The Next Level of Convergence

May 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Michael Fickes

Several days later, while remarking that it was unusual, the director of human resources for the hospital offered Gulinello the position, as well as a seat at the executive table.

Microsoft's Howard agrees that to be effective, security directors have to put themselves on an equal footing with senior executives, something Howard did several years ago when he drafted an e-mail to one of the senior executives asking for a half-hour to present an overview of security “to make sure we're doing everything we can for the organization.”

Howard got a half-hour. Before the presentation, he told a couple of sales managers about his idea for revenue-influencing. They liked it.

A week later, Howard presented to a group of senior executives. “A lot of people don't understand how comprehensive our work is,” Howard says. “They see the cameras and use their access cards and notice the security officers, but they don't think about investigations, crisis management and intelligence collection in countries around the world where we operate.”

“I was careful to stick to core security competencies, but talked about being able to use our comprehensive organization to provide business support when appropriate.”

His idea of influencing revenue perked everyone up, and the chief operating officer (COO) suggested talking to the sales department about it. Because of his spadework, Howard was able to say the sales staff was onboard. That meeting and the revenue-influencing idea got Howard a seat at the table and laid the foundation for his eventual request for funding to build the GSOC network.

How to speak CEO, COO and CFO

Senior executives don't speak “security,” so security professionals must learn to speak the languages of the executive suite.

“The CEO is concerned about the survival of the company and the bottom line,” Gulinello says. “When speaking to a CEO about security issues, your theme should be one or both of those subjects. For example, one of security's roles is to create a safe, secure and comfortable working environment that helps reduce turnover costs and maintain productivity.”

The COO has day-to-day operational interests. Gulinello recommends discussing the workplace environment in terms of written policies, procedures and enforcement mechanisms designed to promote safety and security.

The CFO wants to hear about the bottom line and how a safe workplace, where people don't get sick or hurt, plays a key role in controlling companies' worker's compensation costs.

“You don't have to be a financial expert, but you do have to talk to a CEO or CFO about funding projects. And that means you will have to answer questions in terms of financial concepts such as net present value and internal rate of return,” says Gary Smith, manager, innovation and technology in the Corporate Security department at IBM in Armonk, N.Y. “You have to make a business case. I'm not a financial person, but I've taken courses on finance and, often, go to our corporate finance department for advice.”

Audit, measure and build business support programs

Security directors that have taken a seat at the table and learned the language can search out business issues that affect security and propose programs that have some kind of business value.

During Gulinello's stint with the New York City hospital system, for example, he conducted regular audits of each department to determine what equipment might go missing. In one case, he discovered that new doctors completing their internships often left for their residency jobs carrying a $1,000 thermometer. “Each June, we would graduate 50 new doctors, and they would walk out with $50,000 worth of thermometers,” he recalls.

Not long ago, IBM's Smith put together a business case for moving the company's physical security infrastructure onto the IP backbone in all U.S. facilities. The package included digital video recorders, decoders and encoders as well as intelligent video software. “Our numbers showed a 40 percent internal rate of return,” Smith says. “The plan was to consolidate a number of control centers into much smaller hub centers and reduce labor costs. We didn't get all the money we needed. We did get some capital funding and carried out some of the work. Right now, we're getting ready to resubmit the plan for this year's budget.”

Once somebody starts thinking like a businessperson, the ideas start coming. “We need to become more strategic purchasers of security technology,” says Joe McDonald, PSP, CPP, chief security officer with the Switch Communications Group in Las Vegas. Switch provides customers such as Internet retailers with server locations connected directly to Internet fiber optic cable. By skipping the runs of copper wire, Switch's customers speed their transactions.

Switch, of course, lives and dies by the quality of its technological offerings. “Will the systems we buy today be able to connect to tomorrow's networks?” McDonald asks. “Will today's IP cameras and network video recorders work with the new Internet protocol that is being developed? Or will you have to replace equipment? How can you ease the cost of the transition? These are complicated technical issues, and security directors have to understand the technology or hire someone that does.”

The convergence of business issues and security concerns is well under way in large multinational companies such as IBM and Microsoft. What those companies expect of their security executives today provides a preview of what merely large companies will expect from their security directors tomorrow. And it probably won't be long until convergence issues arise in mid-size companies. Security directors who remain closed off from the larger business issues of their companies may find that they are imperiling their careers.

SECURITY VENDOR ENABLES AFTER-HOURS DELIVERY

For about a year, ADT Security Services Inc., a unit of Tyco Fire & Security, has been marketing a convergence service that provides a secure way for retailers to deliver goods after hours and reduce store delivery costs by dealing with a logistics business issue with security implications.

The service integrates access control, video surveillance, remote monitoring, intrusion detection and two-way voice systems and enables Boca Raton, Fla.-based ADT to monitor loading docks during off hours and to accept deliveries when they arrive. The retailer saves the cost of staffing the loading dock at night, without cutting off deliveries. Personnel at ADT's National Account Monitoring Center respond to arriving drivers, check credentials and open the facility remotely to facilitate deliveries.

“Early tests of the service with fast food and specialty retailers show a 60 percent decrease in delivery times,” says Rex Gillette, vice president of ADT Retail. “By leveraging existing video surveillance systems, we have found a way for retailers to realize the cost benefits of after-hour deliveries without compromising security.”

Drivers receive access control badges that grant limited access to the facility after hours. When the access control system reads one of the badges, it sends a delivery notification to the ADT monitoring center.

The technology also enables ADT to enable and disable the badges so that drivers who quit or have been terminated cannot continue using their badges.

ALLIEDBARTON HELPS CLIENTS ACHIEVE COST- CUTTING GOALS

The top priority of King of Prussia, Pa.-based AlliedBarton Security Services is helping clients achieve convergence goals by training its guards to perform a variety of cost-cutting services, according to J. Michael Coleman, vice president, commercial real estate. “To us, convergence means blending security officers with a client's company [to achieve goals beyond security],” Coleman says. “What if the security officer does simple things like turn off the coffee machine or the lights or close a window while on tour, fulfilling a security role, while fostering energy efficiency?”

AlliedBarton also trains officers to perform certain concierge duties when staffing lobby desks and will also deliver mail while on patrol. The company's managers will help manage parking facilities by collecting tickets and handling the accounting and reporting. Some companies don't want bicycle messengers to come into their offices, so AlliedBarton officers will intercept packages and complete the deliveries.

The company also trains its own staff in first aid, CPR and the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs). “Our trainers can also train our customers' personnel in these areas,” Coleman says. “We can also do seminars on workplace violence, managing aggressive behavior and security awareness.”

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