Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/37034
14 COMMERCIAL & SYSTEMS INTEGRATORS www.securitysystemsnews.com AUGUST 2011 SYSTEMS INTEGRATORS Cisco cert. in hand, ISS says it’s poised for growth By Martha Entwistle ST. LOUIS—In a milestone that Interface Security Systems CEO Michael Shaw calls “a huge breakthrough,” Shaw announced June 20 that ISS has been certified as an Advanced Managed Services Channel Part- ner by Cisco. In July ISS began marketing its Secure Managed Cloud Services through a special Cisco program. What does that mean? It means “we’ll now have Cisco value added resellers across the country introducing us to their custom- ers. This will dramatically increase our feet on the street and exposure,” Shaw said. “We already know our [bundled data and physical security] solutions work well based on the adoption rate through our own initiative,” he said. And he expects the new relationship with Cisco to translate into even more rapid adoption. ISS, which was founded by Shaw in 1996, has its roots as a traditional security integrator. In 2007, the company acquired network services and IP integration firm LPM, which had its own nationwide high- speed IP aggregation network. With this acquisition, ISS expanded its services to include Wide-Area Network management, PCI compliance, IP alarm monitoring, IP video surveillance and digital voice. It’s an acquisition that has paid off. Between 2008 and 2010, while many inte- grators were struggling to stay even on RMR, the company had CAGR of 15 per- Kessler on the numbers By Martha Entwistle NEW YORK—Stanley Black & Decker definitely upped the ante with its bid, announced in July, for Niscayah. It’s a bid that’s been called generous by some, but is Stanley offering a pre- mium price? Imperial Capital’s Jeff Kessler calls cent. After ISS acquired LPM in 2007, it had “just over $3 million in RMR and we’ll end 2011 with $6 million in RMR. This is all organic growth,” Shaw said. ISS has 22 branches and 625 employ- ees, 100 more than in 2007. The company retrained all of its commercial sales people to sell the bundled services and devel- oped a national account sales team. It also expanded and remodeled its Secure Opera- tions Center. To cover areas where it does not have brick and mortar offices, ISS part- ners with an Atlanta-based company called Endeavor, which has a network of 9,000 field engineers across the country. SSN Contava completes $6.1m transit project By Martha Entwistle EDMONTON, Alberta—Systems integra- tor Contava’s recently completed project with the City of Calgary Transit stands out for its scale and complexity, and the fact that the project was completed with minimal impact to the LRT service and the public, according to those involved. The project included the installation of a 10 Gbps IP Cisco backbone that extends to 27 train stations, the Calgary City Hall and an Operations Control Center. “Typically, this data network would be provided by a network or IT com- pany,” said Curtis Nikel, Contava presi- dent. “But we had the skillset in-house.” Founded in 2004, Contava is pri- vately held and employs 50 people. The project involved the replacement of an old CCTV system in the transit system. “We replaced two-thirds of the cameras and added another third, we also upgraded from low def to high defi- nition megapixel cameras,” said David Sime, Contava director of operations. In addition, “all core components have failover capabilities, including core network node redundancy, ring typology, director server failover and NVR failover.” Even- tually the system will include more than 600 cameras. are pleased with the improvements All “stakeholders and Curtis Nikel future opportunities,” said Colin Adderly, project engineer/project manager, City of Calgary Transit. Sime said the system enables better management of live video streams, and better archiving, retrieval and naviga- tion capabilities for operators. “The big thing is the better quality picture [and cleaner interface] which helps the operators do their job better,” Sime said. Contava used a Genetec Omnicast VMS with a Security Center front end. The system is designed to be scalable “to save money and hassle by doing futuristic planning,” Sime said. SSN the Stanley bid “not cheap, but not expensive.” The bid comes in at 31x RMR, but as Kessler points out, “that’s not a very meaningful metric because only 22 percent of Niscayah’s RMR is moni- toring, the rest is maintenance and service contracts.” Maintenance and service contracts are fine, but that’s not the “high mar- gin RMR that people pay high mul- tiples for,” he explained. The metric Kessler likes to look at is EBITDA, and the Stanley bid for Niscayah comes in at “13x to 14x EBITDA on an actual basis and about 7.5 x EBITDA when all the synergies are included,” which Kes- sler guesses would be after about two years. When Securitas bid ($907 mil- lion) for Niscayah, “it wanted the company back in the fold and it has a bargain,” Kessler said. On the other hand, when Stanley made its $1.2 billion all-cash offer, “it saw much more than a bargain ... they look at the potential for Niscayah under their wing.” First, it sees vertical markets that complement Stanley’s verticals. In particular, Niscayah is deep into the financial vertical, which Kessler said Stanley has “desperately tried to get into, but it couldn’t crack,” lacking feet on the street and other specific know-how. Secondly, Stanley sees a way to return on cash that it has “trapped in Europe.” Stanley plans to use offshore cash to fund the all-cash acquisition. If it were to bring the cash back into the U.S., it would have to pay a tax of 25 percent to 35 percent, and as it now sits in Europe, Stanley is earning half a percent, Kessler said. Thirdly, it sees the ”ability to have much better geographic bal- ance and great scale over the cost of operations.” SSN BRIEFS RFI joins Honeywell CSS MELVILLE, N.Y.—Honeywell announced in June that RFI Communications and Security Systems has joined the Honeywell Authorized Dealer for Commercial Security Systems program. In addition to commercial customers, the San Jose-based security, fire and life safety integrator provides safety and security solutions for federal, state and local government agencies. With four offices in the western United States and more than 250 employees, RFI serves customers in highly-regulated facilities such as universities and airports as well as multiple U.S. government agencies. The integrator specializes in end-to-end solutions that include video surveillance, access control, intrusion detection, GPS tracking and managed services. Additionally, RFI also owns and operates Security Command Center, a Five Diamond-certified, 24-hour UL-listed central monitoring station. “Our customers operate in highly complex environments, and we work to understand those environments as best we can to develop the right solutions that will meet their needs, whether they be commercial facilities or government agencies,” said Brad J. Wilson, presi- dent of RFI in a prepared statement. “Teaming with Honeywell ensures that we provide our customers with the top technology in the business to meet not only their security needs, but also gov- ernment standards.” DHS get new install FALLS CHURCH, Va.—General Dynamics announced in June it will be responsible the installation and mainte- nance of an entirely new IT infrastruc- ture at the Department of Homeland Security’s new headquarters on the St. Elizabeth’s Hospital campus. The work is worth as much as $876 million over the next seven years, and will create new jobs, according to a press release. Under terms of the contract, General Dynamics will design and install IT net- works and systems, telecommunications systems, security systems including video monitoring and I.D. card readers, and building management systems. ADT Commercial gets certified in Canada BOCA RATON, Fla.—ADT Commercial announced in June that it has achieved Premier Certification and Video Surveillance Authorized Technology Provider (ATP) status from Cisco in Canada. To earn this certification, ADT had to meet Cisco standards for net- working competency, service, support and customer satisfaction. COMMERICAL & SECURITY SYSTEMS NEWS