Volume 44 | February 13, 2024
Welcome to Brief 44, which is a three part Brief. First, a quick update on ACS24 Europe (We are excited to announce that ACS24 Europe is 100% officially on and it will be in Zurich on 5/29 and 5/30! More details are below), a quick update on the AC Lab, and then some thoughts on "They are what we thought they were…” It is a discussion about manufacturers, the channel, and who is to blame for the slow adoption of cloud based access control systems. The entire article can be summed up by the gif below (see the meme below for more context):
As always…If, for any reason, I am not meeting your expectations, please feel free to let me know.
Thank you!
PS: I am sure some of you may forward this on but please do so sparingly and encourage others to sign up here. Thank you!
ACS24 Europe is Coming to Zurich 5/29 - 5/30
We're excited to announce ACS24 Europe, a groundbreaking event taking place in Zurich on May 29th and 30th!
After the successful inaugural ACS in Washington, D.C. last year, attended by 166 global leaders from the access control, smart lock, and broader ecosystem, ACS24 Europe will be the first event of its kind in Europe. Just as in Washington, D.C., this exclusive summit aims to bring together influential executives and thought leaders from various companies, promoting networking opportunities, knowledge sharing, and industry growth.
Themed "Power of the Ecosystem," ACS24 Europe will highlight the ecosystem's value creation, addressing key issues and initiatives in the access control and smart lock industry. With nearly 250 executives from some of the industry's most innovative companies, ACS24 Europe promises a vibrant, collaborative environment for learning and networking.
We have more exciting announcements coming soon, and we'll share more details shortly. If you're interested in attending, please visit https://www.leeodess.com/acs24europe and let us know. The event is limited to 250 attendees, granted on a first come, first serve basis.
Similar to the Washington DC event, ACS24 Europe will be fast-paced and informative, with ample networking opportunities and valuable information sharing. We'll kick off with a happy hour on the evening of 5/29 and continue with the main event on 5/30, featuring a mix of keynotes, 1 on 1s, and panel discussions. We will also include more opportunities for Q&A compared to the Washington event.
Pricing will follow the structure used for ACS23. There will be a member discount of €1000 per ticket, reducing the non member pricing from €2000 to €1000. A member and guest package will be available for €1500. Members who attended ACS23 will receive a further discount of €250. We will offer Member Bulk pricing for bundles of 5, 10, and 20 tickets. Additionally, discounts will be provided for speakers as well.
Long and short, we have what you need :)
Details such as the special location, collaborations, topics, and more will follow.
If you would like to speak at ACS24 Europe, please reply to this email and let me know.
Also, again, if you're interested in attending, please visit https://www.leeodess.com/acs24europe and sign up!
See you in Zurich!
Picture of Zurich
Here are two pictures from the inaugural report from the AC Lab. A big thank you to Jonathan Hays from Silverpine for seizing the opportunity to visit Bethesda and start working on smart cylinders. Your help is greatly appreciated and I am forever grateful. I would also like to thank dormakaba Best and iLOQ for being the first to participate! We have more locks on the way, and I'm thrilled to see everything come together. If you want to learn more about the AC Lab, please contact me directly.
"They are what we thought they were…"
What I'll call a culmination of many years of working in the industry, past and recent conversations with manufacturers around the globe, and conversations both in Slack and on LinkedIn, I wanted to summarize my thoughts on a loud, frequent, and unfair but honest discussion:
A belief that the channel is the reason for the slow adoption of cloud-based access control systems.
Complaining about the channel has been a sport since the beginning of time, not just from the security industry point of view but one felt by any industry that uses a multi-step sales and support model.
But the reality is that there is enough blame to go around: channels, specifiers, manufacturers, and even customers. It is not just the channel. Because of the interdependencies and responsibility, it is only possible to discuss this by looking at the entire picture as they relate. It is the literal peeling of an onion. Or, in 2023 terms, it is the Spider-Man meme I used above.
To have the discussion, let us align on a few things:
1. The channel is to blame
2. The specifiers are to blame
3. The manufacturers are to blame
4. Customers are to blame
5. We are all to blame
But it is ok, as this is just a moment, and we can do something about it.
