Fasten your seat belts: 2016 is going to be a bumpy ride. It’s not because the road to improved sales, revenues and profits is pitted with potholes; rather, it’s because of the greater number drivers in the form of new competitors who are gaining speed and attempting to move ahead. Who are these competitors? Who aren’t they, ask the security professionals who participated in SDM’s 2016 Industry Forecast Study and panel.

“I think it’s probably more aggressive than it has ever been in my 33 years with the company as it relates to the competitive climate,” describes Michael Grady, executive vice president of Vector Security Inc., Warrendale, Pa. When both he and Forecast respondents were asked which companies they view as their greatest competition in 2016 (do-it-yourself security providers, local or national/global security companies, wireless phone/broadband providers, IT companies, or summer-program security companies), Grady responded that when considering both the residential and commercial markets, “I see ‘all of the above’ as being some form of competition with us on a day-to-day basis.” (See “The Panel Weighs in on Competition” on page 62.)