ADT Security Looks At 'Secure' Future in India
Tyco international, the world leader in electronic security and fire protection (11% global share in a $65 billion market) to more than 7 million customers worldwide through its global ADT, fire protection services and safety product businesses it is perfectly poised to consolidate further in the Indian market.
Tweet-- February, Mumbai: In times when terrorism and uncertainty has dominated headlines, a lot of thoughts are being spared towards risk management and safety by India Inc. And the focus is not just corporate but at an individual level as well. Take the electronic security market for instance, which has seen robust and accelerated growth thanks in part to these rather unpleasant drivers. Naren K. Gurusahaney who is the President of ADT Worldwide and Tyco's Fire and Security operations (outside North America) believes that the Indian market for integrated security solutions would see a spike a demand and would become a key player in protecting multinational organisations. A Frost and Sullivan survey in 2006 pegged the Indian market for these solutions at $300 million and a growth rate of 20% per annum. With Tyco international being the world leader in electronic security and fire protection (11% global share in a $65 billion market) to more than 7 million customers worldwide through its global ADT, fire protection services and safety product businesses it is perfectly poised to consolidate further in the Indian market.
After the Mumbai turmoil, the most pertinent question that has engaged security analysts is the location of the next possible terror attack. Although a predictive analysis of possible terror targets would perhaps be a misnomer, it is indeed prudent to conduct an exercise to map locations where there is high probability of terror attacks. Companies can no longer live in the utopia that security is a state responsibility. They will have to presume accountability for the security of their premises and personnel. There are businesses that flourish on the fundamentals of risk management, but most of this has been focused on financial and information technology risks and not seen the tectonic shifts in the landscape in areas such as physical security, human risk and corporate espionage. Tyco’s customers are both small and large, spanning retail, banking, logistics, maritime, mining, petrochemical, government and many other industries. For Indian market the need for mapping locations high on the terror list and developing a site based mitigation methodology is paramount. Tyco international include 80% of the worlds top 100 retailers, 300 international airports, 80% of commercial vessels at sea and some of the worlds largest mining and petrochemical operations. In a country the size of India, identifying high risk areas and putting in place site specific security plans is perhaps the only way out of the terror trap. To support this they are developing capabilities which will suffice the Indian demands and in Mr. Gurusahaney’s words are putting more “feet on the street” to capture significant Indian market share. What is required is mapping of the terror trajectory – one that is used to mitigate and not instigate.
There are three sets of security issues that need to be addressed - Customers, Employees and Assets. Changing lifestyles and economic progress have considerably eroded the meaning of community living and associated security of the past. With new industries increasing, external security cannot be completely relied upon any projection. More and more people have started investing in security systems. ‘Indian enterprises can avoid security breaches further if they develop and implement an effective information security strategy and framework’ says Gurusahaney adding that an essential component of this framework is to view security as a strategic initiative and not as cost center. As India continues to undergo rapid growth, for ADT the strategic focus is broad range of security products and fine security solutions, which will increase the market share substantially.
The first step in understanding what constitute corporate risk management and different aspects of social responsibility? While the immediate focus of most companies after 26/11 is understandably on the physical security of their premises and personnel, corporate security has six distinct components that are interlinked and interdependent components which are physical security, Technology security, Information and risk management, corporate governance, Third party security and Change management. A robust corporate security strategy needs to be addressed in holistic and integrated manner rather than focusing on any one of them particularly. ‘Nobody will tell you that they feel great about the economy right now’ but Mr. Gurusahaney believes that in India ‘there is enough domestic market growth’ for ‘robust growth’. His take on how Tyco is handling the current situation? ‘We are playing defense and making sure that we get our costs in line ad we are being prudent but we are increasing our investments in markets where we see long term growth options.’ India is one of those markets where perhaps he foresees a ‘secure’ future.
Notes to Editor
Tyco Fire and Security, a major segment of the Fortune 500 Company “Tyco International Ltd.”, has done annual sales worth of US $ 18.6 billion, across the world in the year 2006-07. They operate in more than 100 locations worldwide with strength of over 115,000 employees. Tyco has 1200 offices across the globe with 35 manufacturing locations. Tyco intends to extend its product lines and have 600 new products in their bracket by the end of this year 2009.