Inside Secuni
Secuni Joins Forces with Minuteman
On July 1, 2024, Secuni was acquired by Boston-based Minuteman Security & Life Safety.
For our clients, we believe that this will be a very positive development.
- Your entire account team and technicians are staying in place, along with all Secuni senior management.
- With our greatly expanded geographic reach, we will be able to serve our clients with multiple sites more directly and effectively.
- We will have expanded technical capabilities and greater access to more product lines.
We knew that Minuteman was the strategic move for Secuni because the two companies share the same values: delivering innovative and engineer-designed security and safety solutions for long-term value, and providing extremely attentive and adept service.
Over the coming days, we will be calling you to discuss how this change benefits your company, and answer any questions. In the meantime, we have provided answers to a few FAQs. Feel free to contact us anytime about this news.
FAQ
Who is Minuteman?
Headquartered in the Boston area, Minuteman Security & Life Safety is a privately-held provider of enterprise security system technology solutions, including custom design, installation, development, and support services. Like Secuni, Minuteman has offered a diverse range of advanced security management systems, including video surveillance, access control systems, emergency communications, intrusion detection systems, and public safety security solutions.
Where does this new combined company operate?
In addition to Secuni’s home area of New Jersey and its offices in New York, Florida, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, we also have a physical presence in Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Vermont. We also have a Program Management Office that oversees national and global clients.
As a Secuni client, is there anything I should do differently?
Not yet – please continue to work with us as you currently do. Your Secuni account team will remain in place, with the same phone numbers and email addresses. Place new orders and service calls in the same way. Over time, we will make some workflow changes but will tell you well in advance about any material changes.
What exactly has changed with this transaction?
Dynamic Security LLC, which since August 2023 has operated under the brand name Secuni, has been acquired by Minuteman. Dynamic Security LLC dba Secuni is now currently operating as a subsidiary of Minuteman.
What do my accounting colleagues need to know?
In the short- and medium-term we will continue to conduct financial and contractual matters as Dynamic Security LLC, with the same EIN. Our AR and AP team members will call your accounting colleagues well in advance of the day when changes are needed.
I still have questions!
Send us an email to info@secuni.com, or use the chat widget in the bottom right corner of the site.
The Press Release
Minuteman Security & Life Safety Acquires Secuni
Andover, Mass. — July 22, 2024. Minuteman Security & Life Safety (“Minuteman”), a leading super-regional provider of integrated security, communication, and life safety systems, today announced that it has acquired systems integrator Secuni of Edison, NJ.
With the acquisition of Secuni, a well-established integrator with an experienced managed services team, Minuteman expands its coverage of the U.S. East Coast and its ability to service enterprise clients globally. The combined company’s engineers and field technicians now operate out of 24 office locations on the East Coast, and its Program Management Office supports national and global clients.
Secuni, formerly known as Dynamic Security, has been providing enterprise security technology solutions for more than 20 years under the leadership of General Manager Barton Kartoz and Vice President Victor Alexander. Secuni employs more than 60 professionals among five offices in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Florida. Bart, Victor, and the entire Secuni team will continue to grow the firm’s operations and support client relationships.
Minuteman CEO Joe Lynch said, “The Minuteman mission is to improve security and safety for our clients from Maine to Florida and beyond, and this acquisition helps us enormously. We’re particularly excited to offer Secuni’s Managed Services capabilities together with our Program Management service, so global security leaders can achieve a centrally-managed and consistently high level of security system performance for all their sites. Secuni also has a lot of talented young engineers, who have recently designed innovative custom safety & security solutions for industrial and pharmaceutical multinationals.”
Secuni General Manager Barton Kartoz remarked, “This is such a natural combination. Both Minuteman and Secuni believe in empowering engineer-led teams to deliver client solutions that are built for long-term value. We will also now be able to directly support Secuni clients far beyond our core New Jersey territory, with added access to Minuteman’s global Program Management team. We’re also excited to leverage Minuteman’s advanced kitting capabilities and innovative open-architecture license plate recognition system.”
The combination was effective July 1, 2024.
About Minuteman
Minuteman Security & Life Safety, headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts and founded in 1988, is a leading provider of enterprise security and life safety technology solutions. Our services are utilized by a wide range of organizations throughout the United States. Our wide-ranging client base includes high technology, law enforcement, critical infrastructure, defense, mass transit, large retail, academic institutions, public safety agencies, and healthcare institutions with locations throughout North America.
About Secuni
Secuni is a technology integration firm that solves physical security problems, primarily for industrial and commercial firms, schools, and brand-centric organizations. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Edison NJ, the company has five offices across the Eastern US. Secuni’s open-architecture focus and engineer-driven design/build approach has powered the company’s expansion among large global enterprises, heavy industrial firms, and schools.
