CCTV Systems

The newest addition to the Best Advice Q&A series is Zeus Fire and Security founder and executive chairman Scott R. Elkins. He reveals the best advice he’s ever heard, gives pointers to security industry pros on the rise and singles out his ultimate business inspiration. Security Sales & Integration: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? Scott Elkins: One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever received is to fail fast. That doesn’t mean taking unnecessary risks or accepting failure. It means recognizing when something isn’t working, learning from it quickly and having the courage to change course. Whether it’s hiring the wrong person, pursuing a strategy that isn’t gaining traction or investing in a new initiative, the longer you wait to acknowledge reality, the more expensive the lesson becomes. I’ve learned that successful leaders aren’t the ones who avoid mistakes but rather they’re the ones who i...

PITTSBURGH –– AlarMax Distributors, Inc., a national wholesale distributor of security, fire, access control, surveillance, AV, networking and low-voltage solutions, today announces the opening of its new AlarMax Product Experience (APEX) Innovation Lab and National Fulfillment Center. These two strategic investments are “designed to enhance customer education, strengthen supplier collaboration, expand inventory capabilities and improve nationwide distribution as the company continues its next phase of growth,” according to the AlarMax announcement. “As demand for integrated security and low-voltage solutions continues to evolve, distributors play an increasingly important role in helping customers access not only products but also technical expertise, training and dependable supply chain support,” the announcement says. “Together, these new facilities position AlarMax to deliver greater value across every stage of the customer experience.” Wha...

Artificial intelligence is driving the largest macro technology refresh in the history of physical security, transforming everything from video surveillance to access control. Yet, as companies rush to implement AI, a roadblock has emerged in enterprise security strategy: the “missing middle,” which can be defined as the operational gap between acquiring advanced, AI-enabled edge tools and actually weaving them into an interconnected, network-wide security ecosystem. It is the gap between systems that can describe isolated events and systems that can explain incidents in context. Businesses are purchasing isolated, one-off AI tools that may successfully flag security problems, but they are failing to connect these advanced systems to their broader corporate security networks. This creates “AI sprawl,” or a state where an organization accumulates advanced technical capabilities without a clear path to actual business results. When a business piles on fragmented technology, it in...