In the lead up to IFSEC 2019, which takes place 18-20 June at London ExCeL, we talked exclusively to Traka’s UK sales director, Steve Bumphrey, to see how this impacts on the future business direction for Traka.
IFSEC Global: So it’s fair to say it’s been a busy opening quarter for Traka, starting the year with the acquisition of KEYper Systems?
Steve Bumphrey: It definitely has! KEYper Systems’ product range and expertise, especially in the US automotive and property management market segments, will complement Traka’s extensive product range and specialist solutions in key and equipment management globally.
Essentially, we have highly complementary product and service offerings, strong sales and marketing organisations and a shared dedication to quality customer service – we expect this combination to result in an even more effective and successful Traka.
IG: What will the impact be on Traka?
SB: The acquisition really provides us with the opportunity to further strengthen our position in the industry and advance our strategy to increase our presence in core markets on a global scale. This is a roadmap to which Traka is committed, and we’ve certainly started the year as we mean to grow forward!
IG: Traka has also recently announced it is becoming a part of ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions. What does this actually mean?
SB: Traka was acquired in 2012 as a business unit within ASSA ABLOY UK. Since then we have grown very rapidly, establishing our presence not only in the UK but also in the global markets, recently opening new offices in South Africa and Australia.
The move to ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions reflects our position as a global leader and ASSA ABLOY specialist business in this area.
Our new status allows us to embrace new opportunities in product development and integration capability
Our new status allows us to adapt even quicker to changes and embrace new opportunities. This is both in technical product development and integration capability, to truly be local when you need us and global when it counts.
IG: What’s your industry outlook on the year to come?
SB: 2019 offers an exciting opportunity to embrace the advances in smart technology, but I think it will be concentrated on three main areas: integration, data protection and customer response.
With regards to the first, intelligent buildings and corresponding management systems will continue to evolve to create smart workspaces for employees that truly integrate with mobile technology. The aim is to drive efficiency and building automation, alongside space utilization.
Keeping corporate assets, data and property secure can be seen by the significant focus on protecting personal data. The 2018 implementation of GDPR really spurred an increasing shift between an organisation and its customers to gaining trust.
And I would go as far as suggesting trust is now a critical asset. It is gained by organisations proving a commitment to safe and secure personal data storage.
Finally, as we are increasingly seeing and understanding across our sectors specialists, the need to respond quickly to customers is now absolutely essential and key to survival. But it has to be achieved without compromising on safety and security. Here, digital management systems that can respond 24 / 7 / 365, can be absolutely essential to operational effectiveness.
IG: What are your plans for IFSEC?
SB: With the new global Traka proposition, IFSEC was the obvious choice to attend and exhibit our latest advances in key and equipment management, together with our innovative technical development and capability.
We’re on stand IF105 this year and we’re thrilled to present our latest generation Traka Web software. It offers centralised administration with the benefits of faulty item exchange, fleet management and full audit control capability. It can be recorded with instant email notifications linked to specific item movements.
From a product perspective, live demonstrations will be taking place of our Modular Lockers. These specialist lockers are testament to our dedication to sector specific bespoke designs.
At IFSEC, we can show how Modular Lockers can manage equipment such as body worn camera technology
At IFSEC, we can show how Modular Lockers can be used to manage equipment such as body worn camera technology, which are increasingly being adopted by a number of sectors and often required to be instantly available for use in fast moving situations.
Traka’s dedicated Tablet Locker System will also be used as part in a dedicated integration zone, showcasing our ability to meet customer needs for a seamless security management system.
Traka’s innovative key management portfolio, including scalable L-Touch and M-Touch solutions, will also be at IFSEC, offering simple ways to control keys and manage different facilities, including full and compliant audit trail capability of keys and users.
[Find out more about Traka’s plans for IFSEC 2019]
IG: What are you looking forward to seeing at IFSEC?
SB: IFSEC has continually evolved with the changing landscape of security, introducing new sectors and recognising truly innovative companies together with their products and services.
For Traka, it’s perfectly poised as a premiere security exhibition to explore our opportunities for further integration with access control and security providers. We’re really looking forward to discussing the future of smart security and connected buildings.
Our aim is to present how we can partner with others to present the sheer diversity in our product portfolio, all able to operate with innovative software to present increased efficiency, resource and significant cost savings, whilst maintaining levels of safety and security.
IG: You were appointed as sales director in September 2011, are you pleased with what you’ve achieved so far?
SB: Traka has always been a dynamic business, right from its innovative beginnings. And as a company, we are constantly adapting our products and services to meet different customer demands.
From one core intelligent key management system, we have expanded and continue to dedicate our R&D teams to create more bespoke solutions to protect the growing array of essential assets, to which our customers rely.
We are evolving to meet the needs of a rapidly changing security environment. We made the strategic decision to shape our sales teams to become sector specialists.
Here, we each take the time to understand a vertical market and its specific requirements for security, audit capability and management. And we share our ideas and expertise on a regular basis.
So yes, overall, I am deeply proud of our achievements as a team in our ability to continue to meet the challenging requirements of our customers. Of course, a great product range and constant innovation is also a major factor to our success.
IG: You talk about sector-specific solutions – are there any specific sectors you are focussed on currently?
SB: We genuinely believe Traka’s intelligent key and equipment management solutions can resolve issues for any sector or any asset. And if we don’t have the system, we can create one.
Most recently, we have proven this by working closely with sectors who rely on field based workforce and smart technology, including ruggadised devices to stay mobile. We were able to create a bespoke locker solution to ensure such vital assets are securely managed and instantly available as and when required.
Here, Traka lockers provide a unique technology mix, including secure storage and data transfer functionality alongside intelligent charging options. Likewise, a bespoke fault reporting system enables workers to report any issues with a piece of equipment and capability to exchange an item with minimal time or resource disruption.
IG: Traka recently exhibited at RetailEXPO. Is this another sector focus for your business?
SB: Retail is really going through an industry transformation where speed to deliver must meet customer expectations and demand for a true 24 – hour economy. It’s something we have really got to understand from our key customers, including Tesco, Morrisons and John Lewis.
By working closely with our retail customers, right from initial design stages of key management systems, we have been able to appreciate their need to react quickly and have seamless processes and technology in place to aid such fast response times.
We attended RetailEXPO with great success, in demonstrating how our key and equipment management can make a significant difference to improve customer service with the ability to secure, manage and audit the use of every key, or piece of equipment and facilitate accountability, visibility and traceability.
Incidentally, we have seen similar success in supporting retail banking, another retail segment that is having to reinvent itself and prove its place on the high street. We have used our experience working with leading brands, including Nationwide as the world’s largest building society, to show how smart innovations such as Traka provides, can make a significant difference to success.
IG: Thank you for your time, any final thoughts to the interview?
SB: Becoming a part of Global Solutions opens up a new chapter for Traka. It’s a chance for us to demonstrate how we are constantly evolving as a brand and seeking new ways to work with and deliver solutions for our customers to deliver on their requirements.
The integration perspective is a key direction the market is taking us. A complete solution is what businesses are looking for. It’s an essential consideration in the increasing preferences towards operating smart buildings, especially for time and resource stretched estate and security managers, and one Traka is committed to embrace.
In summary, 2019 is a really exciting year, both for Traka and the industry as a whole. We are sure this will come into its own at IFSEC, as a great opportunity for the industry to come together and share new and innovative ideas. We’re really looking forward to attending.
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