UTC Fire & Security - Experts & Thought Leaders

Chubb Fire & Security is pleased to announce that it has appointed four new Managing Directors (MDs) to strengthen its position as a global leader in the fire and security services industry.  Fulco de Vries Fulco de Vries joins as Managing Director for the Benelux region. He joined SK FireSafetyGroup in 2013, after working for Ajax Chubb Varel (before it was rebranded to Chubb) and parent company, UTC Fire & Security, for eight years. He became the Business Unit Director of High-Value Asset Protection (Fire Systems) within the SK FireSafety Group.  David Guerin David joined the company in 2010 as EH&S Manager for Chubb Switzerland before becoming the Supply Chain Manager David Guerin has been promoted to Managing Director, DACH, a new role created in recognition of the growing importance of other DACH markets outside of Germany. David joined the company in 2010 as EH&S Manager for Chubb Switzerland before becoming the Supply Chain Manager in 2011.  In this role, he expanded his scope to Otis Switzerland in 2013 before dedicating his time fully to Chubb in 2017 as Managing Director for Switzerland and Austria. Alberto Vales Alberto Vales is the new Managing Director for Iberia, based in Madrid. He commenced his career as an electrical engineer and project manager at GEA, quickly progressing into senior management roles, including Managing Director of GEA’s service business. His most recent role was Managing Director of Johnson Controls’ Smart Buildings business in Spain. Kumar Velloo Finally, Kumar Velloo joins as Managing Director for Singapore. He has nearly three decades of experience in engineering and industrials, having started his career as a senior sales engineer at Otis Elevators in 1995.  He then moved to TK Elevator, becoming a Managing Director, and then KONE as a Consultant. His broad experience and expertise will allow him to manage all levels of the business including sales, service, projects, budgeting, and finance.  Long-term appointments  These leaders bring significant, related, leadership experience in the important markets they lead" This latest recruitment drive quickly follows the raft of promotions and appointments made by Chubb at the start of 2023. Andrew White, CEO of Chubb Fire & Security Group, commented, “We are very excited to announce the appointment of four new Managing Directors. These strategic long-term appointments combine both internal promotions and the addition of very experienced, industry talent."  He adds, "These leaders bring significant, related, leadership experience in the important markets they lead. They will be pivotal to leading our people-first culture while we strive to reduce complexities in our operations and processes, harnessing technology. They will lead in-country, strategic initiatives as we optimise our portfolio towards our High Growth Verticals."  Wellbeing, process efficiency, portfolio expansion Andrew White continues, “The acquisition of the business by APi last year marked an important turning point for Chubb, and I have been working closely with the new team as we continue our transformational journey and prioritise the wellbeing of our people, the efficiency of our processes, and the selective expansion of our portfolio towards new markets and solutions.” In January 2022, Chubb Fire & Security was acquired from its previous owner's Carrier by APi Group Corporation. APi is a business services provider of safety and specialty services in over 500 locations worldwide. APi provides statutorily mandated and other contracted services to a strong base of long-standing customers across industries. 

The Security Industry Association (SIA) has named Peter Boriskin, chief technology officer at ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions, as the new chair of SIA’s Standards Committee. In this role, Boriskin will lead and work with committee members to develop, promote and advocate industry standards in a coordinated effort with other standards and specification writing bodies. “I am grateful to be appointed as chair of the SIA Standards Committee by SIA members. It is an exciting time to be in the security industry, as there have been tremendous technology advancements in the past few years. As technology continues to evolve, industry consensus on security solutions performance, safety and design will be crucial to its success in market,” said Boriskin. Usage of artificial intelligence Boriskin adds, “the usage of artificial intelligence (AI) is a great example of this progress, as it has become a megatrend within our industry. Manufacturers, integrators and end users alike should consider how to properly integrate AI into services and solutions given the challenges on privacy, bias and limited knowledge. “To begin the conversation, SIA held its first AI town hall this fall and looks to continue this dialogue with future offerings. We can also develop our thinking towards sustainability and stewardship. Topics such as circular economy and energy efficiency should be discussed within the security industry.” 20 years of experience Boriskin is an active member of SIA with over 20 years of experience working with security technology Boriskin is an active member of SIA with over 20 years of experience working with security and safety technology, primarily in the enterprise security marketplace. Prior to his time at ASSA ABLOY, he served as product management leader for UTC Fire & Security in its Lenel business and as vice president of product management for Tyco International’s access control and video systems division. Before joining Tyco, Boriskin founded a networking company where he was owner and president. He has held certifications from Cisco, Microsoft and EMC and has a background in network security, threat assessment and incident management. Authority comment “SIA is honored to welcome Peter Boriskin as chair of SIA’s Standards Committee and we appreciate his willingness to serve in this important capacity,” said SIA CEO Don Erickson. “Peter is a highly respected expert in physical security, video management and access control whose standards and technology leadership and knowledge will help the committee to deliver immense value to SIA’s members and the industry and increase participation in our standards programs.” Industrial forum member Boriskin is a member of several industry forums and working groups Boriskin is a member of several industry forums and working groups and was a founding member of the Open Security Exchange. He is also an active member of the Physical Security Interoperability Alliance and ASIS International and has given presentations and instructional seminars for SIA, ASIS, GSX and other security organisations. Boriskin holds a B.A. from Brandeis University and is based in the Boston, Massachusetts, area. SIA Standards Committee The SIA Standards Committee serves as the guiding body of SIA standards programs. Its members work together to develop, promote and advocate industry standards in a coordinated effort with other standards and specification writing bodies. SIA also acts as the secretariat for the Security Industry Standards Council (SISC) with the support of the Standards Committee. The SISC serves as the guiding body for standards activities of two major security industry standards developing organisations – The Monitoring Association and SIA. Thanking Steve SIA would like to thank outgoing SIA Standards Committee Chair Steve Van Till – co-founder, president and CEO of Brivo – for his 11 years of service and leadership as chair.

