一、The Development Process and Characteristics of the Security Industry?

    After 20 years of rapid development, the security industry has gone through three stages. In terms of product form, the first stage was characterized by analog products, the second by network products, and the third by intelligent products. In terms of business models, the first stage featured a product - centric profit model, the second a service - centric one, and the third an operation - centric one. From the above analysis, whether in terms of product form or profit model, the industry attributes of the security industry have become increasingly blurred. Taking product form as an example, in the first stage of analog products, due to the nature of analog products, the boundaries between them and other products were relatively clear. However, when products evolved into network and intelligent products, the boundaries between security products and IT and Internet products became increasingly blurred, forming a cross - border integrated application model for products. In terms of profit models, the product - centric profit model in the early stage had obvious distinctions from other industries. But with the emergence of service and operation models, the boundaries between the security industry and other IT industries have become even more blurred, showing a trend of cross - border application of profit models.

二、The Inevitable Cross - border Development of the Industry

    The security industry involves the core interests of users' safety. With the development of technology and the current severe situation, users' safety needs are developing towards comprehensiveness and diversity. This requires all - round protection, prompting security systems to integrate with other systems to meet users' various personalized security needs. Driven by such needs, the cross - border development of the security industry will become inevitable. For example, when combined with urban safety, it forms the cornerstone of a smart city; when combined with supermarket loss prevention, it forms the prototype of a smart supermarket; when paired with large - scale production, it forms the basic framework of Industry 4.0; when combined with logistics, it forms the basic form of visual logistics process management.

三、The First - mover Advantage of Independent Software Vendors

    In the cross - border integration of the security industry, software systems play an important role. Since the boundaries between security systems and other systems are becoming increasingly unclear, the security requirements are also diverse. Some requirements cannot be met by hardware, so software systems need to have flexible customizability. Independent software has survived tenaciously in the security industry in its own way. For the cross - border integration of the security industry, independent software has a natural first - mover advantage. Firstly, independent software has been deeply involved in the security industry for many years, thoroughly understanding the industry's needs and being able to grasp the core demands of users. Secondly, independent software has a natural open nature. It is not only open to front - end devices but also to other back - end systems, giving it a first - mover advantage in cross - border integration. Finally, the business model of independent software also enables it to adapt more quickly to cross - border integration. The essence of software's survival lies in its service attributes and the operational attributes of its subsequent development, which are exactly what cross - border integration requires.

四、Conclusion

With the promotion of the "Internet +" concept and the maturity of various technologies closely related to the security field, such as big data, intelligent analysis, cloud technology, and video coding technology, the overall strength of the security industry has been further enhanced, forming a development trend of vertical, horizontal, and cross - border integration. In addition to having in - depth industry technology accumulation and cognitive advantages in the field, independent software vendors also have considerable IT technology precipitation. This has reserved sufficient energy for the upcoming wave of industry integration, enabling them to gain a first - mover advantage.