For all of us to play our part in progress, we must focus on our role. We need to take responsibility for our piece in the puzzle and follow this simple call to action: do something by controlling what you can and stop pointing fingers and complaining about others.
Sure, complaining is doing something. It is just unproductive. If complaining about it created the change we all desired, then trust me, we'd be there already.
But since one of the most vocal complainers who, if we also had to stake rank the one with the most resources, are manufacturers. I wanted to start with them.
Welcome to the cloud party!
The first thing most manufacturers need is "to recognize."
Recognize that for those of you who have just found the cloud religion, welcome. What you are experiencing is not new. It is just new to you.
Recognize that those of you who have just found the access control industry and have a cloud solution welcome. What you are experiencing is not new. It is just new to you.
Recognize that for those of you who were early to the cloud party, I have bad news for you. It is Groundhog Day, and you need to have amnesia. What you are experiencing is not new. It is also not new to you, but you must pretend it is new.
A Brief History of Cloud-Based Access Control
Quick review on how we got here as we must align on the brief history so we can build off of it to go forward fast:
1999: 1 company promoting cloud and five integrators on board. Most of the industry and pundits ignore it or think it's cute. To integrators: "For your hard-to-reach areas and smaller applications. Also, RMR is better for your business to build value."
2004: 3 companies are promoting the cloud, and more integrators are on board. Still, most industry and pundits ignore or think it's cute. To integrators: "RMR is better for your business and builds value. Customers want it. It's the future."
2012: 5 companies are promoting the cloud, and even more integrators are on board. Still, most industry and pundits ignore or think it's cute. To integrators: "RMR is better for your business and builds value. Customers want it. It's the future. You use your phone for banking. There's what multitenant means."
2017: 15 companies are promoting the cloud, and even more integrators are on board. Still, many of the industry and pundits think it's not enterprise-worthy. More integrators are on board, but the message is still to integrators: "RMR is better for your business and builds value. I swear it is enterprise. We work with Salesforce, Linkedin, and Google. You should, too. Here's a lead."
2020: 2 types of companies promoting cloud - those that have it and those that say it's coming—more integrators on board. Still, many industry and pundits think it's not enterprise-worthy and net negative, but the market says otherwise. More integrators are on board, but the message is still to integrators: "RMR is better for your business and builds value. Yes, you can access our system remotely since you are on lockdown. No, it's different than a VPN."
2024: Every company has a cloud offering. Three types of companies: (1) Those that have had it and are looking at the right side of history (2) Those adding it to their business and trying to balance yesterday with tomorrow (3) Those that are new and realizing what was realized in 1999. More integrators are on board, but the message is still to integrators: "RMR is better for your business and builds value. Yes, we have it on our roadmap/acquired a company/hired cloud salespeople/ and are all in. Why aren't you all in?"
This is where we are today: a fantastic opportunity but one where we need to move to solving the problems that we have complete control of. And the parts that we have control of that I am speaking to have nothing to do with anything technical. We are in complete control of leadership and incentives.
"They are what we thought they were…"
The quote above is an (in)famous after-game speech by Dennis Green, the then coach of the National Football League (NFL) Arizona Cardinals. Putting aside the specifics of what Coach Green talked about, the sentiment rings true to our industry and what we discuss here.
You know who your current channel is, like you know who your team is. So, acting like we are surprised with the outcome is an excuse. We do not value the ones who are entirely on board enough, and we are asking many in our industry to be something they will never be.
To keep the sports analogy going, you are blaming a basketball team of 5'5" guards for not being 7'7" centers. You've got talented channel partners. You need more, and you need them of all shapes and sizes. We need to get some 6' shooting guards, 6'8" power forwards, and 7' centers mixed with the 5'5" point guards. We must also build the proper programs to support and incentivize this team to win.
The key is we need to go get it. Not wait for it to come to us.
So, what are some tactical solutions?
I'll assume some of, if not all, I am saying resonates. And even if it does a little, here are solutions every manufacturer can implement and see a massive change in how their products accelerate into the market.
