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Protecting from global technological threats

"Everyone in America has become more security conscious since Sept. 11, 2001," says Mike Cole, CEO of Secure Works, the largest privately held managed security company in the United States.

While all marketplaces faced a new real threat to their businesses, Secure Works chose to focus on its efforts on heavily regulated industries that were essential to daily life. Banks, credit unions, health care facilities and utilities all could be bigger targets to technology terrorism because they have the biggest impact on Americans' lives.

Secure Works provides technology security to small- and mid-size companies in these four regulated sectors, serving them on its own or supplementing the clients' in-house departments.

In two years, Secure Works has grown to 850 clients, up from 100 just two years ago. Its retention rate is 96 percent and clients are expanding their services, Cole says.

"Unlike physical threats, you can't see technology threats coming at you," Cole says.

In the last 12 to 18 months, the threats have grown, expanding far beyond terrorism and a few white collar criminals. "More sophisticated hackers are showing up around the world and international crime is now involved," Cole says.

The statistics back up that increase. In January 2003, more than 15.6 million attacks were processed. In April this year, almost 50 million attacks occurred.

With clients understanding the need for tech security, Secure Works has been able to focus on the specifics of how it can help protect the company and its data. Clients, Cole notes, want to partner with a company that can be trusted and offers the needed services.

Finding growth in a declining industry

Sluggish ad revenue in the last three or four years has meant newspaper publishers are evaluating their expenses more closely.

"Publishers are in a cost-cutting mindset, which plays favorably for us. We can offer better service at a better price," says Tom Foard, CFO of Publishers Circulation Fulfillment (PCF), a client of Leading Edge firm KAWG&F.

Newspaper circulation departments are responsible for the publication's delivery, subscriber services as well as new subscriptions sales. Publishers Circulation Fulfillment collects more than $200 million in annual revenue by offering all those circulation services with the financial advantage offered by the efficiency and resources available at a multi-publication distribution facility.

"Their carriers were crossing each other on the streets," Foard says. "We told them we can carry it all for you."

PCF is responsible for the daily delivery of 1.5 million newspapers, including The New York Times and The Boston Globe. Even though newspaper publishers are looking at cost-savings measures because of a decline in readership and consequently advertising, Foard sees only opportunities, not an imminent death for his business.

"Some said the Internet would wipe out the business, but a lot of people like to have a hard copy of the newspaper," he says. "The Internet creates more excitement around the news. There always will be a place for the newspaper."

Foard notes that people predicted movie theaters would be dead because of the home video market but theaters are doing better than ever today.

Another threat to hurt PCF's business came in the form of the national do-not-call list to limit the reach of telemarketing, a mainstay in newspapers' search for new subscriptions.

"The death of telemarketing, particularly for publishing, has been greatly overstated," Foard says.

In fact, Publishers Circulation Fulfillment has found that the do-not-call list actually has strengthened its telemarketing services. "More sales happen each hour because the existing list includes prospects with greater willingness to say yes to an offer," he says.

"Newspaper publishers still see telemarketing as the best form of new acquisitions," Foard says. e