Discrete logic design
I'm not a professional electronics engineer at all (actually just a beginner), but my few cents are that dedicated discrete logic ICs should only be used if timing is important or if it is a requirement not to use programmable logic. 

With a microcontroller you can implement much more complicated logic and it is more flexible. Also it can be reprogrammed without having to change the hardware.

Also when very fast timings are needed that software cannot keep up with, dedicated logic ICs could be used. But for an alarm system this seems unneeded (it does not need a response time of nanoseconds).

Below is my interpretation of the advantages/disadvantages:

                          Discrete logic (ICs)      Programmable logic/
                                                    (Microcontrollers)
 Nanosecond speed                  x                         -
 Just a few 'operators' needed     x                         -
 No tool chain needed              x                         -
 Cost Efficiency *                 -                         x
 PCB / proto size                  -                         x
 Flexibility for changing          -                         x
 Production cost                   -                         x
 Possibility to extend features    -                         x

* Assuming more than a few (different) logic functions needed