Inside the SIA NPS: A Judge’s Perspective

Security Industry Association (SIA)

A few years ago I accepted an invitation to become a judge on the SIA New Product Showcase (NPS) judging committee at ISC West. As a security consultant, a former registered architect and former end user, I thought it would be a great opportunity to identify new and emerging technologies, and to provide input to product manufacturers based on my experiences — basically imparting my opinions and moving on.

However, being involved with the NPS has proven to be a much more informative and richer experience than I anticipated, offering unique insights not realized in other product-specific forums or in the technology test labs. This year’s NPS was no exception.

With volunteer judges from across the industry, including end-users, engineers, distributors, integrators and other consultants, the cross-section of knowledge and opinions represented enriched the overall process. As is my case, each of the other judges brings their own unique skills, knowledge and real-life experiences to the table — and few are short on opinions.

The NPS judging process is rarely easy; after completing research on submissions, attending a presentation on each product, and conducting follow-up investigations on those products under consideration for the award, the process of award selection can begin. As is usually the case when a group of passionate and opinionated professionals tries to reach consensus on their respective area(s) of expertise, the process can get contentious at times, especially when selecting products for the Best New Product and Judges’ Choice Awards. However, courtesy, respect, and professionalism serve to provide a cordial, collaborative and interactive environment that succeeds in achieving the goals and objectives of the NPS.

This year, as in years past, the NPS judges had a choice of several great products that received awards in their respective categories to consider for the highest honors of the program: The Best New Product and Judges’ Choice awards. In the end, I believe the products selected for those awards met the intent of the award definitions through their innovation, simplicity and value-oriented approaches.

Following are some of my observations and insights on this year’s awards process and some of the unique aspects considered in the selection of the winning products.

The Best New Product award was presented for the Lynx HD Megapixel Camera by Innovative Security Designs(ISD). First and foremost, we (the judges) believe this product represents everything SIA seeks to promote through the NPS program. The Lynx camera was selected over other entries based on its innovation, form factor, ease of installation and flexibility. While there are several HD Megapixel cameras on the market, no other product is known to incorporate such a diverse set of features and characteristics in one complete package. The embedded Microsoft Windows computing platform was also deemed to present myriad possibilities for the future of camera management, performance, integration, and interoperability. Lastly, it was the committee’s opinion that the price-point for the feature sets represented a competitive value.

The Judges’ Choice award was given to the Cogent – MiY-Touch biometric touch screen reader. Its selection as a top-tier product was also based on its innovation, flexibility, and ease of use. While the base biometric technology did not represent a clear advancement over others, no other known reader on the market allows a user to change credential technologies without a full rip-and-replace, whereas the MiY-Touch affords a modular retrofit of its credential interface through a simple plug-in exchange. The flexibility of this multi-mode access reader is further enhanced through its use of an onboard “smart-phone” type-computing interface that allows it to run and integrate with downloadable applications such as its Time and Attendance program.

Additionally, it is able to support the interface/add-on of other devices such as cameras via its external USB port, which enhances its functionality.

There were, of course, other entries under consideration for these awards, and many received awards in their respective categories. For those that did not, we do not want you to be dissuaded from continuing to try your best to prevail the next time. It is only through your innovation and competitive spirit that this industry can keep evolving and solving the challenges of an ever-changing security landscape.

The views and opinions expressed in guest posts and/or profiles are those of the authors or sources and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Security Industry Association (SIA).