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Beyond the Edge Blog Series | The Security Systems Integrator

The theme of TEC 2016 is “Beyond the Edge.” We gave this phrase to several people who are involved in TEC in a variety of ways – from PSA employees to TEC attendees, speakers and exhibitors. They were asked to share a blog about what the phrase means to them.

By Rob Simopoulos, President, Advance Technology

When I hear “Beyond the Edge” it makes me think of all the historic first attempts that have occurred in our lifetime.  Many people in history have stood at the edge, but it takes a true pioneer to go beyond it.  Imagine being Neil Armstrong standing on the edge of Apollo 11, about to take the first human step on the moon.  His courage to take that step changed humanity and the way we view space exploration.  Think about the Wright brothers as they stood at the edge with their man made bird device, wondering if it was going to actually fly.  Their historic push beyond the edge changed the way mankind travels today.   Similarly, imagine if Steve Jobs didn’t go past the status quo and beyond the edge.  Without his technology development, the way we communicate today may have taken a totally different and possibly less advanced path.

PSA-Tec is a special event where the brightest integrators come together to collaborate, share their challenges, their visions and solutions.

Today many of us integrators are also standing at the edge.  We are trying to make that decision if we should take that next step forward and in which direction.  We all have many diverse decisions to make, such as deciding to sell our business, pivoting to a services model to combat eroding margins, or developing cyber security solutions/techniques to keep our customers safe.

These are huge decisions and one refreshing thought is that none of these historic pioneers did it alone.  There were two Wright Brothers building that first airplane. Neil Armstrong had Buzz Aldrin beside him as he climbed that ladder down to the moon surface and Steve Jobs always had Wozniak as his technology guru.   As you stand at the edge, you are not alone either.  PSA-Tec is a special event where the brightest integrators come together to collaborate, share their challenges, their visions and solutions. PSA-Tec has allowed me to make great friendships with industry colleagues whom I can call when I need help in my decisions.  Whatever I need help with, I know that I can reach out to my PSA-Tec counterparts from California, Colorado or Hawaii and they will help collaborate and share ideas with me before I take that step.  There is something special about this conference.  People who attend don’t hold back and feel that they are giving away trade secrets, but rather step forward and share the fine details on how they are doing it.  The friends you make at PSA-Tec are just like what each of these pioneers had, just in larger numbers!

PSA-Tec has allowed me to make great friendships with industry colleagues whom I can call when I need help in my decisions.

As I continue to try and take our company beyond the edge, I know that I am not doing it alone.  I always know that the great friends I made at PSA-Tec are there trying to do the same and are ready to share in the leap.  I hope you have the same experience at the conference this year as you collaborate with all of your old and new PSA colleagues.

See you all there!

Learn more about TEC or register to attend: www.psatec.com