SECURITY
A ROBUST STRATEGY IS THE BEST POLICY
Mark Langworthy, Emprise’s Managing Director of Security, offers some advice and insights into how a strong strategic approach can cut cost and reduce risk.
There is no question that security is vital for business continuity. An effective security strategy can reduce both costs and risk and help to avoid the impact of getting it wrong, which can damage both the reputation and brand of an organisation as well as its bottom line.
As security becomes more important in today’s world and, due to technology being more sophisticated, delivering efficient and effective security management is becoming increasingly complex.
Security can be seen as a cost rather than an investment. However, its impact on brand, reputation and morale is a means of contributing to the company’s financial success.
As with most organisations, monitoring costs is a priority but this needs to be done without compromising the security on-site.
When people do not feel safe at work then productivity can fall and staff turnover increase; and if visitors have a negative experience, this can influence how your organisation is seen.
Many companies fail to recognise the impact of negative perceptions both off and on-line. With social media identified as a real risk for a business, damage to your reputation can be instantaneous.
By taking an integrated approach to security, organisations can add value. Having a physical presence on-site can often prevent a crime before it happens and cut the time taken to react to a situation, whilst technology can act as a deterrent as well as provide evidence.
Security personnel can often be the professional face of the company and
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welcome visitors. They can also help to prevent unauthorised routes into a building and help maintain health and safety standards.
By aligning security strategy with business strategy, companies have the opportunity to create a competitive advantage. An effective strategy should consider how to best protect an organisation’s assets, including people not just physical and technical assets and infrastructure. This will help to mitigate any risks and establish the number of personnel needed and the level of CCTV.
A security risk assessment will identify threats and vulnerabilities and their effect on business continuity and performance. For example:
• Are there vulnerable areas of an organisation’s site(s)?
• Are they a potential target for terrorism, protestors, theft?
• What information is critical to an organisation’s business?
• Which industries are an organisation and its brand working in? Do these make them a target?
• Are an organisation’s clients a potential target?
• The reputation of an organisation could lead to security issues.
• The type of product or service an organisation provides could also make them a target.
Despite growing demand for technological solutions such as CCTV, remote monitoring and intruder detection, an integrated strategy can work best. For example, security guards could be present during the working week supplemented with remote
monitoring and CCTV out of hours. Security providers can also act as a key holder enabling them to investigate any fire or intruder alarms.
With so much importance being placed on security there is a strong case for firms to outsource their security provision to ensure it is carried out to the highest possible standards.
Specialist security suppliers know how to reduce costs and maintain a great service, as well as bringing an improved Return on Investment and new methodologies. Working in partnership with suppliers can also drive change and innovation leading to increased revenues.
With outsourcing, the responsibility for security lies with the provider. An outsourced security specialist will manage both manpower and remote monitoring functions and be responsible for all training and development.
An effective security strategy can be a successful way of adding value to a business and its brand. Working with a specialist security provider delivers additional value as costs are absorbed by the supplier. Outsourcing also ensures the provider will undertake a full survey and risk assessment based on an organisation’s objectives and expectations and alert them of any security risks.
CASE STUDY A leading university with over 20
sites was facing a number of security challenges: unauthorised entry; health & safety of its students and their welfare were the main areas of concern that needed to be addressed.
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