Change is a Constant

Netwatch CEO David Walsh reveals how he has succeeded in driving change in a conservative industry.

Having founded Netwatch 17 years ago, David Walsh announced in August that he will step down as CEO at the end of 2019. It’s a study in ‘leaving on a high’ as the last few years have seen the company go from strength to strength through a combination of strong organic growth and acquisitions. Netwatch has grown its ‘contracted recurring revenue’ dramatically over the past three years jumping from €16m in FY’17 to just over of €50m in FY’19, while EBITDA has seen triple digit growth in the 24 months with +100% growth in EBITDA in the period between December 2017 and December 2019.

Over the past 24 months Netwatch has introduced a successful reseller model across the USA whereby security integrators resell the Netwatch System to their end-users, delivering a multiplier effect. Mr Walsh says, “The Netwatch Management team are confi dent of delivering €100m contracted recurring revenue by 2022 and much of the new growth will come from the US market where their value proposition is well received and accepted.”

After a year of immense change, whereby four companies were integrated under the Netwatch Group banner, Walsh points to the shift towards the reseller model in the US market as a key win:

“The Netwatch system has received positive feedback from the US security dealer market. This is something new for them to offer their customers, and while there may be similar solutions in the market, Netwatch is leading the way.”

“The Global Security industry is a very conservative industry,” Mr Walsh points out, “But like every industry is going through a phase of rapid change.” For this reason, Netwatch’s approach, working with the dealer network and providing intensive training, has been key to their success. “This is to protect our brand,” he says, “And also to set our partners up for success.”

Looking to the future of the organisation, he sees innovation and culture as being at the heart of future success, and reveals a motto that has been behind his vision for the company: “My philosophy around innovation is driven by the belief that there are only two types of organisations in the world, those that are drivers of change and those that are victims of change. Organisations that are victims of change don’t survive, they have a mere stay of execution.”

Having continually driven change and grown Netwatch successfully from 3 employees to 200 employees, the challenge now is to retain the company’s unique culture within four companies and the 550 employees of Netwatch Group. “We need to integrate and drive these values across different markets, different countries and different cultures, to enable the same level of outstanding customer service that has brought us to where we are today,” he emphasises.

“The large-scale growth opportunities will take us to the US, but the Irish market is key to our continued success,” Mr Walsh adds. “We have a loyal customer base, an established team and it makes me very proud to see the Irish market grow year on year for Netwatch.”