Appreciating ‘Ordinary’
IT’S JANUARY. Happy New Year! I hope you have an ordinary year. A few years ago this greeting would have seemed strange, even a little pessimistic. But after the COVID and post-COVID years of chaos and upheaval, I for one am looking forward to just an ordinary year — and so, it seems, are the respondents and panelists who weighed in for our annual cover story, the 2024 SDM Industry Forecast, which reports on both the previous year’s business trends as well as expectations for the coming year.
What struck me this year was the sheer “normalcy” of their responses to our perennial questions. Gone are any concerns about COVID-19, and supply chain issues slipped a whopping 35 percentage points as a predicted concern for 2024. In its place were issues like “increasing sales,” “finding and retaining employees” and “controlling costs.” Sound familiar?
The numbers support the status quo. Many of the reported numbers and predictions, including their predictions from last year, their actual performance and their expectations for next year, are remarkably consistent year over year.
❝ There are some great things about having an ordinary year, not least of which is it allows you the breathing room to work on the next big thing, add new products or services, gain new clients, work on workforce development and so much more.❞
In fact, in a podcast accompanying the article, our four panelists all shared the attitude that they know what it takes to weather that bump. As Jeremy Bates, president of Bates Security, put it, “I don’t care if there’s going to be a recession or a great recession or whatever it turns out to be; it’s all about our attitude and how we approach things. Someone’s going to be successful. It might as well be us.”
But don’t be fooled by “ordinary.” There are some great things about having an ordinary year, not least of which is it allows you the breathing room to work on the next big thing, add new products or services, gain new clients, work on workforce development and so much more. When you aren’t worrying about the next shoe dropping, you can be more creative.
And that is seemingly borne out in this year’s survey as well. Managed services stood out as something more security dealers and integrators are offering, with managed access, VSaaS and ACaaS all experiencing double digit percentage point increases over last year. And while the three top concerns for 2024 above are nothing new, No. 4, “generating recurring revenue” jumped 12 percentage points over last year’s survey, the most of any category.
Our panel also touched on this, with Mike Botten, sales manager for LVC Companies, shared that his company, which has been in business for over 40 years, views RMR as a do or die initiative: “Being a bit more of a mature, traditional alarm integrator, we are really investing in our managed services and focus on recurring revenue. … I think we’re keenly aware that if we don’t do this we won’t be in business for 43 years or 44 more years. So that’s how critical it is to the future of LVC Companies.”
Speaking of something new, we are changing things up a bit ourselves. Check out our new column, Security Comings and Goings, an expanded format for new personnel announcements. You may also notice that SIA’s contributed column has a new name: SIA Waypoints. This column will cover a variety of important topics from workforce issues to standards, and much more, and will occur six times per year. Alternating with this column will be a brand new column on cybersecurity that will debut in February.
As more security dealers and integrators look ahead, topics like cybersecurity, AI, new vertical markets like the one covered this month on multi-family access control and other initiatives will take center stage.
Speaking of which, be sure to check out our annual supplement, Monitoring Today, which features a cover story on one of those top three concerns for 2024: How central stations are tackling the workforce hiring and retaining issue. It offers some sage advice for all.
