BY: CHRIS SKINNER, DIRECTOR OF SECURITY TECHNOLOGIES
“If you go for the lowest bid every time, you’re going to get what you pay for.”
Everyone understands the concept – you want competitive pricing that doesn’t blow up your budget but never at the expense of quality. It’s the sort of idea everyone tries to keep in mind when starting a technology project.
But all too often, things change as the process moves along. Unforeseen variables create pressure, unexpected costs pop up, and to make things worse, the boss wants all of this handled yesterday, if not sooner. Suddenly, the idea of compromising sounds a little bit more palatable.
And stop me if you’ve heard this one before: at that precise moment, in walks the dreaded “trunk slammer.” They seem to know what they’re talking about and lure the customer in with an unbeatable price and the promise of a timeline that almost feels too good to be true. So, what’s so bad about going down that road? Unfortunately, plenty can go wrong at every phase in the process. Let me walk you through how that happens.
THE PLANNING PHASE
When working with a quality integrator or value-added reseller, their diligence and meticulousness should stick out. Their detail-orientedness and heavy emphasis on protocol are not overkill. Whether it’s pre-planning meetings, professional drawings, or the use of project management applications like Smartsheet, these tools all serve to make sure that everyone involved in the project is on the same page.
What happens without them?
Here’s how it often goes: The decision-makers for the involved parties come together and do a “paper napkin sketch”-style meeting, and each walks away satisfied that they’ve agreed upon the best way to move forward. Soon after, the trunk slammer shows up with a bill of materials, a hand-drawn plan, and a technician ready to complete the installation.
The problem: something got lost in translation. The project manager, technician, and customer each have wildly different ideas on what the finished product is actually supposed to look like! Which, of course, bodes poorly for the next step in our process…
THE INSTALL
If the Scope of Work (SOW) isn’t clear, there are dozens of ways any install can turn into a disaster. Devices installed at unacceptable wall heights, cameras installed underneath awnings that block the field of view once filled with water, or even cameras installed in the wrong location altogether – you name it, I’ve seen it.
Is your project reusing any existing hardware or infrastructure? Don’t underestimate the ability of old equipment to cause new and exciting problems. Once, I saw a young technician perform an installation in which the SOW specified he was supposed to remove an intrusion keypad from an existing building and reuse it in a new building. Unfortunately, when he removed the keypad, it rendered the current system unusable and set the system into alarm, causing a huge headache for everyone involved.
That technician was me, before years of experience taught me better. In fairness to myself, I wasn’t set up for success in that scenario. The issue should have been identified and accounted for long before I set foot on the site. Now, as security director of an industry-leading integrator, I take comfort in knowing that when we send the team in for an install, the i’s are dotted, and the t’s are crossed. No shortcuts and no jerry-rigged stopgap solutions. And furthermore, we know our job doesn’t end when we leave the site, which brings us to another differentiating factor…
SERVICE AND SUPPORT
This is perhaps the biggest difference between trunk slammers and integrators. The trunk slammer’s modus operandi is in-and-out. Helping you maintain and manage your systems over the long haul isn’t their priority; if you need help, they will get to you when they get to you. They have sold you a system – one that is probably proprietary in nature – and if they don’t hear from you, that’s the end of it as far as they are concerned. Little or no thought is given to scalability or future-proofing.
With a more reputable dealer, you are investing in a long-term partnership rather than just the hardware. Quality integrators can offer you a range of solutions, including hosted or fully managed options. Remote help desk support should be a given. Scalability and compatibility are accounted for, so you are investing in a system that can grow in accordance with your needs – no need to scrap devices if you need to move into larger-scale or enterprise solutions.
The Bottom Line
While this all might sound a bit dramatic, I’m not being hyperbolic for the sake of making a point. The bottom line is this: these are the technologies you use to protect your business and your people. Can you really feel confident buying them from a dealer who takes shortcuts just because it seems convenient at the moment? Instead, choose a provider you’d feel comfortable trusting to keep you safe: somebody who is always overprepared rather than under and would rather go the extra mile rather than stop one step short. Because in the event you actually need your technology, wouldn’t you like to know you can bet your life on it?
