Heartland Business Systems

The Partner

For more than 35 years, Heartland Business Systems (HBS) has helped organizations across the Midwest modernize their technology infrastructure. Headquartered in Little Chute, Wisconsin, HBS has built a strong reputation serving state, local, and education (SLED) customers, particularly K-12 school districts.

Led by Chief Commercial Officer Mike Nolan, a commercial business veteran with more than three decades of experience, HBS focuses on delivering full service technology solutions that empower organizations to achieve their business outcomes. 

HBS began partnering with Verkada in 2018 on a school district project in Southeastern Wisconsin. Since then, the relationship has grown into a long-standing, strategic partnership, with HBS and Verkada working side-by-side to help schools assess their needs, design tailored solutions and modernize physical security across the Midwest.

The Challenge

Like many school districts, HBS customers often faced a patchwork of disconnected security systems built over years of incremental upgrades. Cameras, access control and alarms operated independently, creating complexity and limiting visibility.

One such district outside of Milwaukee in Southeastern Wisconsin served more than 5,000 elementary, middle and high school students across 10 buildings. With aging on-premises technology and fragmented systems including video security cameras and door locks, the district leaders wanted a more unified, modern approach to school safety that could fully support the unique needs of each school cohort while remaining simple for employees to use district-wide.

“Too often school districts are trying to manage disconnected security technologies and don’t need another siloed system. They need a unified approach to safety.” —Mike Nolan, Chief Commercial Officer at Heartland Business Systems

Why Verkada?

That need for a simpler and intuitive way to manage their security systems from one place was paramount for this school district. Just as important, they needed a team who’d take the time to understand their unique challenges and goals.

"We really feel that the Verkada solution is the premier solution because it's cloud-based and it's a true all-in-one solution. The tech is so far ahead of everybody else and it's simple; it works the way people use technology today," says Nolan. Relying on their long-standing partnership, HBS and Verkada worked closely with the district leaders to assess the campus’s environment, identify priorities and design a tailored solution.

Beyond the technology, HBS regularly relies on partner tools such as Site Planner, Verkada Store and Verkada’s Market Development Funds (MDF) to not only grow its business but expand and deepen its presence in the communities HBS serves. The team retains in-house engineers for installations but leaning into the importance of collaboration and expertise, HBS also conducts site walks with Verkada Solutions Engineers who can advise HBS on specific technical requirements or product features.

"We really appreciate Verkada's commitment to the channel. Their engineers and channel team are like extensions of our team," shares Nolan, "It’s the people and the active collaboration behind the technology that gives us the confidence we’re bringing the best solutions to our customers."

The Solution

For this Southeastern Wisconsin school district, HBS applied their consultative approach - designing and deploying a comprehensive Verkada security environment across 10 buildings consisting of more than 500 cameras, access control devices and intrusion sensors. 

After evaluating the district’s existing environment, the team developed a comprehensive strategy to bring together fragmented security technologies, improve visibility across campuses and create a more flexible security framework. 

HBS managed every stage of the project, from planning and design to installation and ongoing support, while ensuring the solution matched the district’s infrastructure, operational goals and budget.

The Result: Greater Visibility Across Campuses

By consolidating cameras, access control devices and alarm sensors into a single environment, HBS gave the Southeastern Wisconsin school district leaders a more complete view of what was happening across all 10 buildings in real time. Rather than managing separate systems at each school, administrators and employees with varying levels of technical expertise could easily access and monitor from one place.

As Nolan explains, “Historically, you might have had an elementary school, a middle school and a high school operating separately. Now it’s all consolidated together, so we can gather all that data in one place."

Increased Confidence in School Safety

One of the biggest outcomes for the district was peace of mind. With more than 5,000 students, school leaders wanted parents, staff and students to feel confident that their campuses were secure and that potential issues could be identified before they escalated.

"From a parental standpoint, that's been a big selling point for this school district. Your kids come to school and they are safe. We are safe." —Mike Nolan, Heartland Business Systems

A Stronger Foundation for the Future

This new security environment gives the visibility and flexibility to support changing safety needs over time for this school district. Bringing previously disparate technology security systems together, HBS helped create a stronger foundation for long-term campus safety and operations.

Looking Ahead

For Heartland Business Systems, this project reflects a broader mission: helping schools and communities create safer environments through thoughtful planning, strong partnerships and technology that works the way every day people use tech today.

As the company continues to grow across the Midwest, HBS remains focused on delivering solutions tailored to each of their customer’s unique needs.