Learning From Our Clients

By Robert Trotta

Recently Smithsonian Magazine, in its timeline feature, noted that it was twenty five years ago that IBM Corporation commenced manufacturing personal computers (PCs). No doubt we are all aware of the dramatic changes the PC made in how the world does business and it is equally true for those of us in the security industry.

As I look back over the last twenty five years as a security practitioner I often think about the role that IBM PCs played in the development and growth of my company not only as a tool I used to conduct business, but IBM as one of my clients.

In 1983, my company, T&M Security Service (now T&M Protection Resources) was contracted by IBM to
provide security services in several of their NYC and Nassau county offices. T&M was in it infancy, having been founded in 1981. We were one of the first guard companies to provide clients with off-duty NYC police officers, dressed in business attire (rather than traditional guard uniforms) to handle security assignments.

Having been the target of several domestic terrorist attacks, IBM management wanted an improved approach to keeping employees, facilities and proprietary information safe. In addition they wanted to ensure that personnel from their security
services vendor would be unobtrusive and professional.

IBM hired a consulting firm to interview several local security companies and T&M was selected, probably based on the type of officers we provided and our reasonable cost.

While it was not the first time IBM outsourced security, it was the first time that they had hired “armed” officers.

T&M personnel recruited for IBM were all experienced police officers and detectives, primarily from the Bomb Squad and Emergency Services Unit. They were among the first that I recall as having ‘standard issue uniform’ be blue blazers and grey slacks with weapons carried discretely. The officers blended into the work environment in “civilian clothing”. IBM management achieved its goal: Providing a safer and more secure workplace for the organization’s most valuable assets: employees.

At the time I was still a detective in NYPD and had little business experience. As part of the contract, IBM management gave me a small office and telephone in one of their sales offices at 2 Penn Plaza. While conducting day-to-day operations from this vantage point I observed how IBM managers dealt with their own clients, employees and vendors. I was greatly impressed and eager to learn their approach since it seemed so effective. Over the next several years I developed personal relationships with several IBM security and sales managers and many of those relationships continue today.

Several characteristics demonstrated by IBM’s excellent managers and executives truly impressed me. They literally helped me better operate my company:

• IBM executives and managers had the ability to communicate with their staff in a very personal, yet still business-like manner. Everyone was on a first name basis.
  
  
• There appeared to be real dedication and loyalty to IBM Corporation on the part top management and it translated directly to regular employees. During this time John Akers was the Chairman (and known as “John” to everyone, including me on the one or two occasions I met him). Akers was a protégé of Tom Watson Jr. the son of the founder and a past chairman. IBM was the benchmark of a caring
  employer. Its employees, around 350,000 world-wide (at the time) received good pay and benefits. Almost all were guaranteed a position for life as long as met their
  performance criteria.
  
  
• The manner of dress impressed me. It seemed the blue business suit, white button down shirt and rep tie was a pseudo-uniform for managers… Almost as if you got inoculated with the dress code when you achieved a management position. For me, as a detective, I only had a few sport jackets, and one brown suit. After several
  months I went to Brooks Brothers and bought one blue, one blue pinstripe and one charcoal grey suit, a dozen or so white button-down shirts and enough regimental stripe ties to last a lifetime or two.

I also started incorporating some of the IBM-isms into running my company. I made certain of two things: payday was every week and it was never missed. This might not sound like a big deal, but in the early days of this industry employees sometimes got“stiffed” by unscrupulous employers.

To prevent anyone from getting shorted, I spend hours going over the payroll and doing it manually. Scheduling and billing were done in the same meticulous way. Even though we were IBM vendor for its PC operation, I did not buy a PC until several years later, when I started to hire office staff.

The second most important influence IBM had on me was that it shaped how I treated my employees. I realized early on that police officers who worked for me, were doing it for one reason and one reason only: Extra money. Yes, they liked the work. It was “clean” and they got to meet very different people than those they dealt with on the job. But they were doing the work to gain extra income for their families. I knew that and respected them for it. I made it a point to show that I cared about their families. I think this resonated with many of the officers. On occasion, I would call someone late at night and ask them to “help me out” on short notice by filling in for someone who called out sick. I can probably count the number of refusals on one hand.

The relationship with IBM lasted from 1983 until just after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. IBM itself had gone through some major defining changes. It seemed that the PC not only revolutionized the business world, it also opened the doors for competition. Under IBM’s new management, headed by Lou Gerstner, IBM was directed to reduce costs and nationalize vendor activity.

The 18 year relationship between the computer giant and the boutique security guard company came to an end. Today, IBM continues to succeed and meet challenges involved in 21st Century global business. Fortunately, for us on a much smaller scale, T&M continues to grow as a full-service regional security agency.

I look back on my association with IBM Corporation with great fondness and with pride. I was able to take advantage of learning opportunities that no business school could provide. And I still have some of those rep ties.

Bob Trotta co-founded T&M Security Service Inc. in 1981, while still a detective with NYPD. His teams of security professionals have provided coverage for the NYSE and are known for specialized services such as explosive detection canines. Although Bob sold his interest in T&M in 1999, he still serves as an advisor and member of the Board of Directors for T&M Protection Resources, the company’s current configuration. Bob was a delegate to the 1995 White House Conference on Small Business, served on the Board of Governors for the American Academy for Professional Law Enforcement (AAPLE), and is a member of ASIS International, NYC Chapter.

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