How We Choose Technology Suppliers
Picking physical security technology suppliers has never been more complex than it is today, and it promises to get only more difficult given the number of new and exciting technologies being developed – and the number of manufacturers and distributors hawking them.
Last year, Secuni used more than sixty suppliers. Of course, some are central to a solution while others provide just a few peripherals. To be an effective design-build outfit, management of supply chain is an important part of our success. Not all the new suppliers will be successful, and we do not want to strand you with obsolescence. The biometrics and analytics markets are littered with skeletons of defunct companies.
What are the key factors for us?
- We are hesitant to adopt new suppliers without extensive field testing. We also feel it is fair to ask new suppliers for financial bona fides to establish their potential longevity as a going concern.
- Product support is a massive difference-maker: we expect thorough sales support, and training for both ourselves and our clients.
- Open architecture is key. We do not advise our clients to invest in full solutions because there are so many great open-architecture software developers. That flashy feature from the closed system will soon be copied by others and be available to most of the open-architecture market.
- Commitment to current and emerging standards, like ONVIF and OSDP.
Our own team knows that we can’t represent every good product. To maintain expertise, we limit ourselves to a set of solutions that we feel satisfy different market needs, while recognizing that we cannot address all needs – and that many of the suppliers we don’t represent have great products that solve client problems very successfully.
This helps us stay grounded and tuned into the reality that although product selection is important, it’s ultimately the implementation and operational teams that create successful outcomes more than specific product features.
We also encourage our clients to spend time in the selection process. Consider how many hours you will spend operating the system after selection! The upfront investment of time, while hard to find for most of us, is critical to ensure the best fit. Often, during the selection process, we uncover important additional requirements that help the vendor selection process.
Secuni’s charitable activities, and a spotlight on river blindness
We regularly make financial and in-kind gifts to organizations who perform good works.
Perhaps the highest-leverage use of our charitable dollar belongs to the United Front Against River Blindness (UFAR).
This NGO is currently delivering river blindness treatment to tens of thousands of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo — for about ten cents a dose. This Nobel prize-winning pharmacological treatment is now preventing many Congolese from going blind, thanks to the efforts of UFAR and pharmaceutical giant Merck.
UFAR held their annual fundraiser last week, and Secuni was pleased to make a donation to UFAR.
MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release: October 23, 2023
Secuni Supports Eradication of River Blindness with Charitable Support to Leading NGO
Edison NJ — Secuni, a security technology integrator and services company, announced that it has made a donation to the United Front Against River Blindness (UFAR). The company’s support at the UFAR Champion level allowed 10 undergraduate students to attend UFAR’s 13th annual Soiree Saturday benefit on October 21st at the Marriot Forrestal Hotel in Princeton, NJ.
UFAR is a non-profit organization dedicated to combating five priority Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), including river blindness, that affect millions in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The organization was founded by Dr. Daniel Shungu, a renowned medical researcher and humanitarian.
The event’s keynote speaker and honoree was Mr. William I. Campbell, Chairman Emeritus of The END Fund. Mr. Cambell pointed out that eradicating these diseases is one of the lowest cost ways to make a large impact on the human condition. Mr. Cambell singled out UFAR as being in the most effective tier of NGOs because UFAR treats individuals against river blindness (Onchocerciasis) for about 10 cents a dose.
“It was an inspirational event,” said Barton Kartoz, General Manager of Secuni, “and one must commend UFAR and The END fund for their collective efforts to alleaviate the suffering of millions through low-cost pharmceutical interventions.”
If you would like to learn more about UFAR, write to ufar@riverblindness.org or info@secuni.com.
Dynamic Security is now Secuni: The FAQ
On August 10, 2023, our company began operating publicly as Secuni.
We have selected the new name to reflect our steady expansion beyond security technology integration, to include managed services and the unification of systems that solve a company’s security, safety, and operational requirements.
Secuni at Age 24
Our company turned 24 this year.
And like a college graduate with some real-world experience, we’ve got a fairly developed sense of how we work with others and make decisions.
A Few Thoughts on Employee Compensation
Our small teams approach works because Secuni employees tend to stay with us for a long time.
Why?
Candor About Security Technology
We speak particularly plainly about two matters.
The advantages of open-architecture solutions, as compared to more closed platforms which lock you in. We have seen enough situations where client requirements evolve over time and users discover that the closed platform(s) do not readily rise to the new needs, and that the cost or complexity of deployment is actually prohibitive.
Why We Decided on the Small Teams Approach
Here’s the sequence of people you might meet when you hire a typical security technology integrator.