Security Sales & Integration March 2022 - 38

SPECIAL REPORT
SSI Hall of Fame
Class of 2022
HALL FAME
INDUSTRY
OF
Why He's on the List
▶ An innovator whose nearly 20 years of leadership
brought paradigm-shifting Alarm.com
platform to market, making security systems
more convenient with web and app interfaces,
useful with proactive nonalarm-event
monitoring, and secure and reliable with
better cellular technology
Steve Trundle
President & CEO,
Alarm.com
▶ While CTO for MicroStrategy (1992-2001),
acquired Alarm.com domain name, and
after having a home alarm system installed
realized opportunity existed to reinvent the
residential security offering
▶ Grew Alarm.com from a gee-whiz startup
with a few employees and no revenue to a
public company valued at more than $3B
and 1,500+ employees
THE TRUNDLE FILE
▶ Born 1968 in Sullivan
County, Tenn.
▶ One of two children,
father worked for a
newspaper and mother
was employed by a local
hospital
▶ Two sons and a daughter;
divorced
▶ Majored in engineering
science and government
at Dartmouth College, and
spent two years working
on the Aegis Class Naval
Destroyer program
▶ Winner of the Ernst and
Young Entrepreneur of
the Year
▶ Played four years of
varsity D1 basketball at
Dartmouth College, and
coaches his children's
sports teams six months
a year
▶ Says if career had taken
a different path would
have become and
environmental engineer or
forest ranger
▶ Other interests include
sports, fishing, hunting,
boating and tree farming
▶ Continues to drive technical competitiveness
of security industry to preserve position as
primary gateway for most consumers desiring
a smart home or smart business solution
▶ Viewing industry through a different lens
than traditional vendors, brought exciting
offerings to residential and commercial
spaces that forced other manufacturers to
jump on bandwagon
Keys to Success
" I believe in actively listening to service providers.
I hold myself accountable for always listening
to their feedback and trying to understand
and solve for their challenges. I believe that if
you put yourself in places where you can interact
directly with partners, you can get the feedback
necessary to constantly improve. I have been in
this industry for a long time and am passionate
about the solutions and having been able to
constantly evolve. Continuing to find new talent
and bring them to the company from outside
of the industry helps for a continually creative
approach. It was only a decade ago that our
company was 10% of our current size. "
How Alarm.com Changed the Game
" We helped to make the security offering useful
and proactive. It was no longer just a box on the
wall that went off during a break-in, or more
often triggered false alarms. We've been at the
forefront of developing a platform that would
allow consumers to unify all the major systems
in the home. Essentially, redefining the notion of
security to include not just perimeter protection,
but 24/7 knowledge of what's happening
38
Security Sales & Integration MARCH 2022
throughout your property. We also developed
technology to defeat most crash-and-smash
attacks on self-contained panels, making the
self-contained control panel more viable. "
Adapting to Times to Meet Demand
" While adoption of IoT-based services was slow
early on, service providers know that in order to
meet rapidly changing consumer demands they
need to adapt and be able to deliver a much wider
range of solutions than ever before. We strive
to make this easier for partners by investing
heavily in training, support, sales and marketing
resources for them. In 2021, our service provider
partners successfully deployed a growing range
of Alarm.com's connected property solutions,
including video analytics capabilities, that will
expand opportunities in both the residential
and commercial markets. It is important all our
partners know that we are going to be here for
the long haul to help them stay ahead. "
Under Steve Trundle's watch, Alarm.com
changed how users interact with and manage
security systems, from reactive to proactive.
Biggest Wish for Industry Change
" Consumer perception of what constitutes real
security. Meaning cellular-based, professionally
installed and monitored solutions vs. buying
cheap bits of hardware online and thinking
they are truly secure. "
Achieving Life-Work Balance
" You have to protect your free time and I enjoy
mine. I really enjoy doing things with my family
and even our pets. I am most relaxed when I
am outside doing a project on my tree farm
and working with my hands, or running a piece
of heavy equipment. I am involved in numerous
philanthropic initiatives, but one where I contribute
both my time and financial resources is
the initiative to restore the American Chestnut
Tree to its historical native range. "
securitysales.com
2022
http://www.Alarm.com http://www.Alarm.com http://www.Alarm.com http://www.Alarm.com http://www.Alarm.com http://www.Alarm.com http://www.securitysales.com
Security Sales & Integration March 2022

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