Where to start?

["eas" <especkman@xxxxxxxxx>]

I'm helping a friend plan the security and automation system for his
house.

My background is in software program/project management and IT
management, so I'm fairly technical, but not a developer and I have
basically no experience with home security or automation.

The installation is a compound of 3 houses.  The main house is large,
4000+ square feet, I'd guess.  There are also two smaller houses of
about 1000-1500 square feet.  All are interconnected with multiple
bundles of structured cable.  All are stuffed with wire (the main house
has cat5 to every lightswitch location, and just about any where you
might want to put a sensor.  Lighting and switches are actually
backhauled to a few wiring closets to ease later installation of
automation systems.

The immediate need is to get security & safety into all the houses,
ideally with access control (1 door per house + a driveway gate) and
video surveilance (outdoor approaches and entry areas) soon.  At this
point, the installed infrastructure is limited to all the wiring, some
stress sensors (sure action?) installed in some floor and roof
locations, and some driveway sensors.

I'm hoping to go with a system that delivers a good user experience and
is relatively open to integration with home control and automation
systems down the line (able to make sensor data available to automation
system).  Paying a bit of a premium for something cutting edge would be
acceptable, but only if it gets us onboard emerging standards now.  The
owner is a PC guy, has made his money in the PC universe, likes open
ecosystems and has dismissed Crestron as too mainframe like.

So, where is the market going, who are the interesting vendors in this
space?    Is the next big thing here already for those willing to pay a
bit of a premium, or am I better off going with something more in line
with the status quo that  might have an upgrade path? If so who seems
best about supporting thing like ethernet and IP connectivity and
interoperability?

I've spent a fair amount of time over the past month on this, and I'm
starting to get my head around some of it, but at this point, its more
obvious to me what's happening with automation and video surveilance
than with alarms.

Thanks for any opinions!