Alula, a provider of smart home security and automation systems for professional installers, announced the addition of Warren Hill as Director of Partner Development. In this role, Hill will continue to drive the company’s engagement within the professional dealer channel and deepen Alula’s partnerships within the smart home security industry. Hill joins Alula from UTC Fire & Security, a division of United Technologies, where he spent nearly a decade in various leadership roles. Most recently as Vice President of Partner Solutions, Hill designed, built, launched and grew the company’s customer loyalty program and led the development of a customer web portal. Multiple software and technical products “I look forward to continuing my work supporting professional security partners in my new role with Alula,” Hill said. “Our industry is evolving and I believe Alula is well positioned to help professionals keep pace with enhancements in technology and tools that will help grow their business.” Prior to Hill’s time at UTC Fire & Security, he was the Director of Small Business Sales at American Express where he led a number of sales and services teams and initiated the start up of multiple new processes. As a Global Product Manager at General Electric, Hill managed the lifecycle of multiple software and technical products. Succeed and grow business Alula Pro Program was launched earlier this year and supports partners with the marketing, training and sales assets “We’re excited to have Warren join the team,” said Brad LaRock, VP of Marketing at Alula. “The Connect Family of Products is seeing strong adoption in the professional installer community and that interest helped us grow our core base of partners by over 30% last year. Warren will help us advance the complete offering we’ve built for Alula Pros, including our new Pro Program.” The Alula Pro Program was launched earlier this year and supports partners with the marketing, training and sales assets needed to succeed and grow their business with Alula. This comprehensive new program creates community and empowers independent, local security companies to compete with large tech companies that have encroached on the security space with well-funded marketing operations. Integral piece of the industry’s growth “At Alula, we recognise professional dealers are an integral piece of the industry’s growth and innovation,” added Todd Hokunson, SVP of Sales at Alula. “We are thrilled to have Warren join the team. He will connect new and existing partners to Alula’s Pro Program, giving them access to a robust set of tools and services to help them serve their customers and promote their business.”

One of the biggest recent security divestitures in the news was the sale of Mercury Security to HID Global, which occurred around a year ago. The seller in that transaction was ACRE (Access Control Related Enterprises), also the parent company of Vanderbilt and ComNet. We recently spoke to founder and CEO Joe Grillo, a 30-year industry veteran, about the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market, ACRE’s future, and new opportunities opened up by the Mercury sale. Q: What’s new with ACRE? Grillo: We have an opportunity to have organic growth and to have some scale on a global basis to be a decent size player" ACRE is a company I founded in 2012, and since then we have had six acquisitions and one divestiture. We’ll never focus on ACRE as a brand, but we currently have more visibility of ACRE as a parent company with our two strong brands, ComNet and Vanderbilt. Last year was a very busy year [with the sale of Mercury Security to HID Global] because it takes as long to sell a brand as to buy one, maybe more so. Q: What’s next? Grillo: What you are seeing from us this year is that we are again in a buying mode. No announcement yet, but we expect one by the end of the year. We are well-funded, have great partners, and see an opportunity to continue to grow acquisitively as our highly fragmented space of access control continues to consolidate. From the standpoint of ACRE, with the ComNet and Vanderbilt brands, we are also doing more integration on the backside – not what the customer sees. We will continue to grow toward a $200 million business. We were there when we owned Mercury, and we will get there again. We have an opportunity to have organic growth and to have some scale on a global basis to be a decent size player. Because ACRE are owned by a private equity company, we are brought into every opportunity: ComNet is a good example" Q: Do you see the M&A market being more competitive – more companies looking to acquire? Grillo: There’s a lot of money chasing not-so-many deals, so evaluations can get expanded. But