"A classic EMA will become obsolete".

Mr. Brügger, how has the intrusion detection system (EMA) changed over the past 30 years from your perspective?

From 1990 to around 2015, very little happened; an EMA remained an isolated solution that performed its task in isolation from other systems. With the new age of Industry 4.0, a great deal has changed. For example, an intrusion alarm system should and must communicate with several other systems today. Secure operation of the EMA system from anywhere in the world is standard using a smartphone or web browser. Even without a management system: So it has to be a cloud solution and operating devices have to be more intuitive, but also more visually appealing. However, the system must still be able to perform its core task "autonomously" on site (without communicating with a cloud or other systems) or to secure and alarm the object.

According to the police crime statistics (PKS), the number of burglaries is declining. Has a classic EMA become superfluous?

It is very pleasing to see that the number of sneak-in thefts is declining. The classic, traditional EMA of past decades will indeed be superfluous in the future. An EMA that communicates with "surrounding systems" and makes and executes decisions with them itself will be needed - we can already see this trend quite clearly today.

Do you have specific examples?

As already mentioned, the core zone to be defined must always remain monitored and be able to alert a system. Both private customers with apartments or houses, institutions such as the military, prisons, museums and critical infrastructures such as energy suppliers, data centers and banks will continue to demand a 100 percent autonomous system in the future. This must function autonomously, regardless of whether the power supply and thus communication to the outside is interrupted or a saboteur attempts to paralyze the system.

How will the interaction with plants develop?

In order to offer customers greater security and an even more cost-effective solution, the systems must be able to communicate with each other. This interaction will not only increasingly take place with access control or video systems, but other systems (such as outdoor protection, audio, light) or detectors will be integrated directly via IP. Look forward, it will be exciting.

What is the biggest challenge today in providing or evaluating an EMA in the digital age?

When you know the customer segment you want to serve, it is important to analyze the customer requirements and the standards the system must meet. Only then you will have an approximate idea regarding the system requirement. Systems for the monitoring of several large objects with the highest security requirements are only available in a handful in the DACH market - so the choice is small. For the customer segments from medium-sized objects with high security requirements to the protection of small single-family houses or apartments, there is a large variety of system providers. If you are not familiar with the market, it is advisable to carry out a detailed deskresearch and then subject your top 3 to top 5 to a utility value analysis and invite the most suitable providers to a meeting to clarify any questions you may have. For example, how easy it is to install, program and maintain the system and what innovations are planned for the next few years.

Do the current and certainly future requirements of the networked, learning building impact the survival of EMA system providers?

As I mentioned, there are currently still very many system providers in the customer segment for small to medium-sized properties; this will change. I assume that one third to one half of the current traditional providers will disappear from the market in the next ten years. Even in the segment for monitoring large properties with the highest security requirements, it must be assumed that not all system providers will be able to provide the expertise and resources to follow these trends.

Why?

Complexity will continue to increase, networked solutions are in demand. Access from anywhere (via mobile and web) has long been a must, as has communication with other systems on site. In the future, parts of the intelligence of an EMA will no longer be on site, but in the providers' cloud. This will exchange data with other cloud services (cloud-2-cloud) and make decisions based on this.

Conclusion: If you offer hybrid solutions, you need specific specialist personnel, and you must be able to find, train, pay and retain them. So pay attention to how the company you are working with is positioned and whether it will be up to the future challenges.

What is the situation in the private customer segment?

Exactly the same. There are two to three EMA system providers with hybrid solutions that are stimulating the market in the private customer segment with innovative, stable, secure and intuitive products and are also achieving success with them. These will be able to hold their own in the future or become even more established.

In addition, this mass market will increasingly see solutions from tech giants and other technology companies that are currently outside the industry but have a functioning cloud infrastructure and already offer solutions for end customers.

It can already be assumed that sooner or later they will offer home security solutions on the market that will meet customer needs and are attractively priced.

How do standards discussions currently affect the realities of an EMA?

These influence the EMA, and the system providers try to influence the standards. As is well known, new standards usually follow new trends immediately. As a trend, for example a technology, is initially used by individual trendsetters, this gradually becomes a customer need, and a standardization process is set in motion. Fortunately, there is also a great deal of movement in this area, which has made standards work and discussion more diverse. The revision of EN 50131 addressed new topics such as remote operation for the first time. This was just the beginning; many more interactions are being worked on so that EMA can be integrated into the life of buildings - in the sense of an autonomous building. The premise of the standards work is that our systems remain secure.