Motorola Solutions repositions for growth in public safety and enterprise

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — Seven months after spinning off as a separate company, Motorola Solutions Inc. (MSI) is doubling down on its services portfolio and making other moves to reach deeper into the public safety and enterprise sectors.
“Out of the gate we’re performing pretty well,” CEO Greg Brown told a group of journalists and analysts invited here for an update on the company’s road map and overall strategy.
Now operating as a separate company from Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc.’s (MMI) device business, Motorola Solutions is making a new marketing push around “moments that matter in mission-critical applications.”
The key targets for the business continue to be in government (primarily public safety) and enterprise. About 65% of Motorola Solutions’ business is in government, the majority of which is in public safety, and the remaining 35% is in the enterprise space. Almost half, or 45% of its enterprise activity is in retail.
“I think our biggest chance to grow is in our two strongest verticals,” Mark Moon, EVP of sales and field operations, told RCR Wireless News. “Enterprise verticals are the fastest growing,” clocking 18% growth last year compared to 5% growth in government.
It’s understandable with government budgets in disarray at virtually every level.
“Not all government spending is equal,” Brown said, but public safety remains a top budget item across the board.
Nonetheless, he said, “it’s a tough environment overall.”
Most of Motorola’s public safety customers come in at the local level. Federal represents about 8% of the total business. And while some activity begins at the statehouse, most spending is done at the local level.
Moon said the company is also looking at whether it should make significant investments in other verticals, but after recently shedding some businesses like its wireless infrastructure division the company is focused on areas where it can be a leader. If it can’t be No. 1 or No. 2 in any particular field, it will have to decide if it’s worthwhile.
Complacency has no place in the new Motorola Solutions, Moon said.
“We’ve been doing it longer than anybody. We do it in more places than anybody,” he added. “We serve a lot of different verticals.”
Globally, the company has 1,700 direct sales staff and more than 25,000 channel partners. It shipped 9 million devices last year and recently shipped its one millionth MOTORBRO two-way radio, which highlights the ongoing transition from analog to digital among its customers.