Dan Vertachnik | Twenty20 Solutions | CEO
INTRODUCTION:
Security is the most imperative word of the 21st century. In a world where it is a global village and data is the new oil protecting this data from falling into unsafe hands becomes a challenge. That’s when Twenty 20 Solutions comes into the picture.
ABOUT THE COMPANY:
When we asked Daniel Vertachnik, Chief Executive Officer of Twenty20 Solutions to describe his company he described it the following way:
Twenty20 Solutions is a leading provider of automation and security technology, smart surveillance and access control solutions, manned monitoring and managed IT and cybersecurity services for on and off-grid environments.
Combining AI- with our IoT Novus™ cloud platform, we provide fixed and mobile solutions and actionable data for real-time decision-making to protect
our customers’ people, property, assets, and data.
– Daniel Vertachnik, CEO
THIS SOLUTION STANDS OUT BECAUSE:
Twenty 20 Solutions is unique from other security companies in that it provides AI-enabled single solution to manage site security, physical and cyber. It provides managed IT services to manage IT networks and bi-directional automation technology to automate your entire site operations and powerful decision support BI tools.
A single, automated, AI-enabled, end-to-end smart security solution to protect people, property, assets, and data that can automate and optimize your site operations.
– Daniel Vertachnik, CEO
Twenty20 Solutions aim to provide the best products and solutions to protect its customers, to reduce their risk of vandalism and theft, devastating and costly data breaches, and threats to their ongoing business operations and its philosophy are to provide its customers with what they commit to providing, to produce the best solutions that reduce risk and enhance physical and cyber security.
THE JOURNEY TO THE SOLUTION:
“I had decided to retire before this opportunity came along. My career was in the supply chain, global logistics and ERP, this opportunity in Security technology was something new, exciting, and challenging. The PE ownership is supportive, and the team knows this industry, where it is today and where it is heading. It’s exciting, there is a growth opportunity, the technology is constantly evolving and the market moving quickly. Challenges: COVID-19 was the same challenge for our company as for most. We were a company primarily focused on the oil and gas market two years ago. Due to an oil price war in 2020 and the fall of commodity pricing, that market fell dramatically. For us, it was economically bad, but good in that it forced us to diversify to new markets and today only 30% of our market is oil and gas focused. The remaining 70% of our business addresses the utilities market, agriculture, construction, renewables, education, farm & ranch and others. Last year, through a merger, we added Managed IT and Cyber Security services to our portfolio of products and services, rounding out our offering to offer automated physical and cyber security solutions to the market”. Shares Dan.
LET’S GET TO KNOW THE SOLUTION PROVIDERS:
In the words of the CEO:
“We are a small company, we know and trust each other, and we are a community of customer-focused entrepreneurial-minded individuals. Everyone pulls together to get the job done and to provide innovative products and a high standard of customer service. We have great people.
We start with selectively hiring the right people for the right jobs – people with solid values and a good work ethic – and by paying a competitive salary to attract and keep the best people. We work to train our team to be able to do multiple roles and to be ready to do the next senior job. There is an employee recognition program based on exceptional performance and customer care. We believe in an environment of respect and trust. We are only 65 employees in total, so we trust people to know their jobs, to implement ideas and change to be more efficient and effective, and to do what is best for our customers and our company.
We are a small business; there is always a lot to do and seldom quite enough time to do it. We have a seasoned team of qualified professionals, many of whom have been with the company for some time, our leadership team is experienced, committed to success and driven to be the best at what they do and driving our company to be the best at what we offer. It takes a team of people who respect and trust each other and who enjoy working together to drive and manage a business. I think to be successful and happy you have to blend the passion of your work life with the passions of your personal life and be committed to the success of both. Hopefully, this makes us better overall at everything we do.
We believe in an environment of respect and trust.
– Daniel Vertachnik, CEO
LEADING TO THE SOLUTION:
When asked to define himself as a leader Daniel says:
I look at myself as a leader who has a long way to go to be the leader I want to be. First, I hope that I am ethical and that I am honest and honourable in my dealings with others. I know that there is a solution to every problem, sometimes it’s hard to find, but I never quit looking. I look to build upon the strength of the team. I hope that I encourage our team to be creative and innovative and work together for the good of the company and our stakeholders. I am responsible for the success of each member of the team. I understand where my skills and strengths lie and where I need support. I believe that I am good at building solid teams to round out the process. I can see the end goal and plan and work to reach it.
