Cloud-Managed Security Without the Headache with Kyce Poya

s1e32 Cloud-Managed Security Without the Headache with Kyce Poya

In this episode of The Wired Garage, host Pops interviews Kyce Poya, founder of Apex IT and Security. They discuss the complexities of IT security, the importance of simplifying technology, and the innovative solutions Apex offers. Kyce shares his journey into the IT world, the challenges of building a business, and the evolving landscape of security technology, including the role of AI and analytics. The conversation emphasizes the need for proactive security measures and the value of partnerships in delivering effective solutions.

Keywords: IT security, cybersecurity, technology partnerships, physical security, AI in security, fleet management, IT leadership, business growth, customer experience, security solutions

Takeaways:

• Kyce Poya emphasizes the importance of simplifying technology for better user experience.
• Building Apex IT was driven by a desire to serve customers better.
• Partnerships with technology providers are crucial for effective security solutions.
• AI is transforming physical security through advanced analytics.
• Proactive security measures can prevent incidents before they occur.
• Understanding customer needs is key to delivering effective solutions.
• The security industry has evolved significantly beyond traditional systems.
• Installation services are an integral part of Apex IT's offerings.
• IT leaders should ask critical questions about their current security measures.
• Patience and strategic thinking are essential for success in business.

Sound Bites
"How do you keep people safe?"
"We do installation as well."
"Be patient and take your time."

Chapters

• Introduction to IT Security Challenges
• Kyce Poya's Journey into IT and Security
• Building Apex IT: A New Approach
• Streamlining Security Solutions for Clients
• Key Considerations for Retail Security
• The Role of AI in Physical Security
• Innovations in Fleet Operations and Management
• Future Directions for Apex IT
• Mindset Shifts in Security Leadership
• Lessons Learned as a Business Founder
• Advice for Aspiring IT Professionals

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

AI really take off in the physical security space is it has more to do with creating analytics than it does identifying the situation. You know, and the AI is, you know, as far as like, you know, building out some of these abil the capability of identifying, you know, somebody wearing a red hat, for example, or somebody that's not wearing their like in a in a manufacturing environment, for example. One of the newer analytics is being able to detect whether somebody's wearing their helmet or not or and and getting an alert for that. So or a red vest. That was a good one for safety reasons and prevention.

SPEAKER_00 0:37

Absolutely. Our guest is Kais Boya, founder and president of Apex IT and Security of Santa Monica. Kais spent over a decade selling IT and physical software solutions for heavyweights like Cisco, HP, Salesforce, Meraki, where I met him before launching Apex to do something, do things differently, a smaller team, deeper relationships, and solutions that are actually intuitive to run.

SPEAKER_01 1:49

Apex focuses on campus security, computer networking, cybersecurity, fleet operations, and office solutions, all built around the idea of fast response and clear ROI instead of buzzword bingo. Today we're going to get into what he's seeing on the ground with the clients that he works with, where people overspend or undersecure and how you simplify your environment without starting from scratch. Today we're getting into a topic that honestly every IT leader worries about. How do you keep your people safe and systems running without drowning in complexity, vendor noise, and budget pressure? So grab a coffee or a bourbon, pull up a chair in the garage, and let's get into it with Kais from Apex IT and Security. Welcome, Kais, to the garage. Take us back a bit. How did you first get into IT and security?

SPEAKER_02 2:41

It's a good question. You know, I think just personally, you know, I was always an athletic kid, pretty active, but also was pretty into computers as well. Was definitely playing video games at a young age, you know, had some interest at a younger age for sure. Still do play a little video games, to be totally honest with you. But um, yeah, so uh five-time Elden Lord, actually, if you're familiar with the game. But anyways, it's an achievement. But yeah, so I ended up, you know, went to high school, graduated UC Davis, uh, is grew up in Northern California and had access to an amazing culture of San Francisco. And so at that time, you know, it was when I had moved to San Francisco, it was post dot com bust. And technology was really starting to resurge quite a bit. So, you know, I had initially had been, you know, working in sales and construction sales really, and then kind of got cut started cutting my teeth into the technology world through primarily through sales.

