Page 48 - Security Today, January 2018

COVER STORY
No. 1 asset. Without highly qualified, talented, motivated and consci- entious managers, subject matter experts and technical and admin- istrative professionals who serve on the front-lines of our business, we would not have had the success we have been fortunate to have.”
GC&E’s seven Core Values define the businesses’ identity and culture. These values — People, Integrity, Quality, Innovation, Trust, Teamwork and Service — serve as the guiding principles on how the company makes decisions, performs work, solves problems, empow- ers employees and provides customer service. GC&E’s “One Team” culture sets the standard on how it operates on a day-to-day basis.
Furthermore, GC&E has a “Customer First” philosophy: the com- bination of quality, communication and service equals customer sat- isfaction. All employees follow this creed, and quality initiatives are woven throughout internal operating procedures. Proactive commu- nication with the customer and ongoing internal communication is promoted through all levels of management and across departmental lines. Service delivery is measured and monitored to ensure expecta- tions are met and exceeded.
“These fundamental business practices ensure customer satis- faction,” O’Sullivan said. “We do not hesitate to roll up our sleeves to support a project where an extra hand is needed or go the extra mile to keep the project on budget and schedule. We are proactive in providing ongoing and timely communication to our customers to keep them informed on the status of our work, identify issues and concerns so they are quickly resolved and ensure customer- and per- formance-related expectations are clearly defined and met.”
Ensuring that customers understand the benefits and poten- tial challenges of converged security is a critical component of the company’s customer outreach initiatives. In early 2017, it hosted its inaugural Converged Security Summit (CSS), a one-day compre- hensive program that brings together experts in information and physical security to discuss best practices and countermeasures to safeguarding IT infrastructure and information assets. In addition, the event allows GC&E an opportunity to highlight its solutions, services and support offerings, including proven solutions for pe- rimeter security, intrusion protection and personal safety in public and private sectors.
“It is important for us to help drive conversation around today’s most prevalent industry issues. This year’s CSS provided our attend- ees the perfect opportunity to network, share ideas and learn from subject-matter experts, vendors and other industry professionals ways to better manage and mitigate risks associated with information and physical security assets,” O’Sullivan said. “We envision CSS to be a key part of our customer and industry engagement strategy moving forward. In fact, we have already started planning for CSS 2018 and promise to make it bigger, more informative and focused on the most prevalent information and physical security concerns and issues fac- ing the industry.”
BUSINESS EXPANSION
When the company looked to expand its presence in the southeast into Florida, it sought out a person who had existing relationships in the market and significant knowledge of the industry. After an ex- haustive search, GC&E appointed Rob Hile to spearhead the com- pany’s entrance into the Florida region. Hile is an industry veteran with significant expertise in enterprise-level and government market opportunities and building relationships with technology partners, consultants and A&E firms. Recognized as a leading voice in the in-
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dustry, Hile has more than 25 years of security industry experience in senior-level roles with Siemens Industry, Integrated Fire and Security, G4S, GVI Security and TAC, encompassing sales and business lead- ership to further position GC&E as “the” premier integration firm within the southeastern United States.
The newest office location, which is set to officially open in Tam- pa, Fla., in January, will serve as the centralized management site for all activities within the state and allow Hile to build a team from the large talent base in the Tampa Bay region. The immediate focus will be the Interstate-4 corridor from Tampa to Orlando but will eventu- ally expand per customer demands.
“Tampa is a great market with a wide array of public and private sector opportunities,” O’Sullivan said. “With Rob’s experience within both sectors, we feel strongly that it will provide GC&E with a solid platform to expand our business and open additional locations with- in the state. We see a $10 million market in Florida over the next three years.”
“I have a tremendous foundation to build from here in Florida and all the support I could ever need from the GC&E Corporate team,” Hile said. “GC&E was built from the network up, and we take the network assurance piece very seriously. Our IT staff is comprised of a high number of individuals who hold Information Assurance or Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certifications and they ensure that the foundation of any system installed is designed to be secure from outside influences and that it stays that way moving forward. This foundation, coupled with all the other technology offerings including voice, data, network monitoring and physical security, puts us in an envious position in the markets that we serve.”
Hile said GC&E’s diverse solutions and services will allow him to meet growing customer demand for emerging technologies. The company plans to begin offering a new suite of integrated services to include remote monitoring, management and maintenance com- bined with lifecycle management of system assets. This comprehen- sive service offering will provide customers with real-time visibility into system operations, performance trends and reliability, and in- stant notifications of issues or failures, or allow them to schedule a service call, all while tracking overall health and the history of spe- cific activities performed for each system device. This enables GC&E to proactively work to schedule maintenance and service calls before issues occur and to better support clients in the forecasting of system upgrades, enhancements or replacements based on the reliability and availability of the system or device.
There is also interest in adding diverse options for cloud storage, information assurance and cybersecurity, backup and disaster recov- ery, and management of ESS through mobile applications. GC&E also recognizes that the Internet of Things (IoT) evolution is a major driver of digital transformation.
“We will leverage evolving IoT-based technologies, trends and service offerings to create new business models that will ultimately streamline and improve system operations and reliability,” O’Sullivan said. “We believe staying on the forefront of these trends is imperative for sustained growth in the future.”
With a forward-thinking leader like O’Sullivan at the helm and the great management team of seasoned professionals he has put to- gether, the sky’s the limit for what this company will accomplish in the years to come.
Ralph C. Jensen is the editor in chief of Security Today magazine. 0118 | DEALER STRATEGIES