It’s amazing how much can change in a year. Last year’s state of the market report on access control was released at the beginning of April, just as the coronavirus started to spread throughout the U.S., and much of the research that went into the report was done before COVID-19 was a real concern.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES. As I sit in my home office in Maryland (unlike many of you I already worked from home, so that hasn’t changed), the first daffodils are appearing and the beautiful flowering trees are starting to bud. The vaccine news here and around the country seems to be getting more and more positive by the day, and there is a general feeling of real optimism that things might get back to closer to “normal” soon.

FOR MOST OF US HERE IN THE UNITED STATES, March marks one year since our lives — both personally and professionally — turned upside down as the result of a disease scientists called COVID-19.

SOMEHOW, A YEAR HAS PASSED since the mysterious coronavirus spread to the United States and changed everything as we know it. At first, it seemed like the pause in business would only last a couple weeks. But soon, weeks turned into months, and now here we are, a year later, completely changed as an industry.

Like individuals who resolve to lose weight or save more, businesses have resolutions or goals, many of which do not get executed or even incorporated into the upcoming year’s business plan. Just like “I am going to lose weight” needs a resolve to change exercise and eating habits, so too do business objectives require the thoughtful and deliberate strategy to deliver the desired outcome.

The new Touchless Solutions eBook from dormakaba, a provider in access and security solutions, addresses the five most critical points where hygiene is important.

Things have changed for everyone since March when the pandemic caused many closures in businesses, government offices, schools, churches and other public locations. As my primary business is providing hands-on training classes in fiber optics and IP networking, COVID-19 has caused my 2020 schedule to be wiped clean.

The COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to dramatically change our customers’ security and video surveillance system needs. Where past concerns were primarily focused on intrusion detection, shoplifting and/or vandalism, and life safety, now added to these issues are concerns about the spreading of the coronavirus from proximity to an infected person. 

In the last six months many of us have endured changes to our daily lives that would have been unthinkable a few months earlier. The term social distancing has entered our lexicon; many of us now routinely wear masks to go about errands.

The last two months have been interesting, to say the least. What’s the report from the Universal Headquarters of Slayton Solutions at the bunker in Bucktown Chicago? Well, the reality of the COVID-19 attack has changed a whole lot of things for us, and created some interesting opportunities to do things differently.