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Igor Rakov, PhD in Engineering, President of the Electronic Systems Association, Director of the FORS Research Center, answers the questions in the ToR
– To what extent, in your opinion, does the Russian TSB industry live by market laws? What specific features are there, in addition to the standard problems of the local market?
As much as small and medium businesses live by market laws. By Russian market laws, written and unwritten. Features — the absence of independent professional organizations — customers, the concentration of a significant part of the market in the area of government and near-government orders, a significant predominance of the price criterion for choosing solutions, a specific distribution of threats by significance.
— Standardization issues. To what extent is foreign experience applicable to us? Will market participants ever be able to agree on a single platform for TSB?
Any experience is applicable. In any case, it is useful. A single platform — God forbid. Security systems are complex automated systems. And they are valuable for their diversity, corresponding to the diversity of tasks. Creating a comprehensive and final platform for everything is an immense and meaningless task. Standard protocols, interfaces, computing platforms are used and will be used. No one invents RS-485, Ethernet, Lon, Windows (except for Microsoft), but everyone uses them. What is important is not the sameness of the platform, but the presence and accessibility of the communication protocol for each device in the system with the outside world, so that the end user is not tied tightly to the manufacturer, but has the opportunity to choose an integrator.
— IT integrators in the TSB market: the pros and cons of their presence. Two counter flows: security professionals in engineering and IT, IT — in security. Who will overcome?
Security systems are one of the types of automated control systems. The strength of security market specialists, like any automated control system specialists, is primarily in their mastery of the subject area. Those who started with the telecommunications, network, and programming markets, have developed more due to the earlier and more rapid development of these markets. Some of them have turned into monsters – general contractors of huge federal projects. But these projects are still ultimately done by smaller companies – subcontractors, among whom are IT specialists, security specialists, and many others. Some IT specialists try to specialize in security and are quite successful. Companies that started as purely “security” are also actively migrating to IT, engineering, and even general construction. All this is called diversification. No one will defeat anyone. Everyone will be happy if they are wise, flexible, enterprising, and resourceful.
– Competition in the TSB industry. How to combat unfair competition?
We must fight not with competition, but with competitors (in legitimate ways, of course), i.e. compete. Competition is what it is. What are the people working in the industry like. What are people like in general. Strategically, there is legislation, public opinion, a system of values and priorities of customer organizations and specific people. All this needs to be formed and improved. Tactically, you need to do your job well, properly organize the work of the enterprise and be able to soberly assess the surrounding situation. The best fighters against unfair competition are your grateful clients.
– In your opinion, is there a need for systematized and objective information about the TSB market: ratings, TOP lists, etc. Who and how can make such a product?
Objective – is needed. Let’s say, it’s curious. But it’s hardly possible. And it’s unlikely to be worth the money. Top lists and ratings are the most useless type of marketing information. The criteria are vague, who are the judges? Who pays for the “review” and, accordingly, “calls the tune”? Who is ready to disclose their real indicators and characteristics to an indefinite number of people? Why? Besides, being inside the market, we already know our way around it. Customers, as a rule, also have many ways to collect information about a potential contractor.
– Mergers and acquisitions. Some industry gurus predicted the activation of this process inside the market. This did not happen, and the crisis is not to blame for this. How ready is the market for this?
Mergers and acquisitions are a specific economically conditioned step. What does the market as a whole have to do with it? Some are dividing, some are uniting. There are specifics – how they divide and unite in Russia. But this is a general market specificity, not an intra-market specificity, and it is inappropriate to talk about it here.
– Of course, we cannot ignore the current economic situation. How, in your opinion, will consumer preferences change? What price segments of equipment will be in greatest demand?
The equipment will remain different. Everyone will consume less.
– How will regional TSB markets change?
They will shrink in terms of volumes, but structurally in terms of equipment – no way. Many players who have not managed to latch onto structures that remain active will die or retrain. – Is it possible for leading manufacturers and distributors to partner with insurance companies? Rather than manufacturers and distributors, but installers. Manufacturers have an indirect influence on the level of security of facilities, and distributors have none. Interaction with installers is possible. As soon as insurance permeates our entire society, all business, this interaction will also flourish.
– Problems of consulting in the TSB industry.
There is practically no consulting in the industry today, but it is very much needed, since not every customer can afford a competent representative when creating a security system. But for now, our habit of starting everything ourselves prevails over the ideas of outsourcing, and I doubt that such a consulting agency will be able to feed its highly qualified specialists. And the market is too narrow for this.
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