Security Sales & Integration July 2023 - 12

Management
Charge of the
Integrator Brigade
T
While the military
protects American
interests abroad,
the security
industry protects
them on the
home front. SSI's
Annual Integrator
Roundtable
features four
leaders dutifully
fulfilling that
mission.
By Scott Goldfine
he few. The proud. The integrators.
That spin on the transcendent
Marines slogan is fitting given
the context of all the battles
owners and operators of security systems integration
businesses have faced so far this decade.
The effects of the pandemic and its aftermath,
the supply chain crisis, runaway inflation, labor
shortage and more have found security proprietors
manning all battle stations. Many casualties
- in the form of shuttered or sold companies,
and lost customers and revenues - have
been incurred. Although the entrepreneurial
war is never won, there are positive signs that
some of these adversarial forces are abating.
In Security Sales & Integration's longstanding
Annual Integrator Roundtable, four generals
tell what their intrepid troops are encountering
on the frontlines and share intel on their
countermeasures and field maneuvers. As it
has been for some 15 years, this meeting of the
minds took place at PSA TEC, which this year
was held in Dallas for the first time.
The location was not the only historic element.
In a hopeful indication of the security
industry's push for greater diversity, equality and
inclusion, the majority of the roundtable participants
were women. The group consisted of
Kathleen Ford, CEO of scDataCom in Savannah,
Ga.; Mala Grover, CEO of Digitronics in
Herndon, Va.; Eva Mach, CEO of Perfect Design
in Minnetonka, Minn.; and Mike Bradley,
CEO of ECD Systems in Tempe, Ariz.
As a hypothetical exercise, if you could
wave a magic wand to instantly improve
or eliminate something problematic in
your business, what would it be?
Mala Grover: Better organization among our
12
Security Sales & Integration JULY 2023
departments and understanding of the roles different
people play. This would create a smoother
operation and help accomplish projects in a
shorter period of time, working smarter rather
than harder.
Mike Bradley: We're still reeling from the
supply chain issues. I want that solved yesterday.
The past year has been the hardest ever
to manage, and that's the bulk of the reason.
If I could wave a magic wand, that would be
solved instantly. It's still costing us a tremendous
amount of money.
Eva Mach: If I had a magic wand, I would
transform our company into a truly recurring
revenue model in the sense that everybody
would accept it. I wouldn't have to explain it.
The people would embrace it, because I think
that is the future. Project-based business is hard.
If we could get to that magic 20% of the billing
revenue or more, it would make things easier.
Kathleen Ford: Those are all terrific ideas. If
I had a magic wand, I would ding, ding, ding
on all of those! What Eva said is the goal for us
as well. It's been a struggle to shift from project-based
to service-based, but we are trying to
hit that magic pace to build a more stable recurring
revenue base. That is aligned with the partnerships
we're seeking with our customers to
create enduring customers rather than one-offs.
But somehow the sale continues to be difficult.
We need to crack the code on that.
Let's continue with supply chain. Where
does your company stand right now,
and what were some ways you have
found to get through this challenge as
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Security Sales & Integration July 2023

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