The 2026 State of the Verticals Benchmark Report

Three sectors, one structural shift. This report gives security leaders the intelligence to understand where their vertical stands - and what the organizations getting it right are doing differently.

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Industry Intelligence. Lee Odess' perspective.

Lee Odess is the Founder of The Access Control Collective and has spent decades at the centre of the physical security industry - as an operator, builder, and one of its most respected independent voices. Throughout this report, his commentary cuts through the findings with the kind of candour and clarity that only comes from someone who has watched this market evolve from the inside. The parts the industry tends to whisper, Lee says out loud.

Three verticals. Three sets of pressures. One direction of travel.

Every vertical is navigating the shift from door hardware to identity infrastructure on its own terms - different mandates, different budgets, different trigger points. This report maps where each one stands and what it takes to move forward.

Education is accelerating

K-12 and higher education are navigating a measurable shift - from lockdown-speed thinking to daily operational safety. What’s driving procurement decisions, why fragmented systems are costing districts more than they realize, and what the institutions building for the next 20 years are doing differently.

Healthcare is changing

Healthcare buyers aren’t looking for new tools - they’re looking for a way out of the complexity they’ve already accumulated. What consolidation credibility actually looks like, and what separates the vendors winning platform projects from those that aren’t.

Financial Institutions are bifurcating

Enterprise banks have been running standardized access control deployments for years. Regional institutions are still catching up. The bifurcation shaping the market, the trigger moments that unlock platform investment, and what governance-first procurement actually demands.

The 2026 State of the Verticals Benchmark Report

Three sectors, one structural shift. This report gives security leaders the intelligence to understand where their vertical stands - and what the organizations getting it right are doing differently.

Get the Report

Proven Partner in Education

Trusted by top organizations to secure spaces and streamline operations – across schools worldwide, Acre delivers reliable protection backed by responsive support and education security expertise.