Best of GSX 2023: The Business of Security

Effectively implementing security initiatives lies in efficiently managing projects. Security professionals need to manage organizational objectives, executive buy-in, and project scope and budget in order to be successful.

This Best of GSX package contains 4 recordings that give you practical advice to improve the outcomes of your security projects.

This package includes:

• Increasing the Likelihood of Security Proposal Approval by Effectively Communicating Through “The Language of Business” 

  To be an effective leader within an organization, one must understand best practices. A necessary, yet difficult, best practice to master is fluent communication of the “language of business” (e.g., the interplay of accounting and finance) when making funding requests. However, mastery of this best practice can significantly increase a proposal’s likelihood of receiving funding. How do you gain fluency in the language of business and what elements are most important to security professionals? This presentation will address the key topics you need to master to better communicate your security-related goals to executives within your organization, as well as how you can obtain buy-in from these executives to complete your objectives.

• Security Project Cost Estimation—How, When, and Why to Complete One for Your Project 

  Security project cost estimation is critical to a final decision as to whether a project proceeds or is shelved. During this session, we will describe what is involved with the development of a complete cost estimate for a project and at what stages of the project the estimate should be completed. We will discuss what costs should be included in the cost estimate, both tangible (products) and intangible (professional services) and how these costs are affected by the overall project development. The session will address value engineering and how to properly value engineer a project. And finally, we will demonstrate how to develop a return on investment to support the construction budget and obtain project approval.

• Securing a Budget: A Case Study in Applying ESRM to Support Security Investments 

  Many companies utilize assessments of their facilities as a means to identify security vulnerabilities that need corrective action.  Some go the next step of completing a risk assessment and may score the building’s risk for comparison with other locations in a corporate facility portfolio. This case study will highlight how these two methodologies were combined to produce an intuitive risk matrix that is easy for corporate leaders to use. The matrix provides cost estimates for individual improvement recommendations to aid in deciding where limited investment dollars are needed most, and how needed improvements can be spread over multiple years. This is an interactive presentation with time for audience questions and discussion.

• Mapping Security Back to the Business

  More than ever, physical security leaders are being asked to do more with less (or more with the same) to optimize their security programs and deliver results. This means that security leaders will see a trend toward leveraging existing hardware and software to find ways to optimize programs and solidify cost savings. Across security operations, the industry is already seeing a shift toward the consolidation of data from point solutions. Layered with artificial intelligence, automation, and cloud-based functionality, data is being used in new ways to benefit the business' bottom line.

  This panel of security practitioners delves into how security leaders can keep a flat budget, while continuing to make advances in their security programs. The panel of industry experts and practitioners will discuss ways to optimize programs and find cost savings including taking advantage of advances in technology and data consolidation; utilizing existing hardware and software with layered intelligence to make better decisions; and using available resources more effectively and exploring options for using technology such as cloud-based services and automation to further increase capabilities, streamline processes, and increase efficiency.