SDM'S Systems Integrator of the Year Makes Big Impression on the Industry

This year’s SDM Systems Integrator of the Year is just five years old and already making a big impression on the industry.

Age is just a number, right? Certainly many past winners of SDM’s Systems Integrator of the Year award have been stalwarts of the industry with foundations that go back from 10 to over 100 years old! This year’s winner, Securadyne Systems, however, came to being in 2011, just five years ago — making its rise to the top impressive indeed. Sitting at No. 9 on the SDM Top Systems Integrators Report (it debuted at No. 18 just three years ago), Securadyne is widely recognized as not only a prominent security integrator but as a thought leader in the industry, frequently participating on conference panels speaking about trends, best practices and future industry projections.

Securadyne was founded on the idea that there is a “middle market gap” not being adequately served by either very large national and international integrators that sometimes struggle with consistency; or by the many smaller integrators who struggle with scale.

“I was driven by my desire to create something that, in my opinion, had never been created before in our space, and that is a service organization of scale that is national in scope and provides absolute consistency branch over branch,” says Carey Boethel, president and CEO.

Of course, nothing is created in a vacuum, and Securadyne didn’t exactly come out of nowhere. Armed with an idea and a business plan, Boethel found an investor and very quickly went into acquisition mode, onboarding four distinct companies in less than two years.

While Securadyne was brand new, its acquisition companies were not. One had more than 30 years of culture baked in. So how do you go about incorporating four separate entities into one cohesive unit? The answer is one reason Securadyne was selected this year.

With so many industry acquisitions going around lately, it is interesting to read how one company successfully structured and managed that process — not once, but four times! Using a “best idea wins” approach to finding common ground and a very precise and detailed acquisition integration plan, Securadyne successfully met its goal of not losing any customers in the process and not losing any acquired employees during the year-long transition (those who chose to leave after that period were helped with finding a more suitable situation).

In fact, that is another concern often voiced by integrators, dealers and manufacturers alike: the challenge of finding and keeping good employees. Securadyne’s approach is to “grow your own” from within. Whether taking on the staff of an acquired company or hiring staff (increasingly from outside the security industry), Securadyne strives to ensure its employees view the company as a career track. So precise is this process, the company branded it “Expedition Securadyne.”

Securadyne is fanatical when it comes to standardizing. From the way it takes on acquisitions, to employee training, customer service and back-office procedures, there is a specific formula designed to maintain one of the prime tenants of the company from its first days: consistency.

“We have a saying that I love: ‘Being reliable comes from being consistent, and consistency comes from standardization,’” Boethel says. “We don’t standardize to cut operating expenses — we standardize to improve the customer experience.”

Every year SDM judges the Systems Integrator of the Year nominees on a wide variety of criteria, including unmistakable success, a high level of innovation, best practices, growth and the unique ways they’ve approached their business, the industry, and the community around them. While there is only one winner each year, sometimes more than one company truly stands out as exemplary.

Avid readers might remember Securadyne as last year’s Systems Integrator of the Year honoree and this year they reapplied and were chosen as the winner. This year we also feature an honoree that has shown remarkable growth and many of the attributes we look for in this award — NextGen Security. Like Securadyne, NextGen is also young at just four years old. Both are remarkable companies with fresh ideas experiencing fast growth and success.

For these ‘new kids on the block’ it appears the sky’s the limit!

This month’s cover story profiling Securadyne Systems as winner of SDM’s Systems Integrator of the Year begins on page 58. The honoree story is featured on page 72. Let us know what you think by writing to me at Hodgsonk@bnpmedia.com.

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As the Editor-in-Chief of SDM, Karyn Hodgson is responsible for the overall editorial direction of the magazine, its supplements, e-newsletters and website. She works with the SDM editorial staff to develop content that helps security dealers and systems integrators operate successful businesses. Karyn represents SDM at trade shows and conferences, and directs exclusive research studies such as the SDM Industry Forecast. She also manages SDM’s Dealer of the Year and Systems Integrator of the Year Award programs. Karyn has an MSJ in Journalism (magazine publishing) degree from Northwestern University, and more than 25 years’ experience writing for and about the security industry. Contact Karyn with article ideas.