Integrator Connection: Securitas Accomplishes One-Stop Shopping

When Securitas acquired Diebold’s North American electronic security business back in October 2015, experts predicted the move – along with the AlliedBarton-Universal Services merger – signaled the dawn of the “one-stop shop” era in the security industry, blurring the lines between traditional electronic security integration and protective services.

Fast-forward 18-plus months, and Securitas has brought that vision to reality. The company unveiled its brand transformation as Securitas Electronic Security Inc. (SES) to the security community at ASIS in 2016; and is fresh off the opening of a brand new headquarters location. Now, the company is continuing its quest of internal and customer education to the many new products and services as a result of the combination, and the business model appears well-positioned for the future.

“As we move forward as part of Securitas and as we share the full breadth of offerings, the level of interest with our customers has increased,” says Tony Byerly, former Executive Vice President of Global Security for Diebold and now President of SES. “The last 12 months were about ensuring a seamless transition for our customers and associates, standing up our IT platform and building out back-office support as we separated from Diebold,” Byerly adds.

Although the two entities have joined, Byerly does not look at it as a typical merger, because the new SES has maintained the ability to operate within the broader portfolio of Securitas’ businesses. SES, in fact, is the electronic security component of the Securitas “Six Protective Services” in North America, with the other five being on-site guarding, mobile guarding, remote guarding (remote video), fire and life safety, and corporate risk management.

A contributing factor to the smooth transition has been a natural alignment of products and services between Diebold and SES. “We were a great fit for Securitas, as we both focused on the commercial security market, and we brought a new aspect that Securitas previously did not focus on in North America with our specialization in electronic security. This made us an ideal addition to the Securitas portfolio of security services.”

Bringing those six protective services together via one service provider is an industry first. “The secret is our ability to provide an entire spectrum of best-in-class security services to our customers,” Byerly says.

“The strategy not to blend is deliberate,” Byerly adds. “Each business line is specialized and focused on being best-in-class for their customers and in the services they provide within their specific markets.”

Inside the New HQ

With the transition period complete, the focus is now on growth and commercial synergies between SES and the other five protective services. “We are putting a great deal of effort into how we can best collaborate and integrate,” says Jeremy Brecher, SES Senior Vice President of Technology and CIO. 

Ease of collaboration was a primary reason for a new headquarters facility, which SES opened in April 2017 in Uniontown, Ohio – an hour outside of Cleveland (Securitas’ North American headquarters is located in Parsippany, N.J.). The 50,000 square-foot facility is optimal for collaboration as it includes open spaces for meetings and low cubicles to remove barriers and emphasize cooperation.

The building allows for a vast number of SES departments – including monitoring, installation operations, service, advanced remote support, finance, billing and collections, IT, legal, human resources, business development, marketing and sales, and executive leadership – to be easily accessible under one roof. The facility features a completely new state-of-the-art monitoring operations center, service dispatch, technology solutions lab, technology evaluation lab, Engineering Center of Excellence hub and two new dedicated training facilities.

The new headquarters also includes the Securitas Experience Center, a high-tech video collaboration room. “The video technology allows us to conduct face-to-face presentations remotely, both internally and externally with prospects and customers,” Byerly explains. “We can link to our other facilities, conduct live tours, have collaboration sessions, share documents, and customers can see for themselves all that Securitas has to offer across the six protective services.”

Getting the Word Out

Throughout the transition, Byerly says the most important element of its success has been constant communication, both internally and externally. Customers needed to be informed of any upcoming changes and how they may be impacted; conversely, SES associates were kept informed of everything from human resources matters like benefits and payroll to operational matters that would impact customers, like rebranding and customer invoicing.

Keeping the SES team informed empowered them to perform all operational roles and effectively address customer questions. “The first concern a customer may have is how things are going to change,” says Felix Gonzales, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Development. “It was important for us to reassure customers that no dramatic changes would be implemented – they would be serviced by the same account management and field operations teams they had come to know and trust.”

There were some practical changes that customers needed to be made aware of – for example, a full rebranding effort meant that SES service technicians would be arriving at customer sites in new uniforms and vehicles, and the branding and structure of their customer invoices would transition to SES billing. 

With the nuts-and-bolts transition communication efforts behind them, the next phase of the company’s transition puts the SES account management teams on the front lines – engaging customers about the expanded services available through Securitas.

“It is an evolution of a message showing value to customers (that begins with) education in our own organization,” Gonzales says. Through training, webinars and educational events, the account management teams have gained strong knowledge of all services the company has to offer and how customers can leverage them to meet their security program objectives and satisfy their overall business needs. The same is true within the other Securitas protective services, as they became familiar with SES.

The Result: One-Stop Shopping

The obvious goal of the Diebold acquisition was to create a one-stop shop for a customer’s security needs – from installation and maintenance of electronic technologies to guard services and risk management. “Our typical customer is an executive-level security professional responsible for various types of security or is part of a security team that is responsible for multiple areas,” Brecher explains, adding that SES customers would naturally want to work with the other lines of Securitas for the additional aspects of commercial security.

Gonzales says that customer surveys confirm the desire for the one-stop shop, saying they would like to be able to receive more services from a single trusted security partner. “If you have limited offerings, you only get a limited piece of the customer’s time,” Gonzales says. “A successful business knows the extreme value in spending time with its customers.”

Every spring, SES hosts a technology symposium for its customers. This year’s symposium focused on educating customers about the new protective services available to them. “It gives us good leverage with customers, as we can meet many of their security needs,” Byerly says.

Larry Bernstein is a freelance writer based in New Jersey. Learn more at http://larrydbernstein.com.