Perimeter protection, access control, smart cards and logical access under one roof and one name—this was the main message that Hirsch Secure brought to Security Essen, after merging 14 companies of its French parent group into a single brand.
Perimeter protection, access control, smart cards and logical access under one roof and one name—this was the main message that Hirsch Secure brought to Security Essen, after merging 14 companies of its French parent group into a single brand.
Asmag spoke on the show floor with Michael Schreiber, General Manager at Hirsch GmbH, and Heiko Baumgartner, Business Developer at Hirsch GmbH, about the rebranding and what it means for customers and integrators of the group’s German branch and globally.
Until recently, the group's offering was spread across separate brands, such as Sorhea for perimeter protection and TDSI for access control in the UK, each branding their products and solutions independently.
“In the future there will no longer be an umbrella company, individual companies and products. There will only be Hirsch,” Schreiber said.
The change is about more than a new logo. Each national entity can now offer all product areas and sell a customer a complete solution. The German entity—Hirsch GmbH, based near Frankfurt—serves Germany, Austria and Switzerland as a sales and support organization, with R&D centralized in France and the UK.
“Every entity can now offer everything: the protection of the perimeter around the building, access into the building and, with our logical access products, even the securing of the internal network,” Baumgartner explained.
In perimeter protection, which is one of Hirsch's traditional core businesses, the company positions itself as a provider of integrated technology rather than a vendor of single endpoint devices. Its portfolio ranges from light barriers and video analytics to fence detection, including fiber-optic sensors, as well as software solutions centered on the Velocity platform.
“We are not just the light-barrier manufacturer,” Schreiber said. “Whatever you need, whichever technology, we can offer a solution that combines individual technologies.”
Site-specific requirements and the risk level the site is facing play a major role in what should be part of the solution, Schreiber added. A critical infrastructure site that needs the highest level of security may combine fence detection with a light barrier behind it, while a customer with a smaller budget may find a deterrent effect sufficient.
This also affects integrators, who are central to how Hirsch brings its products to market.
“Brands have to take into account that integrators are sometimes overwhelmed and therefore we give them the best possible support,” Schreiber explained. “How often, for example, does an integrator install a radar system? Perhaps every two to three years.”
With such cases in mind, Hirsch designs its solutions as open systems that can be integrated with the systems of other vendors. Hirsch thus sees itself as the technology expert behind an integrator who has the relationship with the customer. Through tight, trusted relationships, however, Hirsch has observed that customer requirements have changed, as well as the way they are communicated.
“In the past, customers would ask for a video system or fence sensors, for example. Today they describe a problem and ask what is needed to solve it,” Schreiber said, adding that legacy system integration has also become more central as performance requirements increase.
“Most projects are upgrades of existing systems,” he added.
“Customers want to make the best of what they already have,” said Baumgartner. “Rarely does a customer replace fence detection, video management and access control all at once.”
Hirsch therefore designs its devices for integration not just with specialized third-party systems, but also legacy hard and software, such as the video management system a customer already has, while its own platform is also open to the integration of existing hardware.
For Hirsch, the main task for now is to get this message across.
“It was important for us to make one company out of those 14,” Schreiber said. “We have products in six categories, and customers should know that regardless of where they are, it is one company that offers all of them.”
Product Adopted:Others