By Melissa Stenger
Aren’t these the same? No, but they are related.
Innovation is taking an existing product or concept and building something new and different that meets a customer’s need, whether they knew they had the need or not. Disruption completely changes how a product or service’s value chain is consumed and displaces an existing market.
This idea of disruption vs. innovation is not new, Clayton Christensen, (Harvard Business School professor and author of the Innovator’s Dilemma) has put a lot of thought and research into the concept of how true disruption occurs.
Need an example of innovation vs. disruption? Think Uber and Lyft or Netflix. The innovation was in the technology built to provide a service in the palm of our hand and the ability to stream video. The disruption is in how those technologies are used to fundamentally change the way users consumed these technologies – through an easy to use app or a monthly subscription.
These services reimagined the way we get from place to place and how we consume media as they were the end of video and DVD rental and may be the end of traditional taxi transportation.
Who and What will be the next disruption in the security market?
You could argue that physical security is in the midst of disruption. Think about the major innovations happening in our industry: cloud, networked devices, wireless, AI, and machine learning to name a few. These are all game changers.
But the real disruption is how these technologies and products are sold and how the traditional value chain is disrupted.
Let’s look at access control and video surveillance. Typically these are capital expenditures that are sold from a manufacturer to an integrator and then to an end user. The end user pays for the full parts and service when the work is completed and maybe an ongoing service contract is put in place.
This is where the opportunity lies for disruption – how do you deliver more value to the customer by delivering these technologies in a different way or in the way customers consume other products?
Whether that new model is offering managed services or solutions that are operational expenses only by providing hardware as a service along with software and services, the opportunities are endless.
Disruption is happening as the business models and opportunities for consumers buying evolves. The Internet of Things has allowed everything to be connected, giving integrators and manufacturers the ability for a subscription or recurring revenue model. This disruption of software and services driving RMR for integrators and a new model allows for new players and new ways to meet customers where they are.
This isn’t a new concept. Alarm companies have been doing this for years but it’s now making its way into access control and video surveillance as the technologies have become available.
Embracing this model to build deeper relationships with customers will enable disruptors to find massive success as these technologies expand into the market and become adopted by the late majority in the technology adoption life cycle.
About The Author
Melissa Stenger
VP Product Management and Marketing
ISONAS