as interest rates creep up, it is definitely a challenge to find the right valuation, the right financing and the right strategic fit. It is a very strategic market. Q: There have been some big acquisitions lately. Were you guys involved at all in evaluating those opportunities? Grillo: Because we are owned by a private equity company, we are brought into every opportunity. An example of that was ComNet. I would not have been aware that the founder passed away two years ago and that there was this opportunity to own the business. So we look at everything; anything that’s out there we look at. The biggest recent announcement in our world was S2 (being sold to UTC/Lenel), and, yeah, we looked at that. It didn’t fit our profile – it was too expensive. Great business, and it’ll be interesting to see how it fits into the UTC environment. There was also Isonas [which was recently sold to Allegion], but the size didn’t add enough scale, but I like the technology. ComNet sells communication networking solutions and products, which is more attractive than video systems for ACRE Q: So what are you looking for in an acquisition? Grillo: It’s hard for us to find something that moves the needle, and you have to find that right balance. Is it something we can digest and have the financing for, and also is there room on the back end? We are private equity-owned, so we know there will be an exit for our investors, too. So we have to find the right balance, good valuations, the right size and digestible. If you look at our acquisitions, we have done two “carve outs.” The Vanderbilt name didn’t exist until we bought the business from Ingersoll Rand, and then we bought the [intruder] business from Siemens. That’s how Vanderbilt came about. You get a lot of value when you carve out a business, but there’s a lot of work. In the case of Mercury or Access Control Technology (ACT) that we acquired; they were growing and profitable but they stretch your finances a lot more. So you have to find the right mix in there. Q: Does video interest ACRE at all? Grillo: We have to find the right balance, good valuations, the right size and digestible"ComNet is our video play. ComNet sells communication networking solutions and products, and 70 to 80 percent of that is used for video systems. But unlike cameras, which don’t interest us, it’s actually good margins, highly specialised repeat business and with good channel partners. So where are we going to play? Cameras – no (because of commoditisation). We have some recorder technology (from the Siemens acquisition) and we have the communication networking technology (with ComNet). On the software side, we have looked at a lot of the VMS companies, and a lot of them have been on the market. But the valuation expectations can be high because they are software companies. And we really believe in partnering as a good thing, too. If we integrate to Milestone or Salient or some of these companies, we will never lose an access control client because they chose a particular VMS. Q: ACRE is also looking to grow organically, isn’t it? Grillo: From a technology perspective, we are a product company and we are continuing to bring new products to the market with the ComNet communication networking business and the access control business. And in Europe, we have a third leg of the stool, which is the very successful intrusion and burgular alarm business we acquired from Siemens (SPC products now sold under the Vanderbilt brand). That business continues to do well and is now one of the highest performing segments in our portfolio.The intrusion and burgular alarm continues to do well and is now one of the highest performing segments in our portfolio" Q: But you don’t have to own a company to make it part of your solution. Grillo: An important word is integration. We have to integrate to all the wireless locks. We have to integrate to the VMS systems. But we don’t have to own them. Q: How has the Mercury Security divestiture impacted the rest of your business? Grillo: It has opened up the opportunity for us to look at Mercury partners as possible acquisition targets without worrying about conflicts with the very good business of Mercury. We have more flexibility now compared to the Mercury era. Q: How will the economic cycle impact the security market? Grillo: Interest rates are a much bigger issue than the overall economic cycle. We talk a lot about it with our owners – clearly interest rates are tightening up. If you go out to do acquisitions or to borrow money to do something with your business, it will be tougher than it was two years ago, and it may get worse in the next two years. Security is less impacted by the economic cycle than some industries.

