Umair Ahmed, our GM Americas, and our CEO Joachim Stray recently attended ISC West, one of the world’s largest security events.
ISC West is the perfect opportunity to get insights from partners and real estate professionals who are in the market for new security products.
Following the event, Umair took some time to consider his key learnings about the future of the industry.
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I just got back from ISC West in Las Vegas, where Defigo exhibited for the first time. It was a packed three days—countless conversations, lots of demos, and a solid pulse check on where the security tech industry stands in 2025.
This wasn’t a show dominated by flashy new hardware or buzzwords. The real stories—the ones that kept coming up in conversation after conversation—were about simplicity, usability, and collaboration.
To put everything that I learnt into some concise points to reflect upon going forward into 2025, I summarized the four key themes that stood out to me:
1. Simplicity is everything
If I had to summarize what integrators and property owners are looking for in one word, it’s simplicity.
They’re tired of systems that are hard to install, difficult to manage, or overly rigid. Too many systems are still hard to deploy, painful to integrate, and frustrating to manage.
So what is working for them? The systems that just work. The ones with no bloated installs, no awkward workarounds and no IT fire drills.
Integrators and property owners alike are looking for solutions that plug in easily, can be managed from anywhere, and don’t require a manual the size of a phone book. Interestingly, this was a recurring theme in almost every conversation I had.
The message is simple: if your product requires a three-week training course to figure out, you’ve already lost.
2. Software is driving the conversation
We’ve moved past the point where software is an afterthought layered on top of hardware.
Today, it’s the software layer that’s defining the experience—and driving decisions.
Cloud-based management, mobile-first access, remote administration, real-time updates—these aren’t “value adds” anymore, they’re core, and they’re expected. And more importantly, they’re what property teams are evaluating first.
Of course your hardware needs to be reliable, but it’s the software experience that separates great systems from the rest. The companies that understand this, and are building with that mindset, are going to win.
3. The integrator's voice is louder than ever
There’s a growing recognition that if you’re not actively empowering your integrators, that is giving them the tools, support, margins, and flexibility they need, you’re just adding to their workload.
The best manufacturers aren’t just selling to integrators, they’re building with them. They’re co-creating playbooks, enabling recurring revenue and treating integrators like true partners.
And here’s the truth: when an integrator believes in your solution, it gets spec’d in. When they don’t, it doesn’t.
At Defigo, we’ve made a conscious choice to lean into our channel strategy. ISC West only reinforced that’s the right call.
4. Partnerships are shaping the future
No one wins alone. And that’s never been more clear.
From native integrations with access control and video, white-labeled intercom solutions embedded inside resident apps, to bundled offerings that make deployments smoother, collaboration between ecosystem players is what’s unlocking real innovation.
The companies that will thrive are the ones that are easy to work with. Those that play well with others. Those that understand that their product is one part of a much larger stack—and treat their partners accordingly.
Check out our article about Smart Home Fatigue to learn more about why people are demanding this sort of partnership.
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For the past few years, there has been a large focus on new technologies, AI, and creating new systems for every part and aspect of a building. From what Umair has learned at ISC West this year, while new technology is not going anywhere, the focus has started shifting more towards ease of use, partnerships and simplicity.
Real Estate professionals and Integrators are on the look out for technology that makes their lives easier, and the lives of the tenants that they represent.
Were you at ISC West this year? Let us know if you had similar takeaways.
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