Larry McEvoy really digs his job. His firm, CONSOL Energy, a leading diversified energy company, helps generate two-thirds of the nation’s power supply, responsible for mining more high-quality bituminous coal than any other U.S. producer as well as the largest gas producer in Appalachia.
Back in October, I was speaking as part of a panel discussion when someone asked about the role security issues should play when an organization is entering into a joint venture. It’s an interesting question and an area where I’ve had some experience.
So what if Jose Ruano and Steve Weatherly were “blown away,” in Weatherly’s own words, by megapixel cameras. But that wasn’t really justification for a hard-nosed business decision when it came to a next generation of security video technology at the University of Miami, located in Coral Gables in south Florida.
Evan Dabby knows soccer. He also knows security. As Senior Director of Operations for Major League Soccer, he oversees security, game and medical operations and team travel for all MLS teams and venues. He is the stadium operations lead for MLS Special Events, such as the All-Star and Cup games.
In today’s surveillance market we exceedingly judge ourselves by the number of megapixels of a camera. However, when trying to display all of those pixels the reality gets lost. This didn’t stop Avigilon from recently announcing plans for their 29MP camera, and it became apparent that our market is going to continue to run toward megapixel technology regardless of the practical usage.
The biggest advances in electronic security, in the past, came after World War II and the Vietnam War. No doubt, homeland security efforts and America’s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan have also spurred technology advances. However, what happens in consumer electronics is more influential to the technology and pricing when it comes to enterprise security solutions.
I’ve written previously about the need to embrace our corporate or institutional culture and the language of business into enterprise physical security. All too often, we practical folks engaged in the day-to-day operations of our departments dismiss these concepts as superfluous or mere hoops to jump through to please some higher authority. As I’ve been known to preach about, regularly, is the need to market our services to our customers, both internal and external. One “corporate speak” method of marketing our work with the value added benefit of guiding our decision making is in the form of value statements.
As Cloud Computing becomes the new platform for many aspects of our lives, from Google Mail to iTunes to banking and more, the discussion specific to security tends to focus on the What. It may be helpful to look at the Why.
In last month’s column, we argued that the next generation of security leaders will be challenged more than previous leaders to run their function as a business; they will be expected to align with the organization and build value through security. As they work toward these goals, they will also be faced with new risks, some of which have the potential to escalate at a stunning pace.