The solution is well understood. I have talked to enough of you to know that we, as an industry, have a good idea of what needs to be done.
We are in a casual iteration routine with two rear tires stuck in the mud. We need to go.
Here are three initiatives we can get behind:
1) financial investment
2) spending time with the 20% of integrators who are already on board
3) clearly understand the channel you need and build that channel.
First up is financial investment. This need can be solved with money, full stop. Imagine if public companies took the same hundreds of millions of dollars they put into stock buybacks and dividends and put that money to work in the channel by directly investing in their channel partners to help them grow their businesses (it would also solve the attracting talent problem we have).
Financial investment also looks like fully funded market development fund programs and rewards the channel that rewards you by helping them be successful. Take $2M of wasted expense (see below), pick ten channel partners, and exercise the capital in their companies. Learn from the ten, tweak your strategy, and invest in 20 more. Rinse, repeat.
Financial investment also looks like a revamped certification and training program for the people of the local channel companies, not the companies themselves, that builds currency and increases the money the technicians, marketers, sellers, and program managers in the market make. Build currency and rabid fans.
The hard part with financial investments is when it comes to prioritizing the changes needed to support the unpredictable new initiatives by deprioritizing predictable old programs, processes, and expectations we know will not help us achieve what we need to get done. Leadership is putting the resources towards the new strategy, even if it means you will bite the bullet and go backward for a quarter or two to get healthy. Why? Because your current path is far more unhealthy, you're just used to the old. Use the riptide as an image of what your business looks like now - calm on top, absolute chaos under the surface.
Second, you are wasting 80% of your time on the 80% of your channel, which will never get you to heaven. Full stop. You are wasting time and money on 80% of your channel partners. I have spoken to enough of you and, in my own experience, to know that 20% of your channel does 80% of your business. Yet we are crippled to make changes out of the fear of the 80% who won't do a thing for you but yet are the loudest whenever a change happens. We manage to the mean. You need to stop. Focus on the 20% you have on board already. Recognize that within that 20%, there is a percentage who won't come along for the ride either, and that's ok (they are your leg in the old, which is a great base to build off of). Now, fill out your channel by building what you need and what you have. How many of you have a new channel program created to support your business of the future?
This leads me to the third solution: clearly understand the channel you need and build for that channel. What are the skill sets required? What is the mentality? What is the program to support this new channel partner? What should they expect of you, and what do you expect of them? This group of channel partners needs to wake up in the morning thinking about you, and they need to go to bed at night thinking about you. Your business needs to be their business. Most of you still need to build the profile of the channel you need. You've taken the new to the old and waited. You need to move away from the model where you are competing for mindshare with 17 other access control lines because of a wide variety of reasons like "we have a few accounts we service, so that's why we sell XYZ" or "I have access to XYZ because we bid projects as opportunities come in." No. This group is dedicated to you, and you are devoted to them. How do you get that to happen? Two ways. First, see #1 above. Invest in them and, second, customer leads. Invest in modern marketing and win online. Then, bring those leads back to this group of rabid channel partners.
In Conclusion
I know this work is not an easy task, and I am oversimplifying things, but it is also not as complex as we're making it out to be.
Most importantly, the change needs to start with you. To be the change you want to see externally, you need to be the change you want to be internally. We take all this new, shove it through the old, and expect different results. I don't get it. I don't understand why we are making this much more complex than it needs to be.
This continued process of new through old and expecting different results is known as insanity. And when we say "the old," I am not just talking about the channel. It is also your finance department's spreadsheets, your marketing department's strategy, your margin spread, your selling motion, and your culture. It is systemic. The changes need to go deep, and they need to go wide. You aren't going to ease into this. These changes differ from adding OSDP to your product line, deciding that you will offer a new reader, or integrating cameras into your system.
This change is fundamental.
The reward is worth the effort.
Start investing your resources wisely with the channel partners that will deliver with you today and tomorrow.
Currently, the majority of you still need to. We are rehashing old hash in the access control industry and expecting new results.
What is it going to take? I believe in this so much that if you want to discuss the solutions in great detail, reach out, and let's schedule a time to discuss.
