S2 expands channel partner program

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.—In what S2 Security CEO John Moss is calling the “final frontier to professionalize this business,” the integrated physical security systems provider announced that it is expanding its channel partner program with new marketing efforts.

“We've spent a lot of time building out our sales and engineering [operations], but marketing is something we hadn't really invested in. This year, we've decided it's time,” Moss told Security Systems News.

Sarah Semerjian is heading up S2's marketing efforts in the newly created role of senior director of marketing. Semerjian comes to S2 from CheckVideo, where she served as director of marketing.

S2 Security, based here, is a provider of integrated security systems that support access control, alarm monitoring, temperature monitoring, video and intercom. All of S2's products are network appliances that work on a Web browser.

“We really feel we have a unique product in the security industry and we want our integrators to feel as strongly about this as we do,” Semerjian said.

Among her goals is expanding lead generation for S2's existing integrator partners. She credits S2's sales team with doing “tremendous things for growth. … Add marketing to the mix and [integrators can] grow even more quickly.”

Improving lead generation elements of the S2 website will be an important component.

Moss said that S2 has “an initiative to build a major online experience for our integrators and end users.” Some components of this initiative are in place now, and others will be rolled out in the next 12 months.

The website will help integrators “more effectively keep track of who's under maintenance agreements,” he said. Order entry will be moved entirely online, as will training.

Moving training online is a “huge investment” for S2, but a very popular idea with integrators, Moss said. It will mean less time out of the field and more effective training modules that are available on demand for techs.

“There will be a whole cloud piece built in. … And we want to do health monitoring for all of the products in our infrastructure,” Moss said.

“By ASIS 2015, we will have all of the pieces in place.”

S2 is privately held by a “diffused ownership.” Much of the company is owned by founders Moss and Michael Wells, while other owners include S2 employees. In addition “there is a large number of smaller, independent investors who were there when we opened our doors in 2003.”

Moss does not release revenue figures, but said he would place his company at about three or four in terms of domestically generated revenue, behind large companies such as Software House and Lenel, and in the same neighborhood as companies such as AMAG Technologies.

S2 has 100 employees, including more than 30 sales people. Moss estimates that S2 has more than 17,000 systems in the field and about 9,000 customers with various software update support agreements.

Overall revenue has grown 30 percent in each of the past five years, Moss said.