Samsung Makes Bid to Become Security Big Shot
In a wide-ranging interview, Frank Defina, senior vice president of sales at Samsung Techwin America, speaks candidly about the challenges the company faces as it executes new channel strategies to carve out a leadership role in the ever-competitive North American video surveillance market.
R&D a Corporate Strong Point
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You’re backed by 300 engineers in Korea who focus solely on developing video surveillance technology. But how do you bridge the gap between what they design to the actual needs of the market?
Defina: I have developed a product and marketing management team here and each one of those people is responsible for a single category. For instance, IP or network cameras. Each one of those people has a counterpart in Korea who is assigned to the same job. It all begins and ends with the marketplace. What is the correct product for the market? What are the minimal specifications the market needs? How does our side communicate all that to the Korean side? And then the Korean side goes to the R&D people and says, ‘This is what we want you to build. And if you build it this is how many we can sell.’
There has to be a business kind of ROI analysis as well. We have to be the eyes and ears of Samsung in the U.S. We have to tell them in Korea this is what will sell, these are the features we need; we don’t need these other things because it is just going to make it more expensive. And by the way, if you build this, Frank is committing to you that it will sell X amount of units.
I understand you will be featuring new access control solutions at ASIS?
Defina: Yes, there are two scenarios. No. 1, we’re partnering with S2 Security on systems and product for 30 doors or less. We finished the integration about one month ago and our sales force is being trained on it. It is coming to market in September. We are trying the mid- to low-level projects to have a kind of off-the-shelf solution with S2.
And No. 2, there is a complete access control enterprise solution, which is an enormous breadth of product. It was totally engineered in-house. We are coming into the market late, and although it is great product we have to compete with probably 50 access control manufacturers out there. So right now we are currently studying what is the best way to market our access system.
We will have a pretty strong access control presence at the ASIS show, but I think our desire at ASIS is to ascertain what part of the market we can best enter the product through. To be truthful, our own organization has to learn the nuances of access control. The Samsung enterprise solution is very successful in the Asia market, but it is just coming to the U.S. now. I don’t want to just throw it out and wonder why it’s not selling.
We are thinking, could it be to electrical contr
actors, could it be a channel we as an industry haven’t addressed yet? We are still exploring that whole thing. I think the traditional entrée is not the right way, personally. We are not ready to go head-to-head with the big boys yet because we are not sure ourselves the best way to do it.
Considering Channel Strategies
What is Samsung’s go-to market strategy?
Defina: You will see us building more and more reseller partnerships and alliances with systems integrators and service companies in the next year as we promote our presence and strengthen the brand power of Samsung.
We are looking to increase Samsung’s presence by cultivating productive, mutually beneficial relationships to extend the scope and effectiveness of Samsung’s position in the U.S. market. We will also continue our successful strategic relationship with GVI Security as Samsung’s master distributor, and will be pursuing additional distribution partners and channels moving forward.
What channel partners will you pursue?
Defina: There might be alternative channels to what we are doing now. So, again, electrical contractors might be one distribution channel that we haven’t really touched. Certainly the IT channel has some powerful players. Just because they are a powerful IT player doesn’t mean they are going to translate that into the physical security space. I want to make it very clear: We are not changing our current distribution model, but looking outside the traditional channel.
How are you building your dealer channel?
Defina: The main mission for my company is really the systems integration business. The problem or challenge there, of course, is we have to be validated by the industry. I developed an internal presentation that is a five-phase process to successfully develop a systems integration business [partnership]. In that process, phase five is what I call the ‘validation phase.’
To answer your question we want to win the trust of the integrators. That is the big push with Samsung – to try to earn market share at the integrator level. What I tell my people is, ‘We don’t capture it, we earn it.’
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About the Author
Rodney Bosch, Senior Editor
Although Bosch’s name is quite familiar to those in the security industry, his previous experience has been in daily newspaper journalism. Prior to joining SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION in 2006, he spent 15 years with the Los Angeles Times, where he performed a wide assortment of editorial responsibilities, including feature and metro department assignments as well as content producing for latimes.com. Bosch is a graduate of California State University, Fresno with a degree in Mass Communication & Journalism. In 2007, he successfully completed the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association’s National Training School coursework to become a Certified Level I Alarm Technician.
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