Alexandria, VA (July 27, 2003) – Since 9/11, security has held the top spot on many organizations’ priority lists. But how can upper management tell if the security function is really working? ASIS International (ASIS), the leading provider of educational security resources worldwide, has released Measuring Security Performance and Productivity, by Richard B. Cole, CPP, which goes a long ways toward helping to determine that answer.
Cole’s 30 years in security, 20 of which have involved the designing, developing, and executing of personnel protective service programs in the U.S. and twenty-two foreign countries, are evident in the scope of the book.
It is clear that complacence over past performance, to the degree that testing existing security systems and processes is not done, will almost certainly result in failure. An even greater threat of failure is not acknowledging that the security function has the same requirements for productivity as any of the corporation’s other functions. Security practitioners are expected to provide both hard proof of the value of the security function and clear and convincing evidence of a state of readiness.
Every chapter in this book provides concrete measurement tools, and offers techniques for aligning the goals of the security program with the goals of the corporation. There is information on budgeting, identifying hard and soft measurements, the use of problem-solving tools, and a benchmarking questionnaire. This text is a must for any organization striving to achieve the objectives of better performance and improved productivity.
To purchase books, go to http://www.asisonline.org/store/search.xml, or call ASIS Member Services at 703-519-6200. Item number 1536; $40/members, $52/nonmembers.
