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AMAG

In The Boardroom With...

John Becker
Vice President Of Global Sales

AMAG Technology

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Thank you for joining us today, John, and congratulations on your new position. Please tell us a little about your background and your new role at AMAG.

John Becker: Thank you. I could not be more excited to be in this new role at AMAG.  As the Vice President of Global Sales, I will be working with a great team and a dynamic solution. While most recently coming from the printing industry where I oversaw a $100M label division, I spent 13 years at Tyco’s security products group where I held various leadership positions including the Sr. Director of Sales for their Asia-Pacific business.  I spent five years in this role, based in Shanghai, where I was responsible for a team selling security products to commercial distributors, integrators and end-users from India to New Zealand.  Within eight months, I took on a dual role and became General Manager for the Asia-Pacific security products business, leading all functional aspects of the business including marketing, product development and engineering.  I also spent 11 years on the end-user side of the business, as the head of security technology for Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway Airports, responsible for purchasing millions of dollars of security products and services annually. We installed one of the first integrated access control and video systems at a Category X airport.  I understand all sides of the security business and look forward to applying that knowledge to see where I can help expand our presence.

In my new role at AMAG, I oversee all sales globally for the organization.  Here at AMAG, we have teams in the US, Canada, LATAM, EMEA and APAC.  What I am most excited about is that AMAG has a strong team in place with regional sales, national accounts and business development professionals who are our front line to the industry.  That, coupled with a dynamic product development and engineering team sets us up for a terrific future.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: The pandemic was a challenge for everyone this year. How did AMAG react to 2020 and how is AMAG positioned for 2021?

John Becker: First, this has been a tough year for everyone, and my first priority is that my staff and our customers put safety first and continue to work hard to flatten the curve and remain healthy.

Our approach this past year was to figure out how our current Symmetry solution could help customers with the challenges they were facing. We were in the process of developing solutions that would help organizations as they start to return to work and follow new, and what seem like always-changing, guidelines. First, we developed the Symmetry Movement Impact Tool, which helps with contract tracing. This is a free tool that can track an employee or visitor and determine who else was in the same area at the same time. If an employee shows virus symptoms, the Symmetry Movement Impact Tool can tell you who that person may have come into contact with, providing the data to notify individuals of exposure.

We are also excited about the launch of Symmetry Mobile, an app for organizations using mobile devices or physical credentials to gain access to secured doors. Frictionless setup of a mobile credential eliminates the need to physically interact with the security team or visit a badging office. Organizations can centrally manage credentials, photos and devices remotely, and can require employees to fill out a customizable questionnaire on their smartphone before being allowed access into a building, which helps prevent the spread of COVID-19. Upon successful completion of the questionnaire, their physical or mobile credential will be enabled for a specified period of time, for example, one day. If the form is not completed successfully, the credential will expire and the employee will be denied access to the facility.

We continued to innovate in 2020 and launched Symmetry Business Intelligence. Our customers had been asking for a way to track behavior abnormalities, and we delivered an analytics solution that helps identify identities that may pose a high risk to an organization. It also tracks facility occupancy and office usage for high-traffic areas, which provides data needed to help meet occupancy guidelines imposed by governing authorities, enforce physical distancing and determine cleaning schedules.

In 2021, we will continue to listen to our customers and develop and enhance our open and diverse product platform. No one in the industry offers such an innovative and comprehensive solution set. It’s important to AMAG to support our customers with solutions that not only protect employees, assets and buildings but also positively impact business operations. We will continue to innovate with AI, analytics and mobile solutions to help mitigate risk, reduce costs and ensure compliance.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: What are your plans/goals for AMAG?

John Becker: I cannot speak enough about the strong team that is currently in place. AMAG has a culture of caring and collaboration. Internally, the teams work well together, and externally, we employ a partnership approach.  This has been the hallmark of my career and I look forward to building on this strong culture through collaboration and guidance. 

As a leader, you need to know when to step in and when to get out of the way.  I plan to support our US-based team in the continued success of what they have achieved in growth, year-over-year; as well as help our international team grow. EMEA is emerging as a strong market for us, and APAC has shown a great opportunity for growth.  Having lived overseas for five years, I plan to use that experience and knowledge to support our teams in the UK, LATAM and China.

At the end of the day, it is important to know your team and to provide leadership where it is needed.  I intend to become both a leader and a partner to them to help fill in any gaps and to support the efforts they have been working on, while finding new avenues of success for us.