The Route1 Story
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A Growing Need
When Route1 was founded, the iPhone had not yet made its debut. There were no tablets in the workplace. License plate recognition and body worn camera technology was in its infancy. But information security, particularly cybersecurity, was becoming more critical to good organizational governance.
Security First
Route1 was formed in 2004 to develop a solution that provided secure mobile access to enterprise digital resources through strong identity management. Our approach was, and continues to be, unique: in a world driven by functionality, we focus on security first. Where others create functionality and then add security, we design and architect solutions with security as a first principle.
Since 2004, we have grown. The US Department of Defense clearly validated our user authentication and security offerings and as we grew, we realized that security was only part of the picture. Private sector clients came to us to solve problems with remote access and other technologies. We began to develop a world class software development team.
The pivot
In early 2017 we began to leverage our patented universal identity management and service delivery platform to deliver more than MobiKEY, our secure remote access solution that delivers the desktop through the cloud. We added a second security software application, DerivID; derived credentials for PIV and CAC users. Then in the second half of 2017 we moved into a new arena, data acquisition and analytics, with ActionPLAN. Our entire suite of software offerings leveraged the same service delivery platform, MobiNET.
On March 22nd, 2018, we continued our pivot with the acquisition of GroupMobile Int’l (now GroupMobile), a supplier of rugged mobile devices, integration and lifecycle management services. This enabled us to capture margin to which we had never had access, strengthen outside and inside sales and expand use of our core technologies.
On June 28th, 2019 we acquired Denver-based PCS Mobile, a company similar to GroupMobile, but desirable because of their premier dealer status with Genetec AutoVu™, the leader in license plate recognition (LPR) technology; the quality and depth of their sales team; and their sales footprint. The acquisition gave us enhanced access to a ready client base in progressive states like Arizona, California, Colorado, and Texas, creating significant opportunities to sell data security and analytics software applications and capabilities into the southwestern U.S.
In 2020, the pandemic hit and with it came a massive transformation of how the world did business. Remote access became the new norm and cyber criminals responded with sophisticated attacks on US institutions and enterprises. MobiKEY stood strong and performed well as we began to see a dramatic increase in users throughout the world.
In 2021, we acquired two companies. The first was another supplier of rugged mobile devices with key public safety, logistics and energy services clients that allows us to leverage our full catalog of technology solutions while providing them our best-in-class service. The second, Spyrus, is a line of established cryptographic products that complement the MobiKEY zero-trust and telework solution.
The top- and bottom-line growth that Route1 is realizing comes from both organic sales and through acquisition. The acquisitions we are targeting are rugged device and LPR technology dealers and resellers, and hardware services companies with robust gross profit and deep client relationships, as well as early-stage technology companies with unique intellectual property (IP) that will support and accelerate our internal software engineering efforts, and strengthen our product development roadmap.
The acquisitions completed in 2018, 2019, and 2021 have added strong sales capabilities and a ready customer base, while augmenting the IP that we have developed through our excellent software engineering team. New technologies like Genetec’s AutoVu™, ScreenSTOP and ActionPLAN help us better address our customers’ everyday needs and challenges.
The current Route1 offering helps our customers to secure, understand, visualize and leverage their data. This is powerful—it is removing customers’ traditional ‘hard’ limitations and transforming their businesses. The future looks bright.
In 2022, we pivoted our business model to align with our new turn-key engineering and professional services. After acquiring several new companies and partnering with an industry-leading technology provider, Route1 began focusing on how our technologies and services could tailor to our clients’ needs. Our turn-key engineering and professional services use data and video capture to deliver our customers’ desired outcomes. Our customers can now get the services they expect along with the Route1 difference; operations optimizations, technology life-cycle maintenance and support, and end-user and administrator training.
With our pivot and partnerships, Route1 can integrate our clients’ current video surveillance system with other security technologies (access control, license plate recognition, etc.). We will amplify our customers’ return on investment by driving outcomes through the application of advanced technological solutions and by leveraging our expertise in video intelligence data. Our continued investment in data security and user authentication technologies including our flagship software application MobiKEY and service delivery platform DEFIMNET, separate us from our turn-key engineering services competitors as we bring a unique skill set as a service to our clients.