Projects in electronic security

By: Henry Rivera*

Every day the business of electronic security has been perfecting, because the requirements of customers are more complex, to the point that the different projects that are being implemented in the field of security have reached such levels that these can be compared with large engineering projects of recent times; regardless of the system that is being implemented or its degree of complexity, it is only intended to bring your projects to fruition no matter how large or small it may be.

Therefore it has been necessary to take advantage of the new disciplines that academia provides, such is the case of Project Management or Project Management, which was a science only applied to large infrastructure or computer technology projects.

In the case of electronic security, it has been found that every day more prepared professionals are sought, with greater knowledge in specialized systems, such as intrusion systems, CCTV, access control, automation and in most cases with a good management of the different integration platforms.

But how good this is, it is valid to specialize engineers or security professionals, only in technical aspects and leave the administrative and managerial issue relegated to the administrative departments of engineering companies. That is why it is necessary to expand the vision of security professionals and give a new direction to the profession of electronic security in terms of projects, turning the previous resident engineers of work, into Project Managers, capable of planning, executing, controlling and closing projects of any magnitude in the area of electronic security.

From this moment I will share part of the knowledge acquired during the last years in the different projects in which I have participated and I will add the most important aspects of my studies in project management, in such a way that the most relevant keys of project management, planning and control techniques or recommendations given by the Project Management Institute (PMI®) are made known. for project management, ensuring that these good practices when applied in electronic security projects bring to fruition all projects that are initiated, in such a way that the expectations of customers are met, which will be our main interested party, also called "Stakeholder".

This will ensure that the projects of the security guild are developed and controlled in an appropriate way, demonstrating that day by day electronic security is a more specialized profession and that it implements new tools, making us more competitive professionals in relation to electronic security projects.

As a basis for the development of the topics of Projects and Project Management we will take as a guide the PMBOOK® 2004, a standard in project management developed by the PMI. In which information and generally accepted practices in project management are documented and standardized.

Without further ado, let's give free rein to this interesting topic of projects and I hope that it will be very useful to you security professionals, as well as to the general public of this magazine.

In turn, every project that is carried out, always obeys three fundamental reasons; these allow to define what will be the objective that will develop who delivers the project.

1. A Need to Satisfy.
2. An Opportunity to Seize.
3. A Requirement to Be Met.

This leads us to generate a great awareness when developing projects, because any project for obeying one of the above reasons will begin as an idea, which has to be developed, matured and executed. Therefore, it needs to be formulated and evaluated, so that it can be subsequently executed.

Project formulation and evaluation
This is one of the most important aspects to take into account because of a premise that has marked me during my last projects, which says that "Everything that starts well, ends well", that is, if the project sells well, is planned well, executes well and ends well it is very safe that it will operate well. This guarantees that all the resources invested in this project will bear fruit later. Since the task was done well.

In the formulation stage you can have different studies which can be applied or not, depending on whether the project is about to be designed or if on the contrary the study is already developed and we only have to execute it.
Below will be described those most relevant studies at the time of formulating a project, which will make you have a better grounded project.

Market Research: Here it is reflected how commercially viable is the product or service that will be obtained at the end of the project. It is applicable for entrepreneurship projects.

Technical Studies: The main aspects that are required at a technical and localization level for the development of the project product are developed.

Environmental Studies: Analyze what impacts the development of a project or its product will generate.

Administrative Studies: It provides the information of the requirement of personnel and resources for the execution of the project or the product.

Cost, Benefit and Investment Studies: It presents in a detailed way what will be the income for the execution of the project or the operation of the product and the behavior of the outflows of money for the project.

Finally comes the Evaluation Stage presents a more defined picture, with respect to the project; because the latest studies are taken (Cost Study) and a series of analyses are carried out to determine whether or not the investment of money to a project is viable; this evaluation is called Financial Evaluation, which will be parameterized with the profitability margins expected by investors.

In some projects a Socio-economic evaluation can take place, it is in those projects where the product will bring benefits to a community in general or a region, for example it may be the case of socio-economic evaluation, by the installation of a CCTV in a city to improve the security of a particular place.

It is good to emphasize that this type of aspects must be taken into account when we carry out projects, in which economic resources of the Government are involved, since these organizations intend to benefit the community in general.

It is highlighted that the formulation and evaluation stages are pre-investment moments and that most of the investment is made in the execution stage. Later, when the product of the project begins to operate, the fruits of the investment will be obtained.

Project vs operation
Another point to be clear to better develop projects is based on learning to differentiate between project and operation, because unfortunately sometimes tends to confuse both terms. This is because projects and operations have some common characteristics:

a.They are made by people.
b.They have to use limited resources.
c.Both are planned executed and controlled.

