November 19th 2006
Irish Security Specialist Firms are in Safe Hands [Douglas Dalby, Sunday Times]
Teamwork proves the key for firms scooping up the prestigious PA Consulting Group management awards, writes Douglas Dalby
THE heightened emphasis on universal security concerns has been reflected in the PA Consulting Group Awards for Management Excellence 2006, held in association with The Sunday Times.
A global leader in information security, Symantec, and Netwatch, a specialist in remote security monitoring systems, scooped the top prizes in the two awards categories this year.
Bertie Ahern, the taoiseach, presented the prestigious awards at a gala reception in Dublin last Tuesday. The premier talked about the need for successful businesses to develop strong management teams as the best way to address complex tasks. "We see time and again that when businesses are turned around or projects are delivered on target, inevitably it is because of the complementary talents of a good team," he said. "I commend the awards for placing the emphasis on teamwork in their assessment of management excellence."
The management skills required to get a successful start-up off the ground are very different from those needed for the continuing success of an established business. In recognition of this, the sponsors divided the awards into two categories.
Symantec, which provides a range of IT products and services aimed at helping companies to manage IT infrastructure, overcame strong challenges from Dublin Port Company, Auto Trader magazine and the Pensions Board to win the Established Organisation award.
The company, which has its European headquarters in Dublin, employs 1,000 people here. With headquarters in California, it has operations in more than 40 countries. "Symantec Dublin has continued to grow despite competing with other Symantec entities for both resources and opportunities for growth," Symantec said. "This was against a background of a growing perception that Ireland's cost base was uncompetitive.
"Our demonstrated track record of 'making it happen' and doing this cost-effectively has stood the test and has resulted in the Dublin operation being awarded a number of department expansions, including order services, finance, customer and technical support, and security."
Netwatch, which was founded in 2003, won the Newly Established Organisation award. The company is the first in Ireland to use satellite and internet technologies to provide remote visual security monitoring to businesses around the country.
"One of the big advantages of the Netwatch system is that it offers the security of manned guarding at a fraction of the cost," said David Walsh, the company's co-founder and managing director. "For companies that employ static guards, it represents significant savings. For those that can't justify guards, it offers the ultimate solution."
Netwatch systems are in use in more than 400 companies nationwide, from the Windsor Motor Group to John Sisk and Hamilton Osborne King, plus installations in America and Spain.
The judges of this year's awards were Joe Macri, the managing director of Microsoft Ireland, chief executives Gerry McCaughey of Century Homes and Cormac McCarthy of Ulster Bank Ireland, and Julie O'Neill, secretary general at the Department of Transport. The group was co-chaired by Colm Reilly, the country head of PA Consulting Group, and Brian Carey, the Irish business editor of The Sunday Times.
Emphasising the need for strength in depth to build any successful company, Reilly noted that every organisation requires a number of different talents to be successful.
These include leadership, creativity, innovation and operations — talents rarely found in one person. "It is the overall strength of the management team that ultimately dictates an organisation's success," he said. "If you look at the companies that were winning this award 10 years ago, we were presenting awards to management teams for their overall structure and their ability to implement business plans.
"Now, we are seeing a broad awareness of the complexity of the global markets within which they are operating and the ability to create the plans that actualise their business objectives. At the same time they are flexible enough to adapt quickly to outside forces and changing market conditions.
"This is a very positive development for Irish management and is resulting in robust organisations that are making their mark on the global stage." Reilly also noted that this year two public-sector organisations reached the final: the Pensions Board and Dublin Port Company. "The management teams within our public sector are on a par with what we are seeing in multinational organisations, which again augurs well for the continued success of our economy," he said.
Fighting the high-tech war against hackers
SYMANTEC, the American multinational information security giant, has been established in Ireland since 1991. To accommodate recent and anticipated expansion — employment has increased by 20% to more than 1,000 in the past two years — the company has invested millions of euros in an additional building on its site at Ballycoolin business park, west Dublin.
The company's Dublin subsidiary is now the second largest Symantec site outside America. It provides all product ordering, finance operations, technical support, translation of products and IT for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as well as international manufacturing and distribution covering everywhere in the world apart from North and South America.
Dublin is also the home of the EMEA arm of Symantec Security Response, which is at the frontline in the battle against computer hackers. The service is run by a team of experts that includes security engineers, virus hunters and technical support staff that provide round-the-clock support for consumers and companies alike.
"The collaborative approach to management was a fundamental cornerstone in the establishment of Dublin as the centre for EMEA operations," the company said. "To support Symantec's position as the global leader in information security, it was needed to build an environment where the managers of various and interdependent departments are able to engage one another easily and effectively."
Smart security
NETWATCH, the intelligent visual security company, was founded in Carlow three years ago by David Walsh and Niall Kelly. The firm employs 50 full-time and six part-time staff protecting more than 500 sites around the country and as far afield as Arizona in America.
The system combines the best of traditional alarm technology with the most modern CCTV techniques to create an intelligent security system which allows a remote command centre to watch in "real time" any intrusion taking place at a premises and to warn off would-be intruders. In 95% of recorded cases, the intruder left the premises without committing a crime as soon as they became aware of the system.
According to Netwatch, the Irish security market has an estimated turnover of €1 billion a year, a rise of more than 300% since 1995.