By Ryan Tuchow
Security software company TrackTik was ranked 11th in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Awards on Nov. 19.
TrackTik provides a mobile and web-based platforms for physical security companies to manage all aspects of their operation. Deloitte ranks it among Canada’s fastest growing technology, media and telecommunications companies. This award is largely in recognition of a 1,725 per cent revenue growth TrackTik experienced over the past four years.
IT World Canada spoke to TrackTik’s Vice President of Industry Mark Folmer while he was in-between meetings.
“We are trying to reimagine every single role that a security service company has,” Folmer says.“It’s a very old school industry where process management is probably lacking. In certain cases it’s tech-averse, and very much based in old-school best practices. We’re having them look at different ways to get the resources, the people, to the work.”
As Folmer puts it, the most important thing for security companies is to have the right guard, at the right site, at the right time. That’s why TrackTik monitors how many hours employees have worked, or where they are located during a shift, to make sure they send the right person for the job.
“From day one, the vision really was to provide public, and private, companies or organizations with the solutions that could maximize the efficiency of their operations. To deliver services, whether that is from an employee point of view, or security delivery point of view.”
This vision has not gone unnoticed.
TrackTik was also recognized by Deloitte Canada in 2017 as one of 11 businesses in their list of Companies to Watch.
The reason for this growth, Folmer explains, stems back to when the company was founded, “Five years ago we looked at the industry horizontally and saw these pain points in a number of spots. We gradually improved them. Something like paper-based reports, we said: ‘let’s make this more efficient. Let’s enter them directly online.’ Now we don’t have to worry about losing papers. Now we can draw data from them. You don’t need to be a data specialist, and you can enter your own queries to suit your needs.”
According to Folmer, TrackTik’s focus remains on the fact that, “We look at [TrackTik] as an enhancement tool, not a replacement one. And short of putting chips into people or having robots do the work, [we think about] how can we use modern technology that people are comfortable with, and have them deliver better service.”
From the perspective of the union, the software does not endanger the jobs of security service workers, but helps keep them safe while they work.
“I thought whenever minimum wage went up companies would be moving away from paying security guards in favour of having more technology do the work,” Geoff Gosselin, the director of organization at UFCW Local 333, told IT World Canada.
UFCW Local 333 is the union that represents security service workers across Canada.
“But this hasn’t happened. In fact, companies need more security guards and there aren’t enough to go around. Technology like this could be very beneficial from a health and safety standpoint.”
Technology like TrackTik, Gosselin said, which automates a lot of the work for security companies, also connects workers to their company in a way that wasn’t possible years ago. “Security guards are almost always the first responders in a lot of places. And nowadays they can call emergency services on their phone, or call into the company with their cell and be connected instead of running to a pay phone.”
