The top ten companies with the highest growth on Security 50 this year are, in alphabetical order, ASSA ABLOY, Avigilon, Dahua Technology, Digital Barriers, Hikvision Digital Technology, IDIS, Infinova, Milestone Systems, TKH Group and Vicon Industries. Some of them expanded through acquisitions. Infinova, for example, benefited from its wider selection of products after its acquisitions of March Networks in 2012 and Swann in 2014. The vision and security systems sub-segment under the TKH Group saw its growth contributed partially by its acquisition of the Commend Group. Others, meanwhile, grew due to the robustness of the industry. ASSA ABLOY, for example, benefited from an overall growing access control industry amid a migration to IP.
One point that most of these high-growth companies share in common is their efforts to push their end-to-end video surveillance solutions to integrators, who can save on upfront purchasing cost and achieve even further savings in the product’s lifecycle through repairs and maintenance from one single source. Infinova, for example, offers cameras on the front and NVRs on the back, as well as the software that manages the video altogether. On top of that the firm also has fiber optics solutions to transmit video, audio and data with the ability to carry 128 channels of video over a single fiber. IDIS, meanwhile, aims to be a total solutions provider focused on the mid- to high-end markets with its extensive range of cameras, NVRs, network accessories combined with software that manages it all.
While video still constitutes the company’s core business, Axis Communications has expanded its portfolio beyond video to include network-based access control, intercoms, and horn speakers, delivering integrated solutions. “We see a higher demand for integrated security solutions – an area where we are strengthening our position. For instance, in 2016 we have made three acquisitions (2N, Citilog and Cognimatics) in order to develop and broaden our solution offering. That drives our new business efforts and R&D to focus on solutions that creates a greater value for our end customers,” said Ray Mauritsson, President and CEO of Axis Communications.
Supported by other businesses under TKH, its Security Vision Group was also able to provide total solutions. One example the company cited was the International Criminal Court in the Hague, where the company provided the cabling, the security cameras, the intercom solutions, and the alarm management systems.
Avigilon, which has been targeting the mid- to high segments of the market, is now focusing on the entry level too, providing complete solutions to users. “We launched a pricing adjustment in Q2 focusing on our H3 camera line and NVR2s to expand our addressable market and target the entry level of the industry. This was very well received by the marketplace and, more recently, we announced a new line of cameras called the H4 SL camera line. The H4 SL is targeted more at the entry-level market, so it wasn't until 2016 that we began to really invest in the entry-level market place,” said Darren Seed, VP of Capital Markets and Communications at Avigilon. “For our system integrators and ultimately the end user, we provide a wide variety of different solutions, because truly, Avigilon is a solutions provider. A camera by itself is just a paper weight, but Avigilon sells the entire solution.”
In summary, the security landscape has become more competitive than ever, making it harder and harder for players to sustain revenue growth. Only by providing customers value and the kind of integrated solutions that they need can security companies win out amid the competition. This is demonstrated by some of the fastest-growing companies on Security 50 this year.