
Conceptualization Stage (1974 to 1978):
Mr. Ravindra Kishore Sinha, a graduate of Political
Science and Law who started his career as a journalist and was
a leading investigative reporter and writer, particularly as
a war correspondent during 1971 war.
As a first generation entrepreneur,he initiated the security
service business by taking up the first security service contract
in 1974 when it was decided to be outsourced by an industrialist
at Ramgarh near Ranchi. It was a small contract of 11 guards
in Eastern India. SIS was born!
It was coincidental that SIS was the first security
service providing company started by a non Ex-serviceman and
a first generation entrepreneur professional in an era when
venture capital was not even conceptualized!
Formative Years (1978 to 1992):
While the guarding business grew gradually, the primary
focus for Mr. Sinha, continued to be investigative journalism
and detective services. It was during the late 70s - early 80s
when rapid industrial growth led to an increased demand for
contracted security services. This was the time when the `private
security guard' started replacing the `company employed chowkidaars'
that consequently gave rise to the private security business
in India. SIS also benefited from this trend and started forming
itself into a full scale guarding company to meet the growing
demand.
In 1981-82, SIS, which was so far operating exclusively with
ex-army personnel, felt the need of recruitment of civilian
manpower due to increased business requirements. There was also
a pressure to have the manpower specially trained in Industrial
security duties. This led to establishment of the first fully
residential training facility by SIS in the Indian private security
industry which was developed on the lines of Police Training
Academies and located at Palamu District, Jharkhand. This was
the first of the many visionary and pioneering steps taken by
Mr. R K Sinha and even today remains a unique feature of SIS
amidst private security service providers in India.
The trained manpower provided a distinctive competitive advantage
to the company and business started to grow in volumes. The
business growth led to SIS being registered as a Private Limited
Company in 1985, as per the requirement of the then prevailing
statutory stipulations.
During the period 1985-90, the company experienced exponential
growth in Bihar, Jharkhand,Orrisa and West Bengal primarily
due to the fact that it received recognition as the only security
service company providing trained, regimented and disciplined
manpower. This brand equity sets SIS apart from its competitors
even today. This was also the time when SIS ventured into new
territories and commenced operations in the Northern, Central
and Southern India. Thus, in 14 years from inception, SIS had
become a major player in the private security business.
After creating a reliable supply chain for trained security
guards, the next challenge was to induct young individuals to
form the managerial cadres of the company. To meet this requirement,
Mr. R K Sinha took yet another visionary step by launching the
ASO (Assistant Security Officer) program that aimed at inducting
young graduates and training them in every aspect of private
security. These officers were inducted through stringent academic
and physical tests and put through a rigorous training program
of 6 months in Company owned training academy. The induction
of such officers was on annual basis and numbered from 15 to
25 per year. It was envisaged that these young trained officers
in course of time would graduate into middle level managers.
Today such officers are leading SIS business at the regional
and branch levels. This is one of the core strengths of SIS,
envied by its competitors. Needless to say that SIS has several
welfare and retention schemes in place to retain its valuable
managerial team.
These pioneering steps propelled Mr. R K Sinha to the center
stage of industry leadership and earned him recognition and
respect of hundreds of security service providing companies
in India. To meet the expectations of the industry, Mr. Sinha
established "International Institute of Security and Safety
Management" (IISSM) in 1991 in line with the American Society
of Industrial Security (ASIS International) with the primary
objective of creating the first ever industry forum of users,
providers and consultants in the Indian security industry. The
forum focused on experience sharing through conducting seminars,
workshops and chapter meeting. It also aimed at industry representation
and conducting development programs for security professionals.
Expansion and Consolidation Phase (1992 to 2002):
In 1990s, the entry of multinational security companies
in India led to several fundamental changes in business dynamics.
The most significant amongst them was larger acceptance of outsourced
guarding as a service.
This development also altered the market qualitatively and in
commercial terms. While on one hand, these developments led
to the recognition of the industry, on the other hand, it enhanced
competition, customer expectations and pressure on the Indian
owned security companies.
Under the changed market dynamics, SIS initiated several measures
to face the new challenges of the business. Major initiatives
were taken towards re-engineering the organization and amending
the processes of recruitment, training, communication, quality
assurance and customer relationship management. One of the key
issues was to change the image of SIS from a security "agency"
to a well-organized outsourcing company in the services industry.
Accordingly, as a first step, the company registered itself
as the first public limited company in the Indian Security Industry
on 29 th July 1993. Another landmark step was company wide implementation
of ISO 9001 international standard initiated by Mr. R K Sinha
in 1995. SIS, today is certified to ISO 9001:2000 standards
for design, development and delivery of its security services.
In order to further refine the business processes, in 1996,
SIS undertook implementation of the British Standards, BS 7499
and BS 7858, and got itself certified by the International Professional
Security Association (IPSA) of UK. This standardization added
significant value to the selection, recruitment and training
processes in the company and wide scale acceptance by discerning
Multinational customers who required security service providers
to be of international standard. The Company thereafter, launched
its operation in Western India in 1997 and became one of the
few nationwide operators in the country.
Three more training academies were added in northern and southern
regions of the country, which together with the first academy
in the east covered recruitment on all India basis and subsequent
training of personnel to provide quality security services.
The size of guarding force increased manifold and in order to
maintain non-unionized status and retention of manpower, several
welfare measures including grievance redressal process were
implemented. These have been very effective and have prevented
formation of a union till today. SIS, in the category of leading
national or multinational security service providers in India,
remains the only non-unionized workforce.
Exponential Growth Phase (2002 onwards):
The attack at the WTC in New York on 9/11 had a considerable
impact on the global security industry. The Indian market was
no exception and overnight security became a top priority concern
for most customers. This was also accompanied with a radical
change in focus and thrust of the customers towards sophisticated
and integrated security solutions.
In the changed scenario, SIS promptly mapped its present business
processes and service offerings to meet the growth opportunities.
Accordingly, a major change process was planned. In true tradition
of taking visionary decisions all through, Mr. R K Sinha, as
the Chairman & Managing Director of the company, decided
to induct professional management team to act as catalyst for
the change process. Top professionals with experience in different
industry were drawn into the company's fold and the Board was
restructured to induct eminent, professional and independent
directors. This coincided with the induction of the second generation
of the promoter family into business.
The financial year 2002-03 was truly and particularly a landmark
year for SIS. Taking stock of its strengths and the growth opportunities
in the market, the new top level professional management drew
up a 3 year corporate plan. An elaborate change process was
initiated to introduce modern management practices like annual
business planning, performance management processes and customer
relationship management besides implementation of a systematic
data based management system.
With the thrust on decentralization of decision-making and empowerment
of middle level management, the company was restructured to
respond to rapidly changing customer demands. The cornerstone
of the change process was to shift from individual driven organization
to a system driven organization.
A major branding exercise was also undertaken to recreate SIS
as a "total security solution provider". This exercise was backed
up by creation of independent non-guarding business divisions
like C&I (Consulting and Investigation), CIT (Cash in Transit),
ESS (Electronic Security Systems) and R & T (Recruitment
and Training). Towards meeting the business objectives of these
verticals, a divisional bifurcation of the business was done
and the organization was restructured into corporate, regional
and branch levels.