Q&A: Panasonic’s Panoramic Perspective
Jean-Marc Allain, the new president of Panasonic System Solutions Co. (PSSA), discusses the abundance of opportunities in the face of current economic woes.
PSSA Plots Out Its New Plan
What kind of year did Panasonic/PSSA have in 2008? How does 2009 look?
Allain: Globally, Panasonic Corp. enjoys a strong cash position, although economic conditions are impacting earlier projections. Panasonic is placing more emphasis on growing overseas business, including North America, in 2009 and beyond. Within North America, a key focal point is the system solutions business that Panasonic System Solutions Co. provides.
Why the recent change from Panasonic Security Systems to Panasonic System Solutions Co.? How does that relate to the company’s approach to the market?
Allain: It’s important to note that Panasonic System Solutions Co. has always been the parent of the Panasonic Security Systems division. The shift in emphasis to the Company name reflects our new b
usiness model based on providing comprehensive, customer-driven technology solutions vs. products. Our core product groups and sales channels are still extremely important to our model, but we see the biggest opportunity for growth through new business development in the systems arena.
How is Panasonic structured?
Allain: To put it simply, there are three levels of structure to our organization: Panasonic Corp. [PC] headquartered in Japan, which coordinates all R&D and manufacturing functions worldwide; Panasonic Corp. of North America [PNA], which is responsible for sales and support of all domestic operations; and Panasonic System Solutions Co. [of America] comprised of several areas including video surveillance, medical and industrial vision camera systems, point-of-sale and wireless audio systems for hospitality, digital signage, and large screen LED displays for sports and entertainment.
Under our new corporate directive, Panasonic System Solutions Co. also has access to every Panasonic-branded product to support the system sales business model under my direction.
What is PSSA’s marketing strategy for the North American market? What is the philosophy regarding sales channels?
Allain: We have a multitiered go-to-market strategy designed to support our product categories through their core channels. This provides the foundation for our systems model by allowing us to further strengthen our partnership with channel partners — including systems integrators, architects and engineers, installing dealers, and service organizations — to deliver integrated solutions supported by experts in the respective technologies required for each and every system solution.
Please explain PSSA’s approach to acquisitions as opposed to organic growth, as well as its interest in striking strategic partnerships.
Allain: Traditionally, Panasonic Corp. has not looked to acquisitions based on conventional M&A [mergers and acquisitions] influencers. We are a world leader in R&D and manufacturing worldwide and business development has generally been organic. However, the pending acquisition of Sanyo is another example of Panasonic’s recognition that not everything can be accomplished organically in order to remain globally competitive.
Partnerships fall into a completely different priority set. We have actively pursued partners in related and previously disparate technologies and service-driven industries to support our continually evolving business strategies. The shift in emphasis from a products to a systems model is largely built on this premise.
One of the specific areas where we are pursuing partnerships is in the IT space, as software is the driving influencer on the enterprise level and even for more prevalent systems needs such as the integration of video surveillance and point-of-sale systems.
What is Panasonic doing to adapt its security solutions mindset from the Japanese to the U.S. market?
Allain: There really is not much difference in this mindset at all. The trend is IP video both here and abroad. The challenge is to deliver a range of solutions that satisfy users’ diverse needs such as the migration of best-in-breed legacy systems onto an IP platform.
Customers with significant investments in analog technologies cannot be asked to rip out and replace their systems when they need to expand or enhance functionality. It is simply not cost-efficient, nor acceptable from our perspective.
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About the Author
Scott Goldfine
Scott Goldfine is the marketing director for Elite Interactive Solutions. He is the former editor-in-chief and associate publisher of Security Sales & Integration. He can be reached at [email protected].
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