Page 26 - the SyI Quarterly 15

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While technology advances have made security solutions more accessible, they have also inadvertently
created a dependence on technology at the expense of skilled personnel. The mistaken belief that
technology can completely replace human expertise is damaging the industry as the rise of AI also helps to
diminish the requirements for security staff.

These technologies, while useful, often lack the sophistication of professionally installed and managed
systems. They may be easily compromised or may fail to provide comprehensive security coverage and
they have opened the door for untrained or inexperienced persons to become “security engineers”, which
is causing significant damage to the industry and will continue too. This alone breeds not only a market of
rogue traders which will install a system but not be contactable again when assistance is required and as
a direct result, they are driving down the margins within the industry for the professional and approved
providers.

Furthermore, with technological advancements and changes in what the consumer now wants, and
are capable of doing, has resulted in the advent of “out of a box’ security systems such as Sky Protect &
Simplysafe. These systems again have introduced a new option for residential and SME security which
reduces the need for an accredited security firm and their installation services as well as reducing the
overall profitability for most providers with low cost or free installations, coupled with low monthly recurring
revenue models. The issue is that then liability can rest with the end user and their ability to follow
installation instructions if a burglary was still to occur.

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