Followers of SD&I’s Fast50 are surely aware of Securadyne Systems, as the company has found its way into the rankings in four consecutive years. Most of Securadyne's appearances have been near the top — and all in less than five years of existence. This year is no exception, as the company ranks No. 4.
While last year’s No. 2 ranking was powered by its acquisitions of Advanced Control Concepts and Intelligent Access Systems, this year Dallas-based Securadyne maintained the status quo through organic growth, with a heavy focus on projects in highly regulated markets such as critical infrastructure, oil and gas, utilities and government/municipal.
SD&I had a chance to sit down with Securadyne president and CEO Carey Boethel and senior vice president of business development Taylor Carr to discuss the driving forces and best practices behind the sustained success at Securadyne Systems. Here’s what they had to say:
SD&I: This being Securadyne’s fourth straight year in the Fast50, what are two things you can point at and say, ‘those are the reasons why we keep growing’?
Boethel: There are two primary drivers behind our continued growth: The first reason is our employees and our unwavering commitment to them. A prerequisite to growth is keeping the existing customers we have by investing in and developing our employees. We are a service business and our growth starts and ends with our employees. Secondly, we have a very specific focus on key regulated vertical markets. Our sales approach to these markets is strategic, targeted and deliberate. We focus our time, effort and resources on vertical markets that take security seriously and whose regulatory requirements are stringent
Now that it has been nearly two years, looking back, what were some of the challenges of integrating Advanced Control Concepts and Intelligent Access Systems into the company? Are there any remaining challenges or obstacles?
Carr: Any time you integrate people-centric businesses, the biggest challenge is always cultural assimilation. All of our acquisitions have been of great companies that share strong convictions for doing things the right way and setting industry best practices; however, all of the companies we have acquired have had unique cultures. In order to effectively become one Securadyne, we have to continue to focus on cultural assimilation — and that takes time. Integrating culture is predicated on organizational alignment and it is the most important thing.
Is Securadyne looking at making more acquisitions, and how does rapid industry consolidation — such as the pending merger of Johnson Controls and TycoIS — influence this mindset?
Boethel: M&A has always been and will likely always be part of our growth strategy. It has been a while since we have done an acquisition, and that is by design. Over the last few years, we have been focused on both integrating our existing acquisitions and on growing organically, which is our top priority. However, as strategic opportunities present themselves, we expect to do more acquisitions for a variety of reasons — including growing our footprint, strengthening our management team, expanding on our technical capabilities and enhancing our value propositions.
For such a rapidly growing company, what are the best ways to instill your vision, values and company culture into a growing roster of employees and across multiple locations?
Boethel: Our core values are critically important to our success. They are ever-present and prominently displayed in every office. Our core values are explained in every presentation, they are referenced in every meeting, and we live them every day. Further, we take a zero-tolerance approach in the rare event an employee does not live our values. These strong convictions for our values — such as lawful and ethical business practices; the virtues of service, consistency and reliability; and giving back to our communities — resonate with both our employees and our customers.
With Securadyne’s focus on several highly regulated markets, how do you keep up with so many different regulations?
Carr: We establish vertical subject matter experts in five to six key verticals. These individuals are typically focused exclusively on one or two vertical markets, and they are specialists not generalists. Their new business pursuits are primarily, but not exclusively, in those key verticals. They research, track and analyze the regulated requirements unique to their assigned vertical; and therefore, they can speak intelligently about how those regulatory requirements govern security, and more importantly, how we can create innovative compliance-based solutions for our customers.
Has it become easier to land contracts and projects in these verticals as time has gone by and the reputation of the company has spread? What’s the best way to keep that momentum going?
Carr: Yes. The more business that we win in our targeted verticals, the more we learn and know about those verticals. We then utilize this knowledge to enhance our ability to win more work in those targeted verticals. We believe that subject matter expertise is a prerequisite to becoming a trusted advisor and a proven track record of success is the most credible qualification to winning more work.
What are the best ways to recruit new talent into your business and/or attract talented individuals to the security industry in general?
Boethel: We believe the best talent is grown not obtained. Securadyne invests in people that may not have the required skills but that have the ambition and drive to learn, grow and be great at what they do. We are less interested in taking employees from our competitors and more focused on developing our own talent. This approach is particularly conducive to the cultural assimilation I spoke about earlier. If we can create and develop skills for our employees, it will ultimately foster tremendous goodwill and employee loyalty.
What is your most effective marketing tool for attracting new customers, and do you foresee that changing over the next few years?
Boethel: As most companies in this space do, we invest a lot of time, money and resources in a substantial web and social media presence. We also have strategic inbound and outbound marketing programs to help drive market awareness and positioning. However, the single most important marketing tool for attracting more customers is continuing to provide exceptional service to our existing customers. A reputation of excellence is far more viral and magnetic than any social media tweet, blog posting, or thought leadership article. We believe in being great, living our values and serving our customers. When you do these well, everything else will fall into place.
Paul Rothman is Editor in Chief of Security Dealer & Integrator (SD&I) magazine (www.secdealer.com).
