Adapt or Die? A Deep Dive into SIA’s Top Megatrend of 2025

This is where we are seeing new players emerging with new business models. Manufacturers like Flock and Axon, for example, are marketing plug-and-play solutions directly to the end-user – cutting channel players like integrators and distributors out of the equation entirely in many cases. Verkada notoriously came to market with this model but has now somewhat embraced the channel with various integrator partnerships.
“I have been an integrator my entire life, and I always had a visceral, bristling response to product manufacturers having conversations with end-users that were ‘my customers,’” Yunag says. “The pace of technology change is so different today, and now I have a better appreciation or understanding of the evangelism that has to take place on new technologies, new models, and a new way of delivering security outcomes. I have come to separate companies trying to tell their story and how they get implemented, delivered, and maintained in the end.”
That said, end-users are noticing these new interactions. “One of the great points that Eric made at Securing New Ground was highlighting the interaction between manufacturers and end-user practitioners, or even between the distributor and the practitioner,” Kohl notes. “That interaction is what they remember rather than the relationship that they have with the integrator. I think that’s what’s changing.”
After listening to a panel of enterprise security directors at Securing New Ground, Bozeman was struck by their dissatisfaction with the channel. “They basically came out and said, ‘If you guys don’t clean your act up, we’ll just do it ourselves,’” Bozeman notes.
“For an end-user, it becomes more difficult to hold people accountable and to get a total solution delivered,” Yunag adds. “Just reading back on my notes on that Securing New Ground session, those end-users were asking their integrators for turnkey solution delivery. They asked us to listen. They asked us for DRIs – directly responsible individuals – for the whole technology stack. When I hear those things, I hear them telling us they want to have somebody accountable and capable of executing on delivering solutions that ultimately solve their problems.”
One Result: More Channel M&A
Enterprise integrators faced with this evolving challenge are often confronted with the classic choice: Fight or flight. That means many have embraced this change and are evolving; others are choosing the second option.
“Some smaller integrators are realizing that it might be a good time to sell because the prospect of keeping up with the Convergints and JCIs of the world is daunting,” Bozeman says.
Security company acquisitions are bearing that out. As written in these pages frequently over the past 24 months, private equity-backed conglomerates and major security players are all in fierce competition for the acquisition of mid-level and super-regional security integrators.
“Simply put, there are not many integration companies in this industry bigger than $50 or $100 million,” Yunag says. “Convergint didn’t get this big by acquiring huge integrators – the $10-$40 million integrators are the sweet spot.”
That said, from the private equity perspective, Bozeman says PE attention has shifted to the fire side of the business. “Right now, they are looking more at fire and life safety than they are at physical security systems integrators,” he says.
Where do Integrators go from Here?
Those integrators who embrace the fight response and want to adapt and thrive in the new definition of the channel need to face certain truths – a primary one being to focus on the enterprise space. As Yunag puts it, “If you are not in a market where [security technology] is mission-critical, it is tough to provide value.”
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