My more than three decades in the security industry have provided me an appreciation for the perseverance and entrepreneurial spirit that has driven this sector through its evolution. Before the mergers and acquisitions that forever tilted the security landscape, I held a special admiration for some of the pioneering vendors and the visionaries that I dealt with throughout the late 1980s and into the early 90s; companies like Software House, PCSC, Cardkey, HID, Sensormatic, Lenel, Panasonic, Schlage and Axis.
However, it was the “new” Pelco under the direction of CEO Dave McDonald in the late 1980s and subsequently emerged as an industry icon in the 1990s before being devoured by Schneider Electric in 2008, that especially captured my attention. Pelco technology and business acumen became an industry standard, and young professionals like Kurt Takahashi made their bones selling Pelco solutions.
Now, almost 25 years later, Takahashi has been selected to move the Pelco brand forward into the 2020s as its new CEO. Takahashi has gained the reputation of being a man of vision. His executive stops at Quantum Secure (HID Safe) and AMAG and previously at Sensormatic Corporation and ADT Security Services were marked by an unrelenting drive to establish salient solutions and unmatched customer service. When Takahashi stepped in as president of AMAG in 2015, he undertook a transformative realignment of not only its technology offerings but its go-to-market strategy.
Now that he has arrived at Pelco, Takahashi admits it’s like coming home. Besides having a large contingent of family members living in and around the Fresno, Calif. area, he interacted with Pelco when he was working with integrators on security projects back in the 1990s. The stellar reputation that Pelco built throughout the industry in its early days is something Takahashi has not forgotten. And now that the company is untethered following its sale by former parent company Schneider Electric to Transom Capital Group, he’s confident Pelco can regain a top-of-mind presence in the security industry.
Takahashi admits he was very excited when the Pelco opportunity opened, though he had been extremely satisfied with the development of AMAG under his watch.
“I was impressed with the things that they've (Transom) done and their methodology and process around how they take these companies and really help turn them around through their culture process and efficiencies,” says Takahashi. “I have a very long history with Pelco back when I was just an account manager and a national accounts manager running around trying to make my way - Pelco was my technology partner. I learned a lot of what I know today in the video surveillance world because of the relationships that I formed way back when.”
At first glance. Takahashi understands the challenge of reestablishing both technology superiority and customer trust. He figures the company can accomplish both.
“I don't want to boil the ocean. What I want to do is meet the challenge and build it brick-by-brick. Fundamentals first, people first, and let's then get our business where we can deliver a great product with amazing service, amazing support and connect with our partners again to rebuild that trust. That's all I'm focused on right now. If we can get the entire organization to buy into this vision of customer first, getting back to the basics, doing what we do, then we will continuously look inwardly at our existing technology and get fundamentally sound. How do we do the next revs faster, deliver things faster, how do we get to the market quicker? We need to tackle these issues,” assesses Takahashi.
So, how does he plan to blend his past corporate experiences into building the “new” Pelco – 2020-style?
“From a process perspective, I think we have a lot of great people and that's half the battle. My mantra is; right person, right role, right work. It's exactly the approach we took at AMAG. Our focus there was putting the right people in the right place, and not just putting them in the right role, but asking them to do the right work. That's something foundational that I bring to Pelco, and everybody in the leadership team is on board with that,” Takahashi stresses. “From a technology perspective, one of the things that I think people talk about but don't execute well is sincerely engaging with the clients. I’m talking about engagement done in a meaningful way that strives to really understand what those business-process problems are. What are those business challenges that they're faced with? How do we help address those issues? It’s a process that takes time but it’s what determines your roadmap.
“Then from a marketing perspective, we must be present, we must be visible. We have a lot of great end-user stories out there and few people have heard them. We need to be able to deliver good compelling content to the industry to tell our story and we need to assume a thought leadership position in the industry.”