SPEAKER_00 3:47

Well, I met you several years ago when you were at Meraki, and I'll say such an amazing group of individuals there. I just haven't met a group of people that intelligent and personable and and representing technology in the way it's meant to be used. Sure. You also you also spent time at like Cisco and HPE and Salesforce. What was the moment you said I can serve customers better if I build something on my own?

SPEAKER_02 4:11

So I I think for me, there is a common comment that was given to me from managers, which was, you know, Kais, this isn't your company, so we appreciate, you know, your ideas and influence, but you know, this is just how things are done. And um I think, you know, there was a number of companies. I think for when I was at Meraki, really, um, I learned so much, and that was one of the most impactful seven years for me, is starting at an amazing company that had were doing so many things the right way and in such a positive direction and feeling like I was part of something new and changing things, to kind of, you know, joining larger organizations and and, you know, saying like, well, hey, this isn't just this isn't the way that, you know, I think is conducive because I've experienced a different way of doing business that was really impactful. But then also part of that how also comes down to just the comment I made before where managers were definitely making comments as far as, you know, follow protocol and things of that nature. So really I I think the biggest item for me was just how to approach customers. You know, I'd I'd been in situations where I'm very much a first things first per type of person where if there's an account, if I walk into an account or into a customer situation where things aren't working out and there's frustrations and I didn't, you know, I was always focused on solving that problem first and making sure that that customer was happy with the experience, happy with the product, before maybe encouraging, you know, cross-selling a different product line or or something along those lines. And so I I I think just over the course of my career wanted to do things my own way in what I felt was the right way to approach business. And, you know, I think that's that was kind of the the point for me where I realized I wasn't really I didn't have that freedom to to walk through business and and to approach business the way I wanted to, unless I really started my own. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

That kind of speaks down to foreign mission and essentially removing that obstacle to then I mean it's kind of sounds cliche, but be the best that you can be and deliver the best result without having the, well, this is how it's done kind of mentality standing in your way. I love that. If you were to describe Apex to a new customer, what's your one-liner pitch? If you got one.

SPEAKER_02 6:38

I don't mean to put you on the Yeah, no, I I think the the one-line pitch is, you know, our our strength in our bread and butter is really edge networking. So securing and simplifying, you know, the things that you use around you, the technology you use around you. And uh, you know, I don't know, that would probably be my one sentence if I had one sentence.

SPEAKER_00 6:58

What one are those things that you can offer some of these warehouses and and other companies that a larger business like a Cisco or an HPE, you know, someone like that comes in and and what what do you have that what are you offering there that can help them directly when understanding and achieving and investing in security?

SPEAKER_02 7:19

Sure. No, absolutely. So when it comes to our company, it's it's really about a big part of it is the partnerships. So choosing the right technologies to lead with. So, and to clarify, you know, we don't create or manufacture our own technology. So we're an installer and distributor for various technologies. When it comes to products on the physical security side, we're we have a strong partnership with Ricotta. Uh and a lot of that partnership was uh founded, uh that relationship was founded from a previous organization, Meraki, where uh Hans Robertson was one of the founders of and eventually started VRCata. So when it comes to physical security, a lot of the streamline, a lot of the help that we offer really comes from, you know, that strategic partnership and other strategic partnerships that that we've chosen to bring on board with VRCata. So we so for VRCata and physical security specifically, prior to I think, prior to their foundation, physical security was really a distributed and siloed technology set. I actually used to work for a company called N3N where we would create a basically a software overlay connecting a lot uh security cameras, sensors, access control to create a similar environment to what Ricotta offers out of the box. So there's there's quite a lot of advantage to that. There's other technologies work together as an ecosystem, similar to the way it did at Meraki, where, you know, for example, if you have what's a common example is called tailgating. So if you have access control and somebody fobs to get into the building and somebody, and then a second person follows through, you can catch that with a camera and then get an alert. And that's a unique situation or one example of why having a complete ecosystem is a much more secure approach, but also um a more intuitive way of going about things. So simple block simplification, things of that nature.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

All right, I was just gonna interject real quick. Sure. In terms of tailgating, I've had that happen to me where I had a buddy drive three hours to come and visit me one time, tailgated into the apartment complex, and then got me in the face with the nerfed art gun. And then a couple years later, returned the favor, I tailgated into their apartment complex, not with a nerf dart gun, but I dropped off all the ingredients they needed for a chicken Caesar salad. I told them I was gonna deliver them a salad, didn't knock on the door or anything, left on the front door and left. So the physical security piece is ringing pretty close to home.

