Second time is the charm for new firm, S2

WELLESLEY, Mass. - The founder of access control company Software House has teamed up with several former coworkers and software engineers to launch S2 Security Corp., a new company that plans to bring to market a networkable security product that will manage multiple security systems over the web. John Moss, the former chief executive officer and founder of Software House, started the company this spring with six other partners and private funding. Today, its yet to be named product is in the development stages, with a prototype slated for private viewing at the ASIS International Show in New Orleans this month. The group, made up of people with network and IT expertise, decided to come together to tackle the emerging network security market. They plan to bring a plug-and-play product to the security industry that enables multiple systems to integrate, all while providing remote monitoring access. “As we looked at what sort of products were available in the security market, we really didn’t find good networking or interoperability products,” said Moss, who is leading S2 Security. For example, the system would connect card readers and cameras to the network, which in turn would be connected to a device similar to a cable television box, explained Moss. Its sweet spot, said Michael Welles, a member of the S2 Security management team, is a system comprised of between two to 25 doors readers, half a dozen cameras and a few intercoms. Unlike patching systems, which can be expensive, this approach is more economical, said Welles, and will be targeted towards the low-end to mid-size market. “That is an area that has traditionally not been served with higher-end capabilities,” he said. The creation of S2 Security comes at a pivotal time in the security industry, as systems integrators seek network security solutions and as IT and physical security converge. Moss believes his company, with the experience of its management team, will bring to market a solution that will make it easier and more affordable to install a networked security system than others currently available on the market. “We all have a background that’s enterprise software or from the security industry,” he said. “If we look at this convergence of information and physical security, to get that to happen we really need to understand how to interact with IT systems.”