Italy security market: Intrusion business vibrant as ever

One of the defining characteristics of Italy’s security market is the popularity of intrusion detection systems, a business that’s as vibrant as ever in the country.
 
The intrusion alarm industry is referred to by some as the father of security. While it may not generate as much enthusiasm or interest as AI or deep learning, its role in security hasn’t diminished.
 
One country that attaches great importance to intrusion systems is Italy. In fact, the Italian intrusion market is still going strong. “What is different from other countries, and mainly from the APAC area, is that in the Italian market the Intrusion alarm business is growing, and it has significant volume,” said Massimiliano Troilo, GM of Hikvision Italy. “It's growing together with video at around 5 percent – maybe a little bit less than video, but still growing, with good size."
 
 

The need for intrusion systems of course is spawned by concerns for burglaries and other criminal activities. According to the European Commission, police-recorded burglaries in Italy in 2016 were between 300 and 400 per 100,000 inhabitants, higher than Spain, Greece, Hungary and Germany, among others. Protection measures such as intrusion alarm systems, then, offer peace of mind.
 
“There are needs to protect property or to have easy life. If you’re talking about residential applications, people during the night want to be safe. In the commercial sector end users want to protect their property as well. This is the demand,” said Ivan Castellan, Branch Manager for Italy at Risco Group.
 
Indeed, Italy’s intrusion detection customer base has expanded from the residential sector to commercial, where a range of vertical markets, from government to museums, can benefit. Another example is retail, which Italy is famous for. “You can have high-end necessities, a shop of attires, for example, where you have very precious things to protect. So many times, having dissuasive systems like laser barriers or fog generators is not feasible, because you can ruin a certain product or environment. That's when intrusion detection systems are needed,” said Robertodino Sebastiano Leita, Product Manager at Visiotech.
 
Insurance also plays a role in spurring intrusion alarm demands in the commercial sector. “Commercial applications are driven by insurance, which provide discounts if you have security. So there’s a need to protect a property, but also discounts offered by insurance. Both of these situations are helping to push the intrusion business,” Castellan said.
 

Offering value amid competition

With intrusion detection being a huge market in Italy, competition inevitably becomes intense. Manufacturers then expand the features and functionality of their products and solutions to offer more value to systems integrators and end users.
 
One way to do this is to enable remote control and management of intrusion devices, making things easier for the customer. “Our technology enables customers to manage the device on the field. It's cost-saving, because I don't need to go outside and modify the features of the detector. I can do so remotely by an app, and with a mobile I can change the features of the device. So you can imagine doing this for several systems installers per year, how much money you can save,” said Silvio Ferrari, Italy Country Sales Manager for Intrusion at Johnson Controls.
 
“Using our technology you can check remotely and program remotely all the devices, not only the control panel but also the sensors,” said Pietro Scarafile, Technical Support Specialist at Tecnoalarm, adding their solution offers an extra value. “We can see why an alarm happens, because each sensor stores in its memory a pictogram of the alarm.”