Skyhawk acquires IT firm

BATON ROUGE, La.—As more panels go IP in businesses and homes, security companies are continuing to see the allure of bringing some IT minds in-house.

Skyhawk Security, whose core security offering is video monitoring for 150 commercial clients, is the latest to act on that instinct. Skyhawk, based here, acquired Baton Rouge-based IT firm Big Networks in a move that presents some potentially robust cross-selling opportunities for the newly merged company, now called Skyhawk Group.

Through the acquisition, Brett Lofton, managing member of Skyhawk, believes the company can add to its security account base, which currently sits at 250 commercial clients in several states across the U.S.

“We'll be trying to get in front of them to talk about our security offerings,” Brett Lofton, managing member of Skyhawk, said of the inherited accounts. “If we build those relationships from a security standpoint, we can then cross-sell those additional IT services to a lot of those clients.”

Commercial customers with guards could prove most receptive to video monitoring, Lofton said. “We may see if they want to replace [their guards] or supplement a night shift with video monitoring.”

In addition to in-house video monitoring, Skyhawk's security offerings include IP camera systems and access control. These offerings could play a pivotal role in the company's desire to grow organically, an ambition that some nearby projects could help bring to fruition. Southern Louisiana is experiencing enormous growth in the chemicals market, Lofton said, with tens of billions of dollars in the pipeline. “There's a lot happening here and those are going to be easier for us to tackle, but we're certainly looking for expansion in other places, too,” Lofton said, mentioning Houston and Florida as strong regional markets.

Ultimately, Lofton said the purchase not only gives Skyhawk the benefit of having an “IT decision maker” on board, but also a stronger platform for regional and national growth. “We certainly want to take advantage of the benefit of being IP-based, and being able to monitor cameras anywhere there's an Internet connection,” he said.