Political conflict and gridlock may be weighing on some businesses, but more than seven out of 10 security industry leaders still reported positive conditions at their companies, according to the Security Industry Association’s (SIA) September-October Security Market Index (SMI) survey.
Twenty-eight percent of survey participants said that current business conditions are “excellent,” while 43% described them as “good.”
The SMI is a measure of industry confidence that is calculated using a proprietary formula based on three-month projections related to five key business components. This latest SMI increased seven points—the largest jump in more than a year—from two months earlier to 55. This is two points above the 12-month average of 53.
Negative comments in the survey tended to focus not on the industry, but on the disruption and uncertainty created by budget battles in Washington.
“Due to the lack of a U.S. government budget, many of our initiatives are on hold,” a respondent from the access control/identity management sector said. “Constantly dealing with continuing resolutions affects our short- and long-term forecast for R&D, sales, and production.”
Survey participants came from all sectors of the security industry, with the biggest representation from the access control/identity management (23%) and integration (20%) sectors. Integrators were more likely to report positive conditions than respondents overall, with half saying business is “excellent” and 38% describing it as “good.” In addition, the September-October SMI among integrators spiked 13 points to 70.
“This month’s results show the resilience of the security industry,” said SIA Board of Directors Chair Scott Dunn of Axis Communications. “Even amid challenging economic conditions and uncertainty caused by political strife, manufacturers and integrators continue to grow and prosper.”
When asked to look ahead to the next three months, one out of five survey participants said they expect things to get “much better,” while 58% said they think things will get “a little better,” bringing to 78% the share of respondents who see good things coming in the next quarter.
“Federal government spending has been slow to move, given budget and political uncertainties,” an AI-based video analytics respondent said. “State and local [spending] has been soft in the security sector. But all that seems to be loosening up, and Q4 promises to be a good one.”
The full SMI report is available here.