Go National with PSA

WESTMINSTER, Colo.--To bring some structure to what was already being done in ad hoc fashion by its member companies, the PSA Security Network in August launched the National Accounts Program, providing a business model for independent and regional integrators to enter into partnerships and serve accounts that might otherwise be beyond the scope of their organizations. A PSA committee spent a year building the program, which will consist of six key documents: a teaming agreement, a subcontract agreement, a revenue-sharing model, rules of engagement, member qualifications, and standard units of labor. "It was [the members'] idea," said PSA president and chief executive officer Bill Bozeman, "and the interest and the activity, people signing up for the program and attending the seminars, is tremendous. PSA has a lot of different programs, but this is the one we've spent the most amount of money on." Bozeman emphasized that PSA corporate would not be selling to national accounts. He said PSA was simply providing a way for local and regional integrators to take part in what he said is "no longer a cottage industry." "What's ironic," he said, "is that we've had interest from the Siemens, Securitas, Northrop Grummans of the world, simply because even as large as they are, they don't have the coverage necessary to do some of these projects ... Everybody knows that this is the truth: No one, not ADT, not Siemens, not Johnson Controls, no one is able to provide complete nationwide coverage. And they know it." That's why the national accounts program isn't only open to PSA members. "This will be driven by PSA members, designed and put together by them," said Dave Homet, PSA's director of business development and the administrator of the National Accounts Program. "But, having said that, we recognize that we may have some limitations over our 200 member companies. So, when we need to, we will utilize our third-party relationships. That might be through sub-contractors with a non-PSA member, or with somebody who might be a lead on the project. We will partner with other non-PSA members, too, who might not even be integrators themselves. We have things behind the scenes with national IT integrators, with a large construction/engineering company looking for a partner on the security side. We'll plug in their capabilities." "It's new, so it's all kind of theory at this point, but as a local regional integrator I'm excited by it," said Charles Baker, the president of California Commercial Security, an integrator with roughly 40 employees headquartered in San Diego. "What it should be able to do is expand the amount of business we do beyond where we're currently confined ... We've had a couple of situations [in the past] where I've simply had to pass on business." He noted a customer who was opening a San Francisco branch, where CCS just didn't have an established partner. "They came to me first because we were their choice," Baker said, "and I had to elect not to help them out. We pride ourselves on quality of work, and if I can't guarantee that, I can't do the work." Now, he's confident, "our end user will feel like there was a velvet glove handover. Even though they're not working with us, that's the feeling they'll have."