Winning a security project today is a bit like playing a game of chess. With every potential job, you face a wide variety of opponents (competitors) who have an even wider variety of moves (security offerings/competitive advantages), all aimed at putting your king into checkmate; in effect, freezing you out of the job.

Flat is a four-letter word when it comes to the economic performance of the security installation channel in 2011. Despite predictions last year for a meager, yet optimistic 1 percent uptick in 2011, expectations did not materialize and total industry revenue neither grew nor fell — keeping at $43.9 billion. Perhaps because of this, integrators and security dealers are now ultra cautious, offering flat projections for 2012.