This article originally appeared in the November 2020 issue of Security Business magazine. When sharing, don’t forget to mention @SecBusinessMag on Twitter and Security Business magazine on LinkedIn.
The integrators who form the PSA Security Network converged virtually for what should have been its annual owner meetings in October with the overall theme of adaptation. As CEO Bill Bozeman put it, “The majority of our integrators that are doing well and have been smart enough to adapt – that is a very positive thing for us.”
Of course, throughout the virtual conference, COVID-19 continued to dominate the discussions, from the anticipated State of the Integrator and State of the Industry panels, to breakout sessions and the annual shareholders meeting.
How are PSA integrators faring? “We are very proud, as we have had very few complete shutdown failures with our integrators,” Bozeman reported during the State of the Integrator panel that included Brent Berger of Bridges System Integration, Louis Boulgarides of Ollivier Corporation, Mike Bradley of ECD Systems, and Wayne Smith of Tech Systems Inc.
“The very small percentage of companies that have shut down have been somewhat myopic as far as diversity is concerned with their product lines, and one was strictly in retail,” Bozeman added. “It is a tough time to be in retail and to be undiversified and not have other verticals.”
The panel went on to discuss the progress of virtual and remote working, as well as evolving business and sales strategies as it relates to COVID recovery. “Although we are not quite where we were last year, we are actually doing better than I think we originally anticipated,” Bozeman said.
Another interesting topic that came to light during PSA Adapt was the role of Amazon among security integrators. “When we talk about specific disruptors in our industry, we understand that Amazon is directly contacting our integrators from a security standpoint about doing their installation work and being there installation labor arm,” remarked PSA President Ric McCullough during a State of the Industry panel that included Bozeman, Bill Polk of EGIS Capital Partners, Dan Budinoff of Security Specialists, and Chuck Wilson of the National Systems Contractors Association.
“It is a little bit scary,” Bozeman admitted. “I don't think anybody wants to get into a boxing ring with Amazon – that is sure to lead to a bloody nose. But Amazon’s plan for the for the integrators to deploy their products doesn't seem to be a very friendly plan to the integrators. I've personally (spoken with) three different executives from Amazon, and to summarize it – they would like to use our very sophisticated, very powerful, over 500 offices in the U.S. as a deployment operation, as an installation team.
“I believe as an ex-integrator that the risk of a project is in the project management, the deployment, and in the in-field service, the truck rolls,” Bozeman added. “Amazon doesn't want to do that, and I don’t blame them. They are very smart – they want to just sell a high-margin box, which is a great idea for them, but I don't think it's a great idea for our integrators. Why take all the risk without some of the benefit?”
“I recently asked at least 20 of largest integrators if they have been contacted (by Amazon), and I found zero companies express any interest in doing this whatsoever,” NSCA’s Wilson added. “Unless it has back-end RMR or some margin on the equipment, they are not interested whatsoever in becoming a labor force for Amazon.”
Look for more on these topics in the annual State of the Industry report in the December issue of Security Business.
