PSIM Defined
- By Steven Titch
- Jun 01, 2009
Security Squared
http://www.securitysquared.com
As a byword, physical security information management, or PSIM, expresses the goal of security and IP convergence. Significantly, the term has roots in IT, and as a concept, PSIM represents an IT-oriented approach to platform integration.
Simply put, PSIM is the integration of numerous incompatible security systems through a third-party software hub that collects and correlates the individual data and presents an auditable response plan to command-and-control security operations.
While both video and access control-oriented software vendors are working toward this end, a group of smaller software companies, including Orsus Solutions, Proximex, Quantum Secure and Vidsys, have staked out territory in this segment, promoting solutions that allow users to collect and evaluate data from video, access control, analytics, sensors and alarm systems from a single, centralized and easy-to-manage point.
Parallels With It
Executives at these companies see PSIM as both a parallel and extension of enterprise IT networking.
“The parallels between the IT world and the physical world are that the PSIM category is the same as the [security information management] category on the IT side of the house,” said Ajay Jain, CEO of Quantum Secure. “Just like you have networking and firewall-related alarms and events coming out of your routers, firewalls and computers, you have similar kinds of events that come out of your building management systems, fire systems and CCTV. Just like in the IT world, the [physical] identity and access management market out there is very strong because the whole process of authenticating and credentialing that particular person across global facilities, zones and buildings is a daunting challenge.”
David Fowler, senior vice president of marketing and product development for VidSys, said there are a lot of incompatible technologies to contend with. “Without standards, it’s difficult to get these technologies to work together,” he said. “We are taking lessons we learned in IT and applying them to security.”
PSIM software differs from IP-based video management or access management software in the overall scope of systems it brings together. PSIM systems not only correlate inputs from multiple platforms performing one application –– e.g., video systems from Pelco or access control systems from Genetec –– they also crunch together the whole kit and caboodle. This makes PSIM attractive to large users with multiple systems deployed over a wide range of facilities, said Rafi Bhonker, vice president of marketing and sales at Orsus. Orsus customers include Transnet Ltd., the South African freight rail company, which reduced operating costs by 30 percent with Orsus’ Situator PSIM software, according to Kay Nayager, manager of technical security.
“We paid off the system in nine months,” Nayager said. “We thought it would take 18. The PSIM approach allows the railroad to be proactive in response to situations.
“Using PISM, when a train makes an unscheduled stop, rules require a complete safety check before it can restart,” Nayager said. “In the past, this could take three to four hours.”
Now, if a train is going to make an unscheduled stop, the Orsus system automatically triggers an alarm up to five minutes before the train comes to a standstill.
“The system then notifies crews who are geographically nearest, as well as alerting other railroad security officials,” he said.
Key Functions
While the PSIM term tends to be bandied about somewhat freely, PSIM vendors, along with security consultants, such as Steve Hunt of Hunt Business Intelligence and John Honovich of IPVideoMarket.info, generally agree that to be considered true PSIM, a system must perform five functions:
Integration. The system must allow users to connect external physical security systems––video, access, security, safety, building management systems, employee information systems, enterprise resource planning and human resources databases––and be able to collect and process information from them.
Correlation and verification. The system must be able to accurately discern the nature of the incident and issue an appropriate series of alerts. That means if a smoke alarm is triggered, the system verifies the situation with video imaging, crosschecks the alarm with any other alarms –– e.g., a gas leak or hazmat –– checks an access control database to determine who is in the affected area and then presents a coherent picture of the event to command center personnel. By correlating various data, the Transnet PSIM system can tell the difference between an attempted copper wire theft and a burst water pipe and immediately issue appropriate action plans to the right people.
Visualization. PSIM systems present information in a way that shows security directors exactly what is happening and enables them to respond accordingly.
“If there’s a fire in Lab 21 in Japan, you immediately want to know how many people are in that particular lab,” Jain said. “We correlate those kinds of events and take corrective action, whatever that action needs to be for that particular identity.” Systems also should pull together data from internal alarms, video and access control systems and match it to geographical information systems, including external data from resources such as Google Earth.
Workflow. A PSIM system must provide a checklist of specific procedures and steps responders need to take based on predetermined rules-based procedures. What’s more, it needs to be able to transmit different sets of instructions to the appropriate personnel. In the case of a plant fire, firefighters might get floor plans and live video of the blaze, police may be informed to close access roads and reroute traffic and civilians might get instructions on evacuation routes or orders to shelter-in-place.
Analysis. Finally, PSIM creates a record of action that permits forensic review of an entire response.
“Reports go through step-by-step what happened, who was alerted, where did they go and how did it work,” Bhonker said. Fowler reminds prospective buyers that PSIM is a software solution that brings different types of hardware together -- not a guise to sell hardware. PSIM, he said, allows IP to leverage existing solutions, even if the interoperable standards aren’t there yet. In fact, the value of a PSIM solution grows as a user’s individual systems increase.
“You keep what you have, but use the software to keep aggregating the systems up,” he said.
This article originally appeared in the June 2009 issue of Network-Centric Security.
About the Author
Steven Titch is editor of Network-Centric Security magazine.