Need more evidence that surveillance cameras and other physical security technologies are rapidly entering the IT sphere? If Ingram Micro Canada’s new Physical Security division launch didn’t convince you, consider that D-Link has added physical security as a specialization to its channel program.

In 2010, 60 per cent of physical security products sold were analogue, with about 40 per cent IP-based, according to numbers from IMS Research. Fast forward to 2015, and that figure jumps to about 70 per cent for IP, with 25 per cent analogue with HD-over-coax in single digits.

“It’s a pretty fast swing,” said Steve Ryan, director of North American channel programs for D-Link.

And it’s one that looks awfully familiar to those who’ve been in the networking field for a while, as Ryan has. In fact, it looks a lot like the voice/network convergence he saw while still with 3Com.

“It’s exactly the same situation as VOIP 10 years ago,” Ryan said. “It just has a superior economic model and lands perfectly in the networking world.”

To recognize that opportunity and in a bid to help the traditional D-Link VAR adapt and take advantage of it, the company has added a IP Surveillance Technology Specialization to its Value in Partner (VIP) partner program.

The company offers IP surveillance training in three distinct tracts.

Its D-Link Certified Specialist program is for pre-sales technical staff, and takes about two hours of on-demand training, while its D-Link Certified Professional status is much more technical, and requires a bit more training. Providing more of an overview, its D-Link Sales Specialist training only takes about 30 minutes of online training to get a partner up and running with the basics of the market, the products and the opportunity.

“It’s by far the most downloaded course from our partner base right now,” Ryan said.

Of course, convergence is a two-way street – at the same time as D-Link is ramping up in physical security with the IT channel through its traditional distributors (Ingram Micro, Tech Data, Synnex, Supercom, D&H and ASI), it’s also looking to break into the physical security channel.

“It’s a new market for us, Ryan said.

And a new market for the resellers as well – one where the channel programs are much more compelling. According to Ryan, the closed circuit dealers he’s working with are unfamiliar with things that seem basic in the IT channel program world – things like backend rebates and deal registration. Get to something like D-Link’s “bounty program,” which offers Gold and Silver partners three points for of a total deal’s value even for deals that D-Link doesn’t ultimately win, and they’re truly flabbergasted, as Ryan tells it.

“They’re wowed by it,” Ryan said. “The manufacturers they’re working with don’t have the kind of channel program that our industry – that a D-Link or a Cisco – has.”

To build up its dealer network on the security side, D-Link is currently well into discussions with two distributors that serve that market in Canada, Ryan said.