Adesta changes name

OMAHA, Neb.—Adesta, a systems integrator, which was acquired about 16 months ago by mega security company G4S, changed its name to G4S Technology on March 1.

“We're right on schedule, the name change was part of the integration and assimilation plan we started on from day one,” Bob Sommerfeld, president of G4S Technology, told Security Systems News.

In some ways, G4S Technology is unchanged. “We're still the same company, the same people, providing essentially the same services: complex integration solutions and operations and maintenance services, simply with a different name,” he said.

Part of what's occurring now is collaboration among the various G4S companies that have more specific skill sets to “offer a total solution that combines manpower/guarding with technology,” he explained.

And with those various entities taking on the G4S name, “the brand gains a reputation for security solutions and moves away from G4S automatically being associated with guards,” he said.

“That was part of the strategy when G4S acquired us: We help enhance their technology capability. And then for us, we have the support of a much larger organization ... We now have a much more efficient way to address global solutions for customers,” he said.

In January, G4S combined Adesta's/G4S Technology's network monitoring operation with its other monitoring operations.

G4S Technology had historically served some of its customers on a global/international basis, but they were limited to government facilities, Sommerfeld said. However, being associated with G4S, “this gives us the chance to serve Fortune 500-type global customers.” In the past year, G4S Technology has “moved ahead with a few global opportunities” and Sommerfeld said the company has a significant pipeline of possibilities: “opportunities, conversations, and serious discussions that are currently underway.”

In addition, G4S Technology has been collaborating with Touchcom, an integrator acquired by G4S in 2008. The two businesses are complementary, Sommerfeld said. Where G4S Technology is larger and specializes in industrial and critical infrastructure, Touchcom is more commercially and retail focused. “Jointly we have a better national footprint and provide better service,” he said. Furthermore, Touchcom has internally developed a system for “visitor management, workflow management, concierge services and elevator management” that G4S Technology intends to “start to incorporate into some of our solution offerings.

Sommerfeld said G4S Technology also expects to collaborate on an opportunistic basis with Nuclear Security Services Corp., an integrator and manufacturer serving the nuclear facility marketplace, which G4S acquired last summer.

The name change comes after another successful year, Sommerfeld said. “We have grown year over year for the last eight years in a row. We've grown on the revenue and profit side, and we expect this year to be even better.”