Digital infrastructure? Check. Cloud computing? Check. Managed services? Check. Cybersecurity? Check. Presidio has all that down pat.
While some systems integration companies are only now venturing into the IT space as physical security and networking disciplines continue to converge, Presidio has been there from the beginning. The publicly traded company (NYSE: PSDO) remains hyper-focused on providing consultative and managed IT solutions – assisting customers in harnessing technologies that help them transform their businesses, realize a lower total cost of ownership and attain a strong return on investment from leveraging the latest integrated networking, IT and physical security services.
Clocking in at the No. 4 position in this year’s Fast 50, Presidio is headquartered in New York City with an extensive network of national locations. Established in 2003 and 100 percent commercial-business focused, Presidio’s mission centers on excellence in IT managed services, cloud computing, infrastructure as a service and security as a service.
The company views its operations as an extension of its clients’ IT teams, providing deep expertise that lets their customers focus on their core business. Presidio has more than 60 locations and 100 full-time employees in its Physical Security business unit. Other business operations (not included in Fast 50 revenue reporting) include Digital Infrastructure, Business Analytics, Cloud and Emerging Solutions.
Services include: strategy and consulting; solutions design and deployment; field services; lifecycle services and customer success; managed services; supplemental engineering; asset maintenance and support; financing; global support; and carrier connectivity. All total, the company had $2.8 billion in annual revenue (2018) and is owned by funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management LLC – the same company that acquired and merged Protection One, ASG and ADT in 2016.
Cybersecurity Services a Key Differentiator
Presidio has a national Cybersecurity organization that provides a value-add umbrella in supporting its Physical Security organization, recommending a framework and process approach based on standards and industry leading OEMs such as Cisco and Palo Alto.
“Presidio is a provider of tier 1 security solutions to our customer base. We deliver high-quality solutions and want our customers to know they can turn to us as their trusted advisors,” says CEO Bob Cagnazzi.
The company’s cybersecurity organization has been in existence for several years and is one of its fastest growing segments. “We see clear linkage between traditional IT security and physical security, and we have the expertise to help clients in both areas,” Cagnazzi says. “We are beginning to include physical security audits and assessments in our cybersecurity assessments, and clients truly see the value.”
Presidio does not manufacture software or hardware, but instead focuses on integrating solutions from best-of-breed companies and partnering with companies such as Cisco Systems and Palo Alto Networks to help organizations build and execute a full security architecture. In addition, Presidio has an offering called Next Generation Risk Management (NGRM), which is a lifecycle approach to help clients build, deploy and continue to perfect their security environments.
As a testament to its IT-centric proficiency, Presidio has been singled out by numerous partners and business associations for special achievements and expertise, performance and customer satisfaction – most recently recognized as Intel 2019 Partner of the Year, Equinix 2018 Americas New Partner of the Year and Citrix 2018 Workspace Partner of the Year.
Building Partnerships
Adhering to standards and focusing on leading OEM partnerships and solutions in the physical security space, Presidio works with well-recognized and respected companies that include Lenel, Milestone, Avigilon and others. “When you add our top-tier partner focus with the fact Presidio has a very robust IT business in areas such as data center, cloud, virtualization and IT security, we feel these combined organizations deliver a differentiated, value-add solution to the market,” Cagnazzi says.
A sizeable amount of Presidio’s revenue streams are generated from the IT integration business in areas such as data center, contact center, cloud and IT security. Specific to its Physical Security business, surveillance and access control are key aspects – and the company stays current through continual training, industry participation and trade shows, as well as ongoing internal evaluation and friendly, “in-house debate” on potential solutions to onboard.
“Presidio prides ourselves on culture and making sure our employees and customers feel they are part of something unique and special,” Cagnazzi explains. “Being publicly traded, we understand growth and profitability are a key part of our mission, and we can best achieve our objectives by taking exceptional care of employees and customers.”
Like other companies in the industry, Cagnazzi says getting the top talent it needs to continue its philosophy and mission to the customer is an ongoing issue. “Our primary challenge is finding qualified talent in all areas of our business – sales, engineering and operations – to help support our growth and maintain the level of quality we expect,” he says. “We also see a fast move towards artificial intelligence, machine learning and cloud computing and we need to make sure we keep up with this accelerated demand from our customer base.”
To offset some of these daily challenges, Presidio invests heavily in training, making sure its culture keeps and attracts top talent, while leveraging qualified contractors where it makes sense.
With industrial, healthcare and education its top-performing vertical markets, the company has built strong sales, presales and engineering teams to help align with their client’s security and business needs. “We can move quickly to understand unique business requirements, build solutions and enable delivery teams to execute,” Cagnazzi continues. “Having done a sizeable amount of healthcare, we have a deep understanding of industry trends, requirements and regulations.”
For Presidio, traditional physical security technologies – integrated security management solutions, video storage and retention, network video and access control management – have generated the most sales during the last 24 months. Leading edge technologies, such as video analytics, license plate recognition, cybersecurity, audiovisual and 4K video solutions have also generated significant sales over the last two years.
“Video analytics as well as facial and license plate recognition are critical pieces of a proactive security platform,” Cagnazzi explains. “We are deploying all of these solutions for customers in a number of use cases such as large campus environments, retail, highly-secured areas such as R&D facilities, as well as trucking and freight organizations.”
Pacing Ahead of the Curve
Fast 50 and the fastest-growing security integrators are companies that embrace change, work to outpace it and stay poised to address market shifts. As other companies stand on the precipice of making the move to a more Managed Service Provider (MSP)-type business model, Presidio is ahead of the curve.
“Our mission is to enable our clients to capture economic value from the digital transformation of their businesses by developing, implementing and managing cloud-ready, secure and agile IT Infrastructure solutions,” Cagnazzi says. “We deliver this technology expertise through a full life cycle model of professional, managed and support services including strategy, consulting, implementation and design.”
Managed services are essential to the company’s long-term success, and Presidio’s clients are demanding partners who have the ability to manage the solutions they sell and deploy. “To remain relevant in our industry, we must be able to offer options ranging from monitoring to fully managed and ‘as-a-service’ models,” Cagnazzi adds.
For others seeking to emulate the growth and success Presidio has attained, Cagnazzi urges them to invest in talent, build a culture employees love and partner with OEMs and customers who share in their vision.
Deborah L. O’Mara is the managing director of DLO Communications and has been writing about the physical security and systems integration industry for more than two decades. Reach her at [email protected].
