Overview
Excaliber Security Services LLC has developed an industry leading solution that offers outsourced security risk management support, business continuity planning, and training services to deliver precisely the right resources when and where they're needed on an affordable, cost managed monthly subscription basis. The model is similar to the one commonly used to provide outsourced payroll, human resources, and facilities management services.
Why Is It Needed?
The challenges facing today's companies, schools, and colleges are far different from those of the past. Many small to medium sized organizations are discovering that they need the services of a well qualified security and emergency management professional, but they can't afford the salary and benefits package required. Until now there have been only two options:
- Pull budget resources from other important areas to fund an internal security management function
- Accept higher risks and incur losses in an attempt to save on fixed costs.
Many organizations in this position choose the second option and delegate security functions as a secondary responsibility to a facilities or human resources professional. That individual usually doesn’t have the education or experience to be effective in this area, and is not at all comfortable with duties and liabilities he knows he (or she) can’t manage effectively on his or her own.
This configuration of responsibilities can work with ready access to professional advisory support, but this critical component is often missing. Without it, the typical results of this strategy are unanticipated losses, poor decisions often based on self serving vendor recommendations, money wasted on unneeded or underperforming technology and equipment, and costly turnover of competent managers who would otherwise stay with the company much longer if their responsibilities did not include security.
Does It Fit Large Organizations?
Large organizations with greater resources and full time internal security professionals face a different challenge. They find that planning and program development requirements come in cycles. These leave the organization with either not enough qualified personnel to meet urgent needs during critical periods such as major building projects and integrated security system implementations, or costly underutilized expertise during others. The result is often an unproductive and destabilizing 2 to 3 year hire / maintain / downsize cycle.
Two Service Delivery Configurations
In an optimized program, deliverables are managed according to the findings of a detailed threat / risk / vulnerability assessment and an agreed upon priority, time and cost schedule matched to the organization’s plans and resources. For example, after an initial assessment an organization might decide that upgrading its emergency action plan is its top priority and engage Excaliber Security Services for 8 hours per month to provide guidance to internal personnel assigned to enhance plan elements in an agreed upon sequence.
Alternatively, at the client’s option, a specific project can be undertaken in the same manner to address a specific identified need such as improving the return on investment for security officer services or designing the card access, CCTV, intercom, and alarm systems for a new construction project. Some companies have even used our consultant services for short term emergency deployments as acting security managers at troubled sites to bring critical situations under control until permanent personnel could be hired and assigned.
Pay Only for What You Need
In any case, clients pay only for the services they use when they use them, and the scale and pace of the work can be ramped up or down each month to accommodate changing business conditions.
Close Partnership with the Management Team
The consultant meets at least once per month with a senior executive within the client company to present deliverables, report progress, discuss upcoming work, and work out any issues or changes to the current plan. During the remainder of the month he works either alone or with designated liaisons to carry out the agreed upon plan within a predictable and closely managed cost and scheduling framework.
Stability and Cultural Integrity
Detailed knowledge of the organization's strategic plans, priorities, and culture is maintained by the consultant who continually provides knowledgeable and experienced counsel for managing the client's security risk exposures, provides specific agreed upon deliverables on a planned timetable, and is accountable for all services to that client. This arrangement preserves organizational knowledge, and provides continuity and stability to the ongoing successful management of security risks at minimal cost and without increasing headcount.
Business Continuity Planning - The Neglected Imperative
 Another dangling sword for organizations of all sizes is that ongoing national and international events have spurred stakeholders to be increasingly concerned about the design and testing of emergency action and business continuity plans. They want to make sure these plans will work in the real world and will actually support the organization during emergencies.
They are justifiably uneasy about corporate compliance with security and emergency planning standards that are poorly understood, and they have no confidence in plans that are never exercised, tested, and improved. Although these issues are often recognized, there is no one in the organization with both the skills and the bandwidth to do the work. The result is that serious vulnerabilities that can threaten the very survival of the organization remain unaddressed.
Traditional Consulting Doesn't Meet These Needs
Traditional consulting resources haven't proven to be a satisfactory solution to these circumstances. Most consulting firms are project oriented and focus on the design and implementation of high dollar technology equipment rather than the ongoing management of security risks. Each new consultant has to engage in a time consuming and expensive learning curve just to come up to speed on the company's needs and culture, and gaps in that knowledge often lead to expensive changes during or shortly after the project. Once the project is concluded, there is usually limited or no access to the consultant's expertise to deal with ongoing or evolving issues, and there is no consultant ownership of long term results. Project deliverables frequently lapse into obsolescence in a short period of time, and a costly new project cycle with additional consulting services is required to bring them up to date.
 Excaliber Security Services' outsourced security management model addresses all of these concerns, and is the ideal solution for many organizations.
We Can Help
Contact Us today to find out how this industry leading program can solve your security headaches without breaking your budget.
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