Posted by Amy Wall on Wed, Oct 14, 2009 @ 06:09 PM
As we alluded to in our earlier post, a model security facility is one where all critical assets have been identified, the threats to them identified and prioritized, and effective security measures put in place to mitigate them. Additionally, this should be done in consultation with all outside stakeholders, including first responders, and in compliance with local, state and federal regulations. And above all, a customized security plan should be implemented with management and employee buy-in, to budget, and on time with minimum ongoing disruption to the facility's day-to-day operations.
Of course, this is the ideal situation, but in order to strive for these security objectives, these are the six steps you should follow: 1) Deterrence, 2) Detection, 3) Delay, 4) Response, 5) Recovery and 6) Re-assessment.
Deterrence - provides countermeasures such as policies, procedures and technical devices and controls to defend against attacks on the assets being protected. This can include security guards, and patrols, burglar alarms like the Snitch Security System, business security systems like CCTV systems, etc., or any combination of these services.
Detection - monitors for potential breakdowns in protective mechanisms that could result in security breaches.
Delay - provides measures that in the event of a breach, intruders will be delayed long enough to allow a security team to apprehend them before they achieve their objective.
Response - procedures and actions for responding to a breach.
Note: Because total protection is usually very hard to achieve on a specific budget, a security program that does not also incorporate detection and delay is incomplete. To be effective, the three concepts of detection, delay and response must be elements of a cycle that work together continuously.
Recovery - your plan to continue business and operations as normally as possible following an incident. Mitigation planning is part of your response and recovery elements, with the aim of minimizing the effects of any incident.
Re-assessment - crucial and ongoing process. Before implementing any changes, you need to revisit your strategic security plan to ensure that goals and objectives will be met. Whenever there are changed circumstances, or when new threats are identified, revisit your strategic plan and conduct a re-assessment to see what additional measures, if any, are needed.
Once you have gained a better understanding of the best practices needed to create a model security facility, work with your security consultant and/or vendor to develop a customized plan that meets your site's unique needs.
The team of security professionals at CSC is highly trained at developing strategic and customized security plans for our clients. We understand the importance of striving toward creating a model security facility and we believe our broad and diverse set of innovative and creative security consulting and solutions can help you achieve this goal.
We offer a comprehensive "Security By Design" approach that allows us to create a tailored security solution to satisfy our clients' security requirements whatever they might be. By taking this approach, we can effectively reduce your total cost of security and, at the same time, minimize your overall risk. And by taking this approach, we believe we can provide you with a substantially higher level of service and protection than anyone else.
Posted by Amy Wall on Wed, Oct 14, 2009 @ 05:50 PM
For many building owners, property managers and construction companies, security is one of those things they know they need to have, but few know the best practice measures they should be following in order to create a secure facility without spending a fortune.
In an ideal world, everybody could simply hire an internal security manager to make sure all of a site's security needs are being met in the most cost-effective manner. Since hiring a security manager isn't feasible in many cases, many building owners, property managers and superintendents will seek advice from security consultants and outsource these concerns to a security firm better equipped to handle the job.
Most security firms servicing the commercial real estate industry, however, will sell you on the need for expensive round-the-clock guard services that often leave a lot of room for security vulnerabilities to exist. While security guard forces can be very effective in certain situations, this is usually a one-size-fits-all approach that typically has the highest pay-out for a security vendor.
So if you're faced with this situation and need to create a secure facility on a reasonable budget, what is one to do?
Our suggestion is to work in partnership with your security vendor to create a model security facility and build a custom security plan and that works within your budget parameters. At CSC, we refer to this as our "Security By Design" approach, and we believe that by taking this approach with our clients we can set ourselves apart from other security vendors.
The first step in this process begins when you're initially meeting with security vendors. Be sure to discuss all of your security needs with them during the consultation phase. This consultation should not cost you any extra money - so if the vendor wants to charge you for this service, walk away.
Next, work with your security vendor to develop an actionable plan for creating a model security facility. In our next blog post, we'll outline a basic formula of the key components required for building a model security facility. By familiarizing yourself with this concept, you can work hand in hand with your security provider to design a customized security plan that meets your exact needs and fits within your budget.