Public Safety & Law Enforcement
Recent events—including Hurricane Katrina, forest fires, floods, and the H1N1 Flu outbreak— have increasingly drawn our attention to the importance of law enforcement and public safety missions. Increased focus on Police, Fire, and EMS missions have also driven public administrators and citizens to evaluate the lessons learned from these important events and address gaps that have been identified though this increased scrutiny.
Citizens and public administrators are demanding more from public safety agencies and are working creatively to secure financing to support their growth. Despite the economic turmoil most state and local governments are experiencing, advances in technology remain a priority.
Overall Market Trends:
- Economic Uncertainty - While grant funding continues to flow to states and local communities, two other primary sources of funding for first responders—tax receipts and bond issuances—have become scarce in states facing fiscal crises. Purchases of critical systems and equipment may be put off today, but will need to be addressed when public balance sheets begin to improve.
- Federal Influence on Markets - One of the biggest changes in the market over the past 8 years has been the increase in federal investment in improving operations and technology for law enforcement and first responders, most commonly in the form of grants. This influx of money has fundamentally changed the market, increasing its size and making localities more dependent on an outside source of funding for major technology upgrades, training, and other spending priorities.
- Evolving Procurement Practices - The rise of cooperative purchasing arrangements (e.g., like the Western States Contracting Alliance or US Communities™ Government Purchasing Alliance) have created greater purchasing power for the customer and has driven down the cost of some commodity products in the market.
- Increased M&A Activity - Both strategic and financial investors have made significant acquisitions in this market. Foreign players, along with the traditional defense contractors, have begun to make strategic M&A moves to improve access to the customers, sales channels, and technology. Likewise, financial investors have helped small to medium-sized firms already focused on this market to mature and accelerate growth and valuation for re-sale.
- Sales Channel Management - Many companies have rebalanced their sales channels based on their evolving offerings and market strategy. Firms who have sought access to larger, more sophisticated opportunities have increased their direct sales resources. Likewise, firms looking for increased sales across the full breadth of this diverse market have improved their relationships with dealers, wholesalers and other indirect sales resources. For new market entrants, building a sales channel strategy has often proven to be a daunting proposition.
Public Safety Communications Market Trends
- Interoperability Challenges Remain - Despite the resources applied to solving the much publicized communications problems among first responders, much work to improve interoperability remains. Appropriate technology is available, but the difficulty of coordinating purchasing decisions and the enduring effect of legacy equipment continues to hinder progress. Standards like APCO P25 have helped, but recent disaster response activity continues to point to the need for even greater integration.
- Influence of Commercial Technology - Technology from the commercial and military markets has been a more dominant force of change in the recent past. From the use of software defined technology for land mobile radios (LMRs), to commercial wireless and data applications for in-car laptops, to heavy use of Geospatial Information Solutions (GIS) tools/imagery to improve 911 dispatch systems, the rate of technology maturation has been stunning.
AVASCENT’S EXPERIENCE SERVING THE PUBLIC SAFETY & LAW ENFORCEMENT SECTOR
Avascent’s extensive experience in the law enforcement & public safety sector provides unmatched value for our clients. Avascent has tracked changes in the market in recent years, evaluating trends and recommending strategies to help our clients respond to market developments. This analysis has helped our clients make significant adaptations to improve competitiveness and increase market share in this hyper-competitive market.
Avascent’s offerings range from acquisition strategies to broad based technology evaluations. Avascent’s market expertise--encompassing trends and drivers, customer preferences and requirements, and competitive dynamics—is paired with lengthy experience solving business problems, crafting strategy, and structuring business models. This combination allows Avascent to make targeted recommendations to drive success in the law enforcement & public safety market.