Systems integrator and managed security services provider Kastle Systems International last week announced that Haniel Lynn, the former Group President of corporate advisory services firm CEB (Corporate Executive Board), now Gartner’s Best Practices & Decision Support business, has been named as its new Chief Executive Officer. In his new role, Lynn will oversee the entire KSI portfolio of security companies, including Kastle Systems, Mutual Security, Stat Land Security, Urban Alarm, and CheckVideo.
The company’s former CEO, Piyush Sodha, will continue to serve as co-chairman and co-owner alongside chairman and majority owner Mark Ein.
Lynn, who spent 16 years at CEB, has more than two decades of global operating and executive management experience. In addition to CEB, Lynn also held positions at GE Information Services, McKinsey & Company, and technology startup LYTE.
SecurityInfoWatch (SIW) recently sat down with Lynn to discuss what attracted him to the security industry and what he hopes to accomplish over both the short and long-term at the helm of KSI.
SIW: What was it that appealed to you about the security industry and Kastle Systems, in particular?
Lynn: There probably aren’t more timely and important topics right now for communities and society, at large, than security and safety. It’s an issue that matters a lot to all of us and, in some cases, it matters quite personally so, at an industry level, there is a certain importance to the topic now that matters more than ever. It’s also an industry that has gone through a lot of change if you think about changes in the development of technology, the shifting needs and expectations of the markets and customers in it or how people are looking to buy (technology) and make decisions. In and through all of that change is a lot of opportunity.
There are a lot of things that drew me to (Kastle). I was attracted to the record of innovation and market-leading products that the company has and I love the way that Kastle talks about it, focusing on the customer and making sure they are serving them well. It is something that I’ve found since I’ve been here, even for just a few days now, and it is really baked into the system and culture of the company. The other thing that drew me here was the culture and emphasis on people inside the company. If you get really great people and put together a really good culture then you can just do amazing things within all of that.
SIW: What skills and experiences from your previous posts do you feel will translate well to your new position at Kastle Systems?
Lynn: I was a part of the growth (at CEB) from a little bit more than $100 million (in revenue) up to close to $1 billion. The last post that I had was group president over the best practices research advisory business that served senior functional executives across the executive suite – think of the CFO, CIO, heads of sales, heads of marketing, etc. – and through that role I was lucky enough to be exposed to the most progressive leaders and the most progressive companies and really the best practices in running those functions. I hope to bring some of that perspective to help grow and scale Kastle in its next evolution.
Within my broader role at CBE, I did spend a lot of my 16 years in the sales and marketing world leading that part of the business and I have a strong personal passion for market-facing work – product development, packaging or positioning of products, pricing, and how you put that all together to drive sales and growth, so I feel like I have a pretty good sense of how to turn market need into something that can be delivered in a way that resonates with the market and prospective buyers.
SIW: What do you see as being some of the biggest trends influencing the security industry currently and what kinds of opportunities do you feel that presents your company moving forward?
Lynn: This is a market that is facing an onslaught of technology: cloud (services), analytics, mobile, Internet of Things, and you can name a lot of these different things that are coming together now that create a different level of service and support for our clients than maybe anybody would have been able to conceive of before. Through all of these technologies coming together - managed services is just really reaching its prime - it is becoming very difficult for property owners and managers to stay on top of and manage all of this (security technology) on their own and deploy this all own their own. Kastle was a pioneer in the managed access control services business and on that kind of a platform we can build and extend our support to our customers and the market and be able to grow from there.
SIW: We oftentimes hear today about how decreasing margins are having a significant impact on the industry and on systems integrators, in particular. How are you addressing this at Kastle and how do you think your strategy might change down the line?
Lynn: To me, (improving) margins is really a question at the top line level of are you creating a differentiated enough product that allows you to capture price in the market or win a disproportionate share in the marketplace? If we can continue to focus on the right thing for our customers – developing products that help them accomplish their goals, create value and make sure we are serving them well to a level that creates loyalty and advocacy – then that will help to prop up the top line. Meanwhile, of course, we’re always going to have to keep an eye on operations and make sure we are asking ourselves whether we are doing things as efficiently and effectively as we can be. Then we can make the choice of whether we want to take the dollars out of the cost structure or continue to invest into our client experience and products to make sure that our top line remains strong. There are a number of levers to pull but I want to make sure we are doing right by the customer and the market and hopefully we can manage the cost/margin structure in a reasonable way.
SIW: What are some of your goals for Kastle Systems in both the short and long-term?
Lynn: We have a fantastic business that is building on a fantastic growth year that, in the near term, I just want to frankly stay out of the way and make sure we are successfully closing out this year and setting up for another successful one ahead. Looking longer term, I would love to understand the opportunities for us to accelerate our growth – whether that is in continuing to build out our geographies where we reach our customers today, our product capabilities or even in different markets.
About the Author:
Joel Griffin is the Editor-in-Chief of SecurityInfoWatch.com and a veteran security journalist. You can reach him at [email protected].
