The Importance of Holistic Security
As technology and business practices change, there are many ways businesses can become more effective and efficient. David Ward explains how this applies to security as much as any other aspect of business.
Integrated and flexible should be the bywords for all businesses in the 21st century, and for good reason. As any business will understand only too well, the world is evolving at a rapid pace, and businesses that fail to recognise this will be at a huge disadvantage.
The last few decades have seen an incredible evolution in how we do business. From the remarkable rise in digital and communications technologies, through to the ways customers and clients interact, things have changed, and generally, these changes have been for the better. Not only are there more efficient ways to communicate, sell, manage and organise, but there are clear opportunities to use these changes to be more efficient as a business.
This applies as much to security as any other aspect of business.
Within the realms of security service delivery, digital and communications technologies have empowered security suppliers to develop a more effective and efficient offer to customers. It is now relatively easy to develop a bespoke suite of solutions to perfectly match any requirements or challenges that the customer faces.
By tying together the different aspects of security – physical boots-on-the-ground, advanced CCTV and other technologies, reception services – and through the comprehensive support that technology and communications offers, there really is no reason why any business or organisation should not have the perfect security solution in place.
However, security, like insurance, is one of those things which is only truly valued when it is needed most, or when there is an emergency. Yet a perfect security stance that mixes and matches technology, personnel and deterrents should ideally mean those emergencies are avoided. The downside of course is that it becomes so effective that security is underappreciated. That’s the irony. The better the security solution, the less it is appreciated.
A holistic security solution will mean different things according to the situation. And this is where the security industry has an ongoing job to do in ensuring the customer’s situation is perfectly assessed and understood, and the resulting suite of solutions matches their requirements. There can, by definition, be no one-size-fits-all solution. Such a concept is illogical.
Some sites might require a heavy onus on technology and remote monitoring, while others might need a more physical presence.
At the same time, remote monitoring and sensing technology is evolving and improving at such a pace that it can, in many cases, take the place of physical boots-on-the-ground, especially when communications technology enables a rapid response to any detected incidents.
These technologies not only empower the security supplier, they also offer considerable savings to be offered to the client. An investment in a well-planned, installed and managed technology suite will deliver the effectiveness needed by the client, but at a lower cost than a scattergun and poorly conceived security solution.
In the modern age, it is the responsibility of the security supplier to explain to the client how a well-planned and managed bespoke solution will not only better serve them, but will save them money.
