Integration & Network SolutionsExclusivesSystems Integrator of the Year

Convergint Technologies' Proven Model for Growth: Enterprise Integration

Enabling its vision of Quadrant Four enterprise-level integration has brought SDM Systems Integrator of the Year, Convergint Technologies, positive results and a proven path for growth during transition.

Convergint Technologies' leaders proudly pose and are reflected in a Chicago landmark, Cloud Gate in Millennium Park. Clockwise, from top center: Barry Yatzor, vice president - Fire; Tony Varco, vice president - Security; Walter Winkel, vice president and CFO; Leslie Evans, vice president - Human Resources; Dan Moceri, CEO and co-founder; and Greg Lernihan, president and co-founder. Convergint's Schaumburg, Ill., headquarters are nearby. PHOTO BY ALAN KLEHR FOR SDM

Convergint Technologies was co-founded by Dan Moceri and Greg Lernihan in May 2001. Its mission was, and still is, to build a North American service-based company that designs, installs, and maintains integrated building systems with a dedicated focus in electronic security, fire alarm and life safety, healthcare technologies, and building automation.

Convergint Technologies designs, installs and services electronic security solutions for single sites, as well as complex multi-building/multi-site customers. These solutions include card access, intelligent networked video, biometrics, perimeter protection, and seamless integration to enterprise systems. Convergint provides engineered fire alarm systems including smoke detection, emergency communications, and complex smoke management sequences. The integrator also provides and services building automation solutions to monitor and control environmental systems.

Headquarters: Schaumburg, Ill.

2012 revenue: $272 million (estimated)

Employees: 1,050 full-time; 20 part-time

Locations: Convergint Technologies operates 27 branch offices, or what the company calls Convergint Technology Centers (CTCs) in North America that actively share information, technology, resources and customers. The integrator considers itself a single entity, called “Convergint Nation.”

Ranked on SDM’s Top Systems Integrators Report: No. 7, based on $237.2 million North American systems integration revenue.

Convergint values and beliefs — In describing its culture, Convergint Technologies says that it was founded on a set of core values and beliefs that express its responsibility to its customers, its colleagues and its communities. "Our daily commitment to these values is one of the key reasons why our customers choose to do business with Convergint Technologies," says Convergint's Dan Moceri.

Before Convergint Technologies ever had received its first order or hired its first colleague, its leadership began writing the principles that would eventually become the company’s Values and Beliefs.

“We built our company from scratch and had the benefit of establishing a unique and empowered culture from the onset. Our 10 Values and Beliefs drive our positive culture and are what truly makes us different. Value & Belief No. 6 We expect to be our customers’ best service provider, no matter what business we are in — is the foundation for our unique culture of service that permeates the organization. From the beginning, Convergint believed that customer service would be our biggest differentiator,” says Convergint’s Before Convergint Technologies ever had received its first order or hired its first colleague, its leadership began writing the principles that would eventually become the company’s Values and Beliefs.

“We built our company from scratch and had the benefit of establishing a unique and empowered culture from the onset. Our 10 Values and Beliefs drive our positive culture and are what truly makes us different. Value & Belief No. 6 We expect to be our customers’ best service provider, no matter what business we are in — is the foundation for our unique culture of service that permeates the organization. From the beginning, Convergint believed that customer service would be our biggest differentiator,” says Convergint’s Greg Lernihan.

Four quadrant security system knowledge — In Quadrant Four, where Convergint Technologies serves the market, the highest level of enterprise integration is where IT, applications and product knowledge are combined to develop solutions that help customers drive business excellence. ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF CONVERGINT TECHNOLOGIES

Four quadrant security system knowledge #2 — In Quadrant Four, where Convergint Technologies serves the market, the highest level of enterprise integration is where IT, applications and product knowledge are combined to develop solutions that help customers drive business excellence. ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF CONVERGINT TECHNOLOGIES

Convergint's Brian Nuss configures network gear in one of the Professional Services test labs for use in testing a custom solution prior to delivery to the customer. PHOTO COURTESY OF CONVERGINT TECHNOLOGIES

Convergint's management team, business leaders and sales professionals gathered in February for the annual sales conference. The tee-shirts the team is wearing have a logo that reads WGIBTU, short for "Who's Got It Better Than Us? Nobody." PHOTO COURTESY OF CONVERGINT TECHNOLOGIES

Convergint's Richard Bellamy leads a class, available to all colleagues, on access control principles. The class took place at Convergint's Dallas training center last month. PHOTO COURTESY OF CONVERGINT TECHNOLOGIES

The folks from Convergint installed water filters in Haiti. PHOTOS COURTESY OF CONVERGINT TECHNOLOGIES

Convergint colleagues, alongside Haitian construction workers, built a church/school in a village in Haiti. PHOTOS COURTESY OF CONVERGINT TECHNOLOGIES

In systems integrator circles, Convergint Technologies is a company that people admire. Homegrown by Greg Lernihan, president and co-founder, and Dan Moceri, CEO and co-founder, Convergint was born of a strategic plan that centered on a core platform of values and beliefs. Those value and beliefs, which still guide the company today, promise results and satisfaction for customers; emphasize integrity, accountability and communication from Convergint’s colleagues; foster a positive and fun work environment; and express the importance of leading balanced lives.

Back in early 2001, forming those values and beliefs was an exercise in business self-awareness — in essence, it meant deciding who Convergint would be to its colleagues (at first there were just 10 people employed, today there are nearly 1,100) and what it would offer to the market. It meant envisioning the future needs of business, industry, and institutions like schools and hospitals — and conceiving the products and services that would long remain viable to help them solve security problems, manage costs and comply with regulations.

The founding plan — with its values and beliefs — has served Convergint Technologies well throughout the past 11 years. As evidence of that, the company has experienced outstanding growth in total annual revenue, customers and new project starts, colleagues, training and certifications, field offices, and more. If an economic recession did occur recently, nobody at Convergint noticed it.

Already a leader in the security industry, Convergint’s latest vision — called Quadrant Four — brings the company to a new height. Convergint describes Quadrant Four as “the highest level of enterprise integration; where IT, applications and product knowledge are combined to develop solutions that solve customers’ business problems and help them drive business excellence.” The development of the Quadrant Four vision, the strategy for how it is being implemented in the market, and the positive results it has garnered are what compelled SDM to name Convergint Technologies as its 2012 Systems Integrator of the Year.

Convergint, which has the distinction of being the only two-time winner of SDM’s Systems Integrator of the Year Award (first in 2007), counts two significant accomplishments in 2012. One was reaching its 1,000th full-time colleague. The other was driving its Quadrant Four vision into the marketplace. “This vision has required us to raise the bar of our own performance, and develop an entirely new offering of value-added professional services,” describes Tony Varco, vice president, Security, at Convergint Technologies. Varco tells how it all got underway.

The concept of Quadrant Four was a result of ongoing strategic planning among Convergint’s leadership team. Just over two years ago, the team met to discuss the overall IP transition of the industry and the specific transitioning needs of their clients. Convergint’s leaders agreed that they needed to be more than simply a systems integrator to clients. “To be considered a true ‘trusted advisor’ we needed an organizational transformation from traditional systems installation and service, to enterprise solutions and professional services that help our clients solve business issues and achieve business excellence,” Varco conveys.

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Laura Stepanek is a SDM contributing writer. Laura was the Editor of SDM from 2001-2020 and first joined the publication in 1984. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Barat College of DePaul University.