QVS has been re-launched as Q Security Systems with new drive and some new management, including new chief operating officer, Rob Rosa, formerly general manager of Pacific Communications, who recently became a shareholder of Q Technology Group, which own Q Security Systems.
Q Security Systems’ relaunch is a move customers and competitors need to watch closely. QSS has now sold security hardware business API, tidied up its books and has new focus and vigour. The company has always had a good young team and charismatic new COO Rob Rosa’s intention is to focus on the parts of the business that are doing well and to get the basics right.
Rosa plans to bring in more staff and push hard in major projects as well as continuing to cover that affordable end of the market Q has long specialised in. Chatting with Rosa, it’s pretty obvious the man is keyed up. Having worked as a security manager, then spent 10 years with Pacom in a senior management role, Rosa says he has reached the point where he wants greater control of a business. And while the move may seem surprising to some, those who know him will be aware he’s been chaffing away for years, wanting a level of ownership in something serious.
That serious something is Q Security Systems, which Rosa says was the only electronic security distribution business in the market large enough to be an appealing challenge for him. With a substantial turnover of in excess of $A24 million, Q Security Systems has 5 offices Australia-wide, 41 staff, a service centre with 4 techs and a distribution centre. Great brands include Samsung, DSC, NUUO, Verint, American Dynamics, QVS, Software House, Fuijinon, Kantech, Risco, Tactical Technologies and more.
“For a while I’ve been searching for a company I could buy into and become part of an existing management team, a company that could be transformed into something special,” Rosa explains. “Throughout that process, one company stood out – that was Q Video Systems,” Rosa explains.
“Buying into the business means that Q Security Systems’ leadership will put skin on the table. I’ve done this because I want to be able to drive the Q Security Systems’ business in the way it needs to be driven. Agility, speed to market – you need these qualities if you are to succeed.”
According to Rosa, the move gives the QSS team a chance to build something strong based on everything it has learned over many years in electronic security distribution. He says management will use all the techniques it knows work best to create a profitable business.
“We’ll continue to look after our loyal installer customers and vendors but we’ll create a major projects team to cater for major projects as well. A key part of the new QSS is that we’re going to launch Q Professional Services to handle major projects,” he says.
“That will take time as we’ve not got runs on the board but with the right products, the right people and the right back of house support, I believe a focus on value-add will succeed.”
Rosa says other areas of focus will include enhancing and streamlining stock handling, stock management, vendor management, staff management and sales discipline.
“The product range and the focus of the QSS business will be extended while maintaining all our existing strengths,” he says. “There are a number of areas where products may need to be brought in and over a 12-month period we’ll undertake this evaluation process.
“For a while I’ve been searching for a company I could buy into and benefit from the upside I can deliver as part of the management team, a company that could be transformed into something special”
According to Rosa, QSS management has no intention of building a huge business, which loses focus on customers, something that has been seen in the market before.
“Instead we want to build a quality business – we want to grow revenue but in a manageable way and we want to do it in the right way while maintaining margin,” Rosa explains. “There’s no doubt there are some challenges ahead for us but we will get through them and we will succeed.
“I am really pumped up and very excited,” Rosa says. “I know we can build a stronger business – the basis is already there. For the existing management team it’s going to be a serious commitment and we’re going to be working very hard to ensure QSS is a success. The whole QSS team is keen, the national footprint is there, and some new exciting products are coming soon.”
Sitting across the breakfast table listening to him enthusing, I’m reminded again that above all else, Rosa is a people person. That strength in relationships is going to change the culture at Q.
The new direction, which is steeped in relationship-based electronic security distribution feels to me like it will give an infusion of life to the QSS team, which has for too long battled issues not of its own making. For everyone at QSS a defining 24 months lies ahead.
