Security Megatrends, an annual publication of the Security Industry Association (SIA) has provided analysis on 10 top trends affecting security industry businesses and practitioners, leveraging insights from independent research, surveys, focus groups and top sessions at the Securing New Ground (SNG) conference.
The 2025 Megatrends report revealed that there is no trend larger or more impactful to the security industry than the evolution of the channel. Artificial intelligence (AI), cloud, technology upheaval, razor-thin margins, new competitors, direct-to-customer sales and delivery models and changing end-user requirements are converging to create the most challenging wave of change the channel has ever seen, felt primarily in the systems integration channel.
In SIA’s survey of members as part of the research for the 2025 Security Megatrends report, nearly 70% of respondents said their channel buyers are changing from the traditional security integrator, and security practitioner experts stressed a desire for integrators to be fully embedded on their teams in order for them to better understand practitioners’ needs and wants.
“The future isn’t always predictable, but it’s always exciting,” said Scott Dunn, chair of the SIA Board of Directors and senior director of business development at Axis Communications. “Integrators are the second largest core of our membership, and the amount of upheaval facing today’s integrators is profound. Artificial intelligence has burst upon our industry in recent years and holds great promise for our industry’s future. We have watched as operational technology converges with information technology and simultaneously with all aspects of security – physical and cyber. These profound changes call upon us to adapt and to realign our industry to the needs of the modern business world.”
The 2025 Security Megatrends from the SIA are:
- Evolution of the Channel
- AI: Intelligent Automation of Security
- Correcting the Systemic Undervaluation of Security
- Visual Intelligence, Not Video Surveillance
- IT-OT Security Convergence
- Platform Aggregation
- Democratization of Identity and Mobile Credentials
- Growth of Advanced Detection Technologies
- Shift of Influence From Hardware to Software
- SaaS, HaaS, DaaS and a Managed Services Future
The report also includes key insights on:
- Foundational trends that have become common concerns all business leaders must manage as they operate within the security industry
- How technology modernization, end-user requirements and market dynamics are impacting the systems integration channel
- How manufacturers committed to supporting the channel can provide training and support for systems integrators, and top opportunities for integrators
- Key concerns regarding the application of AI to customer data and top factors limiting AI in security
- A mindset shift in the value proposition of security, and how it impacts other Megatrends
