A Systematic Approach Broadly Defined

Mar 1, 2004 12:00 PM, LARRY ANDERSON, Editor

The word “systems” is part of this magazine's name, so we definitely have a big stake in how that word is defined and interpreted in the security industry.

Recent history (the last 10 or so years) suggests that the word system refers to the equipment and technology, the hardware and software that contribute mightily to a user's eternal quest for security. More importantly, system suggests a coming together of the various facets of technology — the so-called elements of a system — into a totality of performance.

This use of the word has the connotation of a broad-based involvement of computers in the configuration of systems, certainly an appropriate implication given the increasing role of digital technology in all aspects of the security industry.

Here is a definition of systems that I found on the Internet that is specific to computer systems: “A system consists of hardware components that have been carefully chosen so that they work well together and software components or programs that run in the computer.”

So these are the nuances of the meaning of system in our industry. I would now like to suggest that we as an industry embrace a broader definition, this one brought to you by our friends at the American Heritage Dictionary: “[A system is] a group of interacting, interrelated or interdependent elements forming a complex whole.”

This definition is enlightening in its simplicity, and refreshing in its lack of computerese subtext. A security system is more than hardware and software, equipment and technology. A security system is everything — every resource including the people, processes and knowledge as well as the equipment and software — that come together to create effective security for a company or institution.

Broadly defining systems helps us not to over-emphasize technology, but to put it in its proper perspective as only one piece of the puzzle. Security isn't just cameras and readers, it's people who operate those systems, it's the knowledge and strategy that goes into planning how they are used. It's the support of management that allows the security department to do its job.

Our industry isn't just about technology, it's also about how technology works together with other elements. Systems should be an inclusive rather than exclusive term.

That's how the most successful security professionals will define systems moving forward, and it's an approach we hope to promote with our magazine's editorial focus.

YOUR THOUGHTS

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