SPEAKER_00 10:09

So do you do you um you have the partnership so you can resell the equipment? Do you also have employees or contractors who help install it, or how do you handle that? Do you handle the installation too, or mainly just the the probably the best way of purchasing or obtaining and uh just the right solution?

SPEAKER_02 10:28

Yeah, we we do installation as well. So uh, you know, I guess initially when I started this business, we were we were thinking about, or I was thinking about maybe creating something similar to like a CDW, but on a smaller scale. You know, I have a lot of great relationships with friends and that I've worked with previously. And, you know, a lot of those friends are, you know, maybe started families and they're looking to maybe work on their own time. So I saw that as a good opportunity to have a good network of potential salespeople to to join in that effort. What I started noticing is there was just such a need for physical installation, such a high, high need for it and to to find good installers to to uh you know accomplish these tasks. So yeah, I I actually do have my own install team and we do you know pretty complicated deployments. So we've done distribution centers with you know 50-foot ceilings, large outdoor complex environments. So yeah, it's it's been interesting to be on this side of the fence because previously I was just working for the manufacturers and um you're a bit disconnected working from behind a computer all day and uh on the phone and working virtually to actually being in an environment and seeing you know execution from start to finish. Right. Right. Actually hanging up the access points, you know, hanging up the security cameras. So it's been it's definitely been interesting and have a bigger appreciation for the partners that I previously worked with that were accomplishing that goal at the time.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

So if I'm an IT manager at a mid-size org or something, what are the three questions I should ask my current vendors about my security stance? And let's say it's a you know, a retail store. Let's say I'm I'm a retail store, you know, and I've got security as far as you know, both video and I've got security access, my my website, my email, and all you know, all those edge areas of communications and vulnerabilities. What would you how what what are the some of the things you'd have me think consider first?

SPEAKER_02 12:28

Sure. I I think the for for retail, one of the big concerns is loss prevention. You know, visibility is is huge. And having security cameras that are accurate that can run analytics and detect any potential theft threat is a big deal. So I would say um, you know, some of the technologies that come with security cameras or facial recognition, for example, which is you know allowable in most of all the states in the United States in the US. And it's a very, very helpful analytic that can help prevent repeat uh offenses. So for example, if you do have footage of somebody that maybe had stolen from one of your stores previously, if that person returns to your that same store or another store, being able to recognize that person, get an alert when that person enters the store is a huge advantage and is something that Ricotta currently offers, and that is something that I'm using for one of my customers. We have a, I do have a customer that has over uh 300 locations that are, it's a retail customer, over 300 locations that are currently deploying Vir Vicata systems at each location. And that's one of the key features for retail. Also having analytics with regards to missing items. So another key feature that VRCata does offer is, and again, this ties into uh theft and loss, the loss prevention area, is having an ability to quickly find footage. So again, with Vicata, it's the entire, you know, basically the entire screen, the entire lens is is usable and researchable. So an example of that is, you know, if you do have an item that goes missing in the store, you can easily highlight it on um on your VRCata system and then pull up all the events where there's been activity on that in that part of the environment and part of the store. Um so you could literally a loss prevention person can take what would have normally been, you know, maybe eight, anywhere from like a couple hours to eight hours trying to find an event where maybe somebody lifted something or or took something, and then either basically scale that out into like 15 different clips or 20 different clips and see the, you know, where the actual theft had had taken place.

unknown 14:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

Are you seeing AI come into play at all with this? Like, you know, taking that footage and, you know, taking abnormal situations and maybe put piecing them together for a security team. Are you seeing things like that happening?

SPEAKER_02 15:02

Well where we're seeing AI really take off in the physical security space is um it has more to do with creating analytics than it does identifying the situation. You know, and what the what the the AI is, you know, as far as like, you know, building out some of these abil the capability of identifying, you know, somebody wearing a red hat, for example, or somebody that's not wearing their like in a in a manufacturing environment, for example. One of the newer analytics is being able to detect whether somebody's wearing their helmet or not, or and and getting alert for that. So, or a red vest.

