Allied's Enterprise team

SPOKANE, Wash.--Riding the wave of excitement over the influx of IP-based products into the security marketplace, Allied Fire & Security in 2007 launched its Enterprise Solutions Group, a team of technical professionals with experience in both the IT and physical security worlds.

Jason Weidman is an example. As manager of the Enterprise group, he comes to the job with 14 years in the security field, but “six years ago I took over the IT department here,” he said. “I'd been straddling the fence and it was a perfect fit for me to get the Enterprise Group rolling.”

Allied now has Enterprise techs staffed at each of its three offices (the other two are in Portland, Ore., and Seattle), culled from a group of roughly 70 technicians. “There were guys in each office who took it upon themselves to get Network+ and A+ certifications,” Weidman said. “They were a shoo-in to join the group.” They're now moving on to CTNA and CSC certifications.

Allied sales manager Craig Summers said the group is “a support team for both the sales and operations sides of the business. We can have confidence in talking with our customers, and once we get the job they make sure we install it correctly.”

Plus, they've set up their own in-house training operation, said Weidman. “We run all the electronics guys through that so they have a basic understanding of getting an IP camera on the network, and that's been huge for us as well.”

Summers said Allied sometimes has to create IP demand, as the customers don't yet know what's possible, but Allied is solving old customer problems in new and more cost-efficient ways.

“We want to position ourselves,” said Weidman, “to be competitive.”