchia II 