Afew years ago I had the honor and privilege to give the keynote address at ISC West and was subsequently asked to repeat that address at ISC East. The focus of these two keynotes zeroed in on one of the biggest disconnects in the security industry. At the heart of these presentations, two separate and distinct elements of the security technology sector were featured… security product and technology manufacturers and integrators that design, install maintain security systems. After recently completing an assessment of security measures deployed at a major global corporation’s manufacturing facility, it prompted me to renew my call to change the manner in which these two key elements of the security sector operate.
“Build it, and they will come” has been the mantel under which security technology developers and manufacturers have operated for decades. That might have worked well in the Kevin Costner movie “Field of Dreams,” but that is not what security executives expect of those who are developing products to meet the demands of an increasingly complex security environment. One of the key points I made in my keynote and I am repeating here is that manufacturers must understand the risk environment that security executives operate in better than they do… and then produce products that meet the complex risk, regulator and compliance environment in which their customers operate.