SPEAKER_00 15:39

That was a good one for safety reasons and prevention and things like that.

SPEAKER_02 15:43

Absolutely. Yeah. It really comes we're seeing a huge acceleration when it comes to some of these analytics because it is a pretty manual process for developers to go through. And uh, you know, obviously with given the right rails and and direction, uh, AI has really, you know, picked that up. So we're we're seeing some really amazing things, really exciting things when it comes to video capability and and what physical security can accomplish in in real life situations.

SPEAKER_00 16:12

So, what other changes are you seeing in the in in the in the in the security space? So I'm seeing a lot of things on security cameras, access control. We've talked about the warehousing and cameras, things like that. What about fleet operations? Were you working in that area? Like is that vehicle management or no traffic management as far as logistics?

SPEAKER_02 16:34

Yeah, I so again, I had that amazing Meraki fraternity that I was a part of. Yeah. But uh, you know, CMSAR is another partnership partnership that we have. And um and they create some amazing products that cover a multitude of different things. But part of that is video as well, where uh you have dash cams that are obviously facing in front of vehicles in case of accidents, but also cameras coming inward to see a you know at the point of impact or you know, leading up to it, what what is the driver doing? So there's there's some safety and security aspects there. But also when it comes to uh you know production and quality of product. So, you know, some exam uh some example additional features that SAMSAR offers is sensors, environmental sensors, if it's uh a produce-based delivery, ensuring that those environments are kept at the appropriate uh temperatures. Also just uh vehicle health as well is another example. So getting an accurate read on how the vehic uh the drivers are performing, how aggressively they're driving, whether they're creating too much wear and tear. We have a company that, um, a logistics company that offers a reward system based off of some of these findings as well. So, you know, essentially the the safest and the uh kindest to the vehicle driver is is uh gets uh an award for the month, something along those lines. So it saves from a financial cultural benefit of um reducing wear and tear in the vehicles, gas, you know, the list goes on.

SPEAKER_00 18:06

So I do you have any plans or thoughts of maybe even running a I don't know, an MSP or something else, you know, what's what's that next layer or next next area to conquer, you know, in this space?

SPEAKER_02 18:21

You know, it's it's hard to say. So I I started this business a little over three years ago, and I think I had a lot of ideas of where things were gonna go and what I wanted to do. And then ended things ended up shifting directions, not massively, but just in a way where I just kind of followed, you know, the natural path of, you know, where revenue streams were were coming in from. So I, you know, if if I had an idea of like where things are gonna be in another three years, you know, it would, it would be continuing down the same path that I'm going down, but just slowly adopting more technologies, mainly just products that, you know, I feel are gonna be a good fit for our offering and our customer base, as well as that fit the total methodology, which is, you know, primarily cloud-based, intuitive solutions that offer a holistic approach.

SPEAKER_01 19:14

What's one mind shift you wish more leaders had about security and respect?

SPEAKER_00 19:18

I think it's maybe besides it ain't happening to me, it won't happen to me.

SPEAKER_02 19:22

So uh you when you say that, do you mean like leaders of businesses that are looking at security or people in the security industry that are selling security products?

SPEAKER_01 19:32

I would scope it as leaders looking at security solutions. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:38

Yeah. I Brian, I think that's a a good example. I mean, I I recently had personally a security incident and that could have been potentially, you know, prevented. And it's it is one of those situations where, you know, people usually wait until something happens instead of being proactive. And I think, you know, when I'm approaching these conversations, I tend to find that you know, people don't realize how much additional benefit that these security products can bring outside of just you know your everyday breaking or burglary or something along those lines. So uh, you know, there's a ton of you know return on investment beyond you know what people are realize in at the time. And so, you know, when we start having these conversations, people just aren't aware, like, you know, they think security anything like a you know, an ADT or you know, just like a basic alarm system, it's it's the the industry's changed dramatically. And and Vision just alone offers so much more, you know, in ways that can actually recuperate those funds so they aren't a complete sunken cost in their mind because perhaps they're in a the mindset of, you know, nothing's happened, why do we need this? There are more benefits, and then also you don't want to wait till that event does happen because it it hurts.

