Stanley launches dealer program

INDIANAPOLIS--Stanley Security Solutions, a division of Stanley Works, announced in early June the creation of Stanley Security Products Group, a business unit focused on distributing access control and video surveillance products through a reseller network of authorized dealers. The access control product for the new business unit comes from PAC International, which Stanley acquired as part of Blick Plc, a UK manufacturer and integrator, in 2004. The video portion will be built on the Stanley VIP NVR and DVR products, acquired and renamed when Stanley purchased Intivid Solutions, based in Toronto, in 2004. While the business unit will continue to OEM products through Bosch Security Systems and sister unit Stanley Systems Integration, efforts going forward will be focused on the independent systems integrator, said Andrew Michie, SPG sales and marketing manager, who came to Stanley with PAC. "We think of ourselves as the everyday access control solution, the every day video surveillance solution," he said. "We aim at the 80 percent of the world, not necessarily the very high end, but the world where we think the majority of our integrators are working day to day." He said that they could support something like the 1,000-reader job they're doing now at the Bangkok Airport, "but we're very much at home doing 10 doors. The majority of our systems integrators are probably doing 20- to 30-door jobs, which I think is fairly normal." They currently have roughly 50 authorized integrators, many of them through Intivid's VIP legacy, Michie said, and his goal is to double that number by year-end. To become a Stanley dealer, integrators receive training in their own locations to become Stanley Certified Security Professionals, an accreditation Michie hopes will become recognized throughout the industry. "We need to make them believe that a Stanley accreditation is a valuable thing to have," said Michie. "When you hire someone, you'll know who you're hiring; you'll know the standard of training they've received." The training is very IP-oriented, to the point where Michie encourages integrators to ask for the IT director as well as the security director when pitching a job. "One of the weaknesses we tend to find," Michie said, "is their lack of IP exposure. Part of our training process will often be half a day getting them to understand the whys and wherefores of an IP network."