Again in 2016, the most well-trafficked articles posted at SourceSecurity.com tended to be those that addressed timely and important issues in the security marketplace. In the world of digital publishing, it’s easy to know what content resonates with the market: Our readers tell us with their actions; i.e., where they click.   Let’s look back at the Top 10 articles we posted in 2016 that generated the most page views. They are listed in order here with the author’s name and a brief excerpt. 1. Why Hikvision is suddenly front-page news: The company responds to security concerns [Ron Alalouff] It is perhaps [Hikvision’s] spectacular growth that has fueled some of the claims and concerns about the company, most recently in the UK in a front-page article in The Times. While highlighting the company’s success – in the UK it has sold more than a million cameras and recorders installed at sites such as government buildings, airports and sports stadiums – the article questioned whether there is sufficient oversight of the security implications of foreign involvement in critical infrastructure. 2. Tyco and Johnson Controls merger driven by convergence of security with smart building technology [Larry Anderson] This week, Johnson Controls and Tyco have announced their merger into one company with annual revenue of $32 billion. The new Johnson Controls will be almost a direct reflection of one of the industry’s biggest trends – the move toward technology convergence and smart buildings. 3. Weaponised robots? Military and police response uses for robots on the rise [Randy Southerland] The era of the “killer robot” hasn’t arrived, exactly, but it may not be far off. Police and the military have been using these machines for decades now to disarm bombs and provide reconnaissance in areas where it would be risky to send officers or soldiers. Police and the military have been using these machines for decades now to disarm bombs and provide reconnaissance (Image credit: Antonio Scorza / Shutterstock.com) 4. Security industry speculates as Honeywell-UTC deal falls through [Larry Anderson] In a year of mega-deals impacting the security marketplace, one of the big news stories recently was a deal that did not happen – between giants Honeywell and United Technologies (UTC). Financial news pages have been full of the back-and-forth between these two companies. It seems Honeywell wanted to merge with UTC, but UTC declined because of “insurmountable regulatory obstacles and strong customer opposition.” So the deal is off, at least for now. 5. Home automation: A growth area for the security industry? [Ron Alalouff] Despite the market entry of some big names such as Google’s Nest, Apple’s HomeKit, and telecommunications giants AT&T and Deutsche Telekom, are we really on the threshold of a home automation revolution? Not quite, according to market intelligence firm Ovum. 6. Bosch-Sony partnership amounts to a new variation on M&A [Larry Anderson] Might there be more such partnerships to come as the number of companies serving the video surveillance market adjusts to its size? Might “softer” consolidation like the Bosch-Sony deal be the next big thing and even slow down the pace of mergers and acquisitions? Time will tell, but it’s clear the benefits of such an approach might be attractive to other companies, too. Bosch will handle the sales and marketing globally for all of Sony’s video surveillance products (outside of Japan) 7. Pelco by Schneider Electric CEO Sharad Shekhar to revive Pelco global video security business [Deborah O’Mara] Pelco has made significant investments in key vertical markets, including oil and gas, gaming and casinos, Safe Cities, and airports and seaports, and [the company] will see significant focus on product and business development in these markets. [Pelco] will look to further engage customers in these spaces by focusing not just on products, but on solutions that will solve security and operational challenges. 8. Deep learning technology applications for video surveillance [Paul Sun] Although deep learning has been applied to many industries with breakthrough results compared to legacy systems, not all applications are suitable for deep learning. In the field of video surveillance, several applications stand out that can benefit from deep learning. 9. Electronic locks prove a worthwhile investment for the security industry [Michael J. Mahon] Mechanical locks and keys date back thousands of years and have undergone many changes, but the industry’s transition to electronic locks might be the most important, lasting, and surprisingly affordable security and safety change of all. The objective behind the creation of locks so long ago remains: to control a value on the other side of a door. But the security industry as a whole is migrating from the perceived “cheaper” and historical mechanical lock to the newest technology of electronic locks. 10. Understanding starlight camera technology and low-light applications in the security industry [Alyssa Fann] Starlight cameras are the latest products security companies are adding to their product line-ups, each camera boasting the most comprehensive ability to make darkness visible. While low-light surveillance capabilities have been around on the market for some time, starlight camera technology is redefining low-light surveillance to new levels. See the full coverage of 2016/2017 Review and Forecast articles here Save Save

Success in the access control arena is enhanced if the business has a global presence Vanderbilt 2014/2015 Review and Forecast: In 2014, our industry continued to be quite dynamic. While there are several “conglomerates” in the industry, such as UTC and Honeywell, who have been consolidators, there are also other companies (like ours) that are focused solely on security. The industry moves in both directions—some companies consolidating and acquiring, while others are more focused and concentrated. This includes some which are spinning off parts of their business into new entities altogether, such as Allegion from Ingersoll Rand or Siemens divesting their Security Products business to Vanderbilt. For access control system manufacturers (OEMs), the competitive landscape is still quite fragmented. This engenders a very competitive marketplace, but is not always helpful to end users, integrators and security consultants. While many of the small OEMs have changed very little over 10 or 20 years, there are also newer entrants that have impacted the industry, such as Open Options and Brivo. We believe that with the wide variety of smaller OEMs that still exist, there is continued opportunity for consolidation at this level of the value chain. Going forward, success in the access control arena is enhanced if the business has a global presence—major enterprise customers want to standardise on one integrated solution and a vendor that has an extensive network of integrator and technology partners. An experienced and loyal reseller channel is especially important to ensuring that there is less execution risk and that end user customers end up with systems that operate reliably and provide the desired solution. Larger, consolidated manufacturers can afford higher levels of R&D investment. In an industry sector that is sometimes slow to evolve and utilise the latest tools coming out of the IT market, this will be a key point of differentiation and added value as ongoing product enhancements are released at a continual pace. Looking to 2015, we can expect to see a lot of continued M&A activity, especially with a lot of “cheap” money in the hands of investors who realise the security industry will continue to experience steady growth and the need for continual investments and enhancements in the technology incorporated into the products most in demand. See the full coverage of 2014/2015 Review and Forecast articles here