I look at myself as a leader who has a long way to go to be the leader I want to be.
– Daniel Vertachnik, CEO
THE STORY OF THE CEO:
Growing up in a working-class suburban family I learned at a young age that you need to work for the things you want in life. If you take the job, then you do the job that you agreed to do. I also learned that you work to provide for and to take care of those that you love and those who depend on you. The things that are easily given to you never seem to hold the same value as those that you work for and earn. A person should never quit on those you love, those who count on you or yourself.
I do my best to respect and trust people, earn their trust and respect, honor commitments and keep my word. There is no reason to hurt someone else to get to where you want to go. I learned life lessons from my parents, from people that I had the privilege to work with, from friends and those who helped me along the way and from my faith. I met Linda, my wife when we were 16 years old, she has been by my side, my best friend ever since, my cheerleader, and my biggest fan, she always believes in me. We all become distracted on occasion from our direction, from our core values, we are human. I get back on course because Linda inspires me to be and do my best; she deserves the best from me in all that I do.
Like most of us, I’m not quite sure what is next in my life. At some point, I think that we learn to somewhat focus on and enjoy the moment. Not that we don’t make plans, it seems that often the future has plans for us. My current goal at Twenty20 Solutions is to continue to work to build the best company that I can for our investors, our customers, and our employees. It is exciting to build and take products to market focused on keeping people and businesses safe and productive. I think that you continue to grow as a leader if you listen and learn from everyone that you work with. No matter how long you do something you continue to learn something new and useful every day. You also need to read and observe everything that you have time to on what’s new, what makes other people and businesses succeed and grab on to what can help you to improve on your style. Never forget that things are changing every day, embrace the change, and be a part of it. I have two wonderful young grandchildren. I think that I learn something new about life and love every time I can be with them.
THE CEO’S SCHEDULE:
“Thirty minutes on the elliptical, I check my calendar, clear my mind on what I need to do for the day, and make notes of things that I need to do. I do email first to be sure I cover anything that needs attention. Beyond this probably like most others, meetings, calls, planning. When I am stuck creatively, I start bouncing where I am so far off others. We have a strong team of experienced and creative people, together we can usually come up with the solution or the direction.” Quotes Dan.
LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES:
When asked to throw light on himself as a leader, Dan replied that he tries to emulate what he has learned from good leaders along the path of his career. Lead by example, work hard and ethically, never quit, create the vision, set clear goals and expectations, be a good communicator, admit mistakes, be open to change and to changing direction, and challenge everything.
LOOKING AHEAD TO THE SOLUTION:
Talking about taking the road ahead, Daniel shared:
Our technology helps protect and keep safe, people, property, assets, and data. We continue to expand our product portfolio to respond to and meet the current market needs and requirements in the security and automation areas. Over the past year, we added AI technology, managed IT and cybersecurity services, and workflow automation to our solution set and now we are about to launch our branded camera and NVR. While our solutions work across all vertical segments to provide security, we are excited about the new release focusing on keeping K – 12 schools and university students and faculty safe and secure. Combining, AI-enabled camera technology to identify weapons / potential shooters, sound and shot detection technology, and automated access control solutions to Identify potential threats, track the threat, notify authorities and faculty, and lock down buildings. Over the next few years, I see Twenty20 continuing to focus on delivering new and innovative smart security and access control technology and expanding into new vertical and geographic markets organically as well as through mergers and acquisitions. I think all our legacies are first what we leave behind, family and loved ones, friends, and people who remember us. In business, it is leaving the company and the people that you work with just a little better than when you came.
A LITTLE TRIVIA:
Dan likes music, oldies, country and western, rock, some classical, and bluegrass. He reads fantasy books by (Tolkien, Jordan, Sanderson, and Martin), biographies by (Weatherford, Caro, Smith), international intrigue (Clancy, LeCarré, Ludlum, Follette), business books by (Drucker, Graham, Collins) and believes movies are a good escape – murder mystery, action, intrigue, most genres.
My passion is my family, my wife, my two sons and two grandchildren, and the time I get to spend with them. I enjoy reading and movies, and I enjoy trout fishing and shooting but find too little time to do either. My wife and I love to travel and have been very fortunate to be able to do so visiting over 40 countries for business and pleasure as well as travelling to most of our 50 states say Dan before signing off.
