How Can the Services of the Independent Risk Consultant Be Advantageous to My Company in Understanding Our Security Risk?
Many companies attempt to curb expenditure by having their Security Risk & Threat Assessment conducted in-house or through the Security Company they currently have on contract. Although this may save on the initial expenditure, too many realise too late that their security systems are still not optimal or successful when the company experiences substantial loss due to a criminal attack. There are a multitude of reasons to support having your security audited by an experienced, professional and fully independent Risk Consultant.
Let us review the practice of having the company’s security assessed in-house. Usually this task will fall to the Security Manager or someone within the Security Department of the company. As we are all aware, the duties of the Security Manager are immense. The shoes of the Security Manager are big boots to fill and the task at hand may be too daunting for most. Often when approached to conduct such an audit of the security, the manager may find that he does not have enough time to do so and unintentionally his other many daily, important responsibilities may become neglected as there is simply just not enough time. An external and independent Risk Consultant will assist the Security Manager in this case and will focus his undivided attention fully on the conduction of the Security Threat Assessment. Additionally the independent Risk Consultant has dealt with several similar security problems and the solutions before, and has the necessary knowledge due to unceasing research to provide the best answers for the situation presented and as revealed by the initial investigation process. It has also occurred that due to his close involvement within the company, the Security Manager may not always fully realise the cause of a problem or which internal factors may be influencing the security status negatively.
Often the Security Manager may also attempt to prevent stepping on the toes of another colleague or management and will therefore not always feel he can reveal the full truth of the company’s security status or extent of loss. This is also done so that the position of the Security Manager will not be placed in jeopardy as he may feel management will see him as unable or unfit to fulfill his role within the company. Such an approach may also be taken by Security Companies that may not want management to terminate their contracts due to the status of the security being revealed in full. The advantage the independent Risk Consultant has here is that he does not have the same fears and therefore will have no qualms in presenting the full truth to management. Once the problems involved are explained by the assessment and the decision makers of the company fully understand the situation they will be more willing to provide the allocated funds to fix the problem.
The Independent Risk Consultant offers a service like no other
A common practice by Security Companies to boost sales and to maintain a contract is to provide their clients with an assessment either for free or at a bargain price. Unfortunately this is not a full, proper Security Risk Assessment but rather a Product Assessment. Recommendations provided are limited to and based on the supplies in their inventory and are often predetermined before the inspection of the site has taken place. The goal of such an assessment is to ensure that specific products are purchased as this is the bread and butter of the salesman of the Security Company assessing the property. All threats and weaknesses are not fully exposed and revealed to the client; particularly in the event that the salesman has no product or relevant answer to the problem. The independent Risk Consultant will ensure that all threats are sufficiently addressed and workable solutions are provided for all issues due to extensive and ongoing research.
By Andre Mundell
Written by Andre Mundell