SPEAKER_00 21:02

Yeah, it's sort of like we get into like asset inventory a lot and talk about that and securing our servers and things like that. And if you don't know what you have, you can't protect it, right? So with cameras, um sensors, whether they be um uh temperature controls, fire, gas, security, you know, all those sort of things, then also that edge, you know, as far as identifying traffic that comes through this net as abnormal. I mean, to me, it it's protecting your house, it's protecting your business, and everyone should be interested in it. Just to do the basics. There's so many things that are out of your control, and these things are simple and really within your control. If a stupid thing happens to you, that's that's sad. You know, it some of these things are so far fetched and beyond your control, people can understand. It knows you're always handy too, but I'd hate to get, you know, not worried about anything and I get hit by, you know, just just the normal thief or something I could have protected with a lock, a security camera, something like that. So uh yeah, yeah, I get it.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

Anything else, Steel? So it's incredibly exciting to me that you own your own business. And I would ask, what is a lesson that you've learned as a founder? Maybe what's maybe your top two or three takeaways? Because that experience going from um going into the driver's seat and you are leading in those responsibilities on your shoulder. I imagine you've cut your teeth. You've got some lessons to share on that.

SPEAKER_02 22:44

I definitely cut my teeth if you can't tell.

SPEAKER_01 22:47

So uh I promise you that was that was my accident. That was not a good one.

SPEAKER_02 22:55

Yeah, this isn't the uh a US Olympic hockey team celebration. No, I mean you could see the surfboard in the background here. I I surf and I had a surfing accident. And uh, you know, so it's a it's a it's a story in its own. But um Yeah, as far as I think the the biggest takeaway was it was harder than I thought, but it also wasn't as hard as I thought at the same time. And I don't think you really have an idea, you know, I I came into starting this business having a good amount of product knowledge and an idea of how I wanted to approach things and experience, which which was all helpful in setting up this organization and and getting a direction going. But I I think that um, you know, I was in a position where I was ready to take some risks and you know, be self-reliant and it kind of felt like I needed to. You know, I I was very much at a point in my career where I couldn't really see myself doing something else, if that if that makes sense. I was pretty frustrated. And uh, you know, lo and behold, you know, things worked out extremely well. So, I mean, the businesses, I mean, we went, we had a modest first year, you know, doubled and then quadrupled, and things are really starting to take off. Yeah, I I don't know if I can point to one specific, you know, challenge that really took me off guard. It's just more like kind of taking your lumps along the way. But as long as, you know, you feel like this is this is the the direction and this is what you need to do, it it's just part of the process.

SPEAKER_01 24:33

I love that you called out this is something that you felt that you had to do. And so it was essentially driving force, pulling you towards that. And I I love to hear uh about the success there.

SPEAKER_00 24:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:45

Thanks. If just one more for you. Sure. If you were giving advice to the younger version of you that might just be getting into IT sales or IT security, and they were asking for advice, what advice would you give them or maybe some first steps for them?

SPEAKER_02 25:03

I would say it's a good question. Trying to think of my 22-year-old self and what was going on in that brain, crazy brain. Yeah, I would say be patient and take your time. I I think that, yeah, be patient, take your time, and things will turn out because I I was very ambitious, you know, I would say more so than I am today. I wouldn't say blindly ambitious, but I I think I made mistakes, whether that was just like pure competitiveness and and uh, you know, I think in order to be successful in this sort of industry, you know, it's important to learn your lessons, learn your products, listen to everybody around you. And uh I think if I would have been a little bit maybe taken taken things a little bit in stride, a little bit more in stride, then I I think, you know, I would have maybe had a little bit more trajectory. But you know, needless to say, I think at the same time, uh I am where I am today because of you know the way I did things. So yeah. Maybe maybe maybe maybe I would say nothing at all and just let it happen again.

SPEAKER_01 26:12

That was awesome. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 26:16

Well, thanks, Kais, for joining us um and uh representing Apex IT and security and walking us through what your company can do and and and do for its clients and and how it's designed for real people, not just spec sheets. Um I'll drop some links to AP to Apex IT and Security in our show notes so people can check them out, check out your solutions. For the Wired Garage, I'm Pops. Take care of your people, keep your networks tight, and then we'll see you in the next episode. Cheers,