18 Jun From control room to SOC

Tamer Mohannad, Regional Sales Manager ME&A, SCATI, talks about the future of security operations.

As security environments grow more complex and operational demands intensify, the traditional control room is undergoing a fundamental transformation. No longer limited to monitoring alarms and video feeds, today’s Security & Operations Centres (SOCs) are emerging as integrated command hubs; where security, business processes and data converge to support faster, more informed decision-making.

How do you define the modern Security & Operations Centre (SOC), and how has SCATI’s vision for it changed over the last five years?

Today, a control centre can no longer be understood merely as a place where video surveillance systems, alarms, access control and other subsystems are monitored. It is evolving into a SOC — Security & Operations Centre — a command centre that coordinates security, operations and data under a unified operating model.

This evolution has become especially visible in recent years. In the past, the priority was to connect systems; now, the challenge is for that integration to support a more unified operation. In practice, this means that detecting, investigating, responding, evaluating and deciding no longer function as isolated steps, but become part of the same operational cycle, with more context, greater traceability and a more consistent response.

Which business problems — beyond crime prevention — do SOCs now solve for organisations, such as efficiency, operations and revenue protection?

SOCs increasingly contribute to efficiency, operational continuity and decision-making. They help reduce response times, improve coordination between areas, standardise procedures across sites and provide much stronger traceability for every action taken.

Furthermore, when the control centre integrates information from buildings, sensors, access control, video and operational data, it begins to deliver value in areas such as energy efficiency, resource management, process control, compliance and revenue protection. In sectors such as banking, retail, logistics and smart buildings, the impact is no longer limited to preventing incidents; it also improves daily operations and the quality of decision-making.

 

 

How are AI and video analytics changing event verification and operator workflows in SCATI deployments?

AI and video analytics are primarily changing the way events are verified. Their value lies not in replacing the operator, but in helping them work better. When an alert arrives with an initial layer of context — where it is happening, which asset it affects, whether it coincides with another event or whether it breaks a usual pattern — the operator understands what is happening sooner and can decide more quickly whether an immediate response is required.

This also changes the workflow. Instead of reacting to a high volume of poorly prioritised signals, the team can work with better-prioritised events, clearer procedures and less manual workload. In practice, this reduces operational noise, improves consistency between shifts and shortens the time spent verifying before taking action.

As SOCs converge physical and IT security, what are the main cybersecurity risks introduced by unified platforms — and how does SCATI mitigate them?

When physical security and technology converge, the first mistake is to think of cybersecurity as something separate. Today, cameras, control devices, servers, workstations and access points are part of a connected infrastructure. The risk is not only intrusion; it may also involve a loss of availability, traceability or response capability precisely when it is needed most.

At SCATI, cybersecurity is important because our physical security systems are part of a connected infrastructure. We are not only talking about protecting cameras or access points, but about protecting the operational continuity, traceability and trust on which our customers rely. That is why we address it from the design, integration and management stages — an approach that is now also reinforced by ISO 27001 certification.

How do you ensure secure integrations with third-party systems — BMS, HR, POS, legacy VMS — without creating attack surfaces?

Our position here is very clear: interoperability, yes, but without losing control. It is not about connecting everything indiscriminately, but about doing so through a well-governed architecture where it is clear what data is exchanged, for what purpose, under which permissions and with what traceability.

This requires open platforms, but also integration discipline. In our experience, the key is to combine standard protocols, well-defined integrations and clear governance of access, roles and permitted actions. In this way, integration provides real operational context without introducing unnecessary complexity or exposure.

 

 

How does SCATI RECKON, business intelligence, turn video and metadata into actionable operational insights, and which verticals see the quickest ROI?

SCATI RECKON captures, processes and analyses metadata from video surveillance, access control, facial recognition, licence plate recognition and other external sources, such as management systems and databases. The goal is to transform this data into structured, correlated and useful information for supervision, analysis and decision-making through dashboards, KPIs and customised reports.

Return on investment is usually seen sooner in verticals with a high volume of repetitive operations, traceability requirements and auditing needs. In banking, for example, it helps link transactions with video; in logistics, it connects Warehouse Management System data with video and goods traceability; in retail, it helps understand flows, behaviour and point-of-sale operations; and in corporate security or critical infrastructure, it combines sensors, alarms and video to provide a more contextualised view of the event.

How do you approach data governance and privacy when exposing video-derived business intelligence to non-security teams, such as operations or marketing?

The first step is to assume that not everyone needs to see the same information. We can define roles and decide what information is made available to each user profile, so that each team only accesses what it truly needs. This allows operational intelligence to be shared across departments without exposing more information than necessary.

From there, traceability remains key. It is not only important what information is shared, but also who accesses it, for what purpose and under which policies. That is why we place great importance on user profiles, access control to information and the ability to audit actions, turning data into useful intelligence without losing control or governance.

As a long-standing manufacturer with proprietary software, what are the core architectural choices that set SCATI apart from open VMS plus best-of-breed stacks?

One important difference is that we start from proprietary technology, but with a clearly open vision. This allows us to maintain coherence between video surveillance, integration, workflows, automation and data exploitation, without giving up the ability to integrate third-party systems. For the customer, this usually translates into less operational friction and a platform that is more closely aligned with the way they actually work.

The other key lies in the architecture: open, scalable platforms designed to integrate different subsystems and sources of information within the same operation. We do not advocate a closed solution, but rather an approach in which integration, traceability and user experience are conceived as part of the same whole, not as disconnected pieces that later have to be stitched together in the field.

How do you design operator interfaces to avoid cognitive overload when feeding multiple systems and AI alerts into a single pane?

A unified environment truly works when it organises information and helps people act better. The important thing is not to gather more alerts in one place, but to reduce distractions, prioritise effectively and support useful decisions. If the platform forces the operator to mentally organise everything they receive, then it is not solving the problem.

That is why the design must start from real operations: clear alerts, visible criticality, associated context, accessible procedures and role-based personalisation. Not all users need the same level of detail. When the system presents information with hierarchy and operational logic, cognitive load naturally decreases and the response gains focus and consistency.

Looking ahead three to five years, which capabilities will define the next generation of SOCs — predictive analytics, autonomous response, cross-domain orchestration? What is SCATI actively developing or investing in now?

Over the next three to five years, I believe the SOCs that make a difference will be those that manage to combine three capabilities: better interpretation of context, a more structured response and real orchestration across domains. I am not talking about replacing the operator, but about giving them better tools to decide more quickly, more consistently and with less operational noise.

The natural evolution is moving towards greater automation of response protocols, increased correlation between systems and greater exploitation of data to turn events into operational intelligence. If we look at where integration and business intelligence platforms are heading today, the trend is clear: more open, more traceable, more automated environments that are more useful for coordinating security, operations and decision-making within the same framework.

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