To the above would arise a question if they have these characteristics in common, what lies the difference? And the answer is simple, the operations are continuous, routine and repetitive and their only purpose is to keep the organization running, while the project has singular efforts with a beginning and an end.

From this moment and after having had a brief introduction to the whole topic of projects, I will begin to exchange my knowledge in projects, management, my experiences and secrets that have helped me to develop well the projects that I have been undertaking in electronic security and automation.

Project Management
To begin with the topic, Project Management is defined as an art in which a set of skills, tools and knowledge of the project are put into practice, with the sole purpose of bringing the development of the project to fruition, that is, fulfilling its requirements.

Who is in charge or responsible for developing project management? Well, this person will be called a Project Manager and that is where each of us will begin to develop that role in Electronic Security.

Key 1: For us to succeed as project managers it is essential to have four terms in mind and put them as pillars for development. These terms are scope, time, cost and quality.

That is to say that to develop a project in an adequate way, it must be taken into account, what is the scope of the project, that is, what will be the final product to be delivered after the project has been executed.

Second, in what time the project should be developed. Remember that the projects are temporary, they do not last forever and we will have a time limit for their development.

Finally, the cost. It will determine what resources you have to develop the project, as we saw above the projects have limited resources, but they are necessary for their execution.

Quality is the characteristic of the project that is affected at the moment any of the above variables change, and in turn is a reference parameter that the client has to determine their satisfaction with the project.

The balance between scope, time and cost is called a triple constraint. It is mandatory to comply with this triple restriction but it is not a straitjacket because these can vary positively or negatively, since these factors can be affected by the risks of the project.

This project life cycle is a fundamental part of the matrix for the project management of the PMI®, with these processes the project management is developed. These will be developed later as you delve into the topic, for the time being we will only list them.

1. Initiation Processes.
2. Planning Processes.
3. Execution Processes.
4. Control Processes.
5. Closing Processes.

To finish and apply all this information to a project, we will develop a hypothetical case, in which most of the ideas made in each article can be broken down, with the advantage that this will always be the same and edition after edition we will go deeper into it to apply all this information to the maximum.

Hypothetical case
The IN-SEGURA Company has found that on certain days the feeling of insecurity increases and its employees remain afraid of being assaulted, therefore it requires reinforcing the security of the sector. Since this company is located in a sector very far from the city center, they can not always have support from local security agencies. For this reason it was decided to undertake a project for the installation of a camera system for the surroundings of the factory facilities, this requirement must be made in less than 45 days since the insurance company will make a visit where they will renew the policies and give you a special discount according to the latest security measures implemented and a survey they will carry out with their employees. For this project, $6 million (about US$ 3 thousand) will be allocated for the implementation of this project.

Because the board of directors is very interested in the subject, it proposes to appoint as project manager Mr. Julio Rojas, a professional in charge of the company's security, who has always had a concern for electronic security and its different practical solutions.

Analysis of the case
- As we can see, this is a project that is born from two reasons to implement a project, the first a need to satisfy: to increase the sense of security of its employees; and the second an opportunity to take advantage of: obtain the discount offered by the insurer for implementing new security measures.

- As the project is not formulated, it will require a series of studies to be able to propose the development of the project well. The Studies to be carried out are the following: Technical Study, Administrative Study and Cost Study.

For the first study, the analysis of the elements to be installed, the technical requirements and technical specifications of the equipment, the areas where the equipment will be installed and its configuration will be carried out. In short, the technical aspect of the project, where most of the security professionals are experts.

The next study is the Administrative, which shows the requirement of personnel that is needed both for the execution of the project and for the operation of the CCTV system to be installed. Here we can list the technicians or operator that are required for the handling of the cameras.

The last study will be the costs, in which a detailed analysis of the different costs incurred in the installation will be made, among others we highlight equipment, materials, labor, unforeseen events, and taxes, this study must take into account that we have a previously approved budget.

Next, the triple restriction of project management will be developed, since Mr. Rojas will have to analyze the scope of his project, the time to execute it and the cost of it. It is important to be very clear about what the quality expected by the board of directors will be, in such a way that all expectations are met.

- Scope: Install a CCTV of eight (8) cameras of which seven (7) are fixed, one is a mobile dome. It will be installed with UTP wiring and gutter attached to the wall. The location will be in the eight (8) key areas, according to the security study previously conducted. The viewing of the cameras will be done with a recording equipment located in the security office.

- Time: The execution time will be 45 days from the moment the project is authorized by the board of directors, This authorization will be made by means of a Project Charter (this document will be explained in the next article).

- Cost: The cost will be $6 million (about US$3 thousand), and this budget will include the purchase of equipment, installation materials, labor and other elements required for the set-up and operation of the CCTV system.

Finally, we will determine the life cycle of the project and the operation of the product. Its cycle begins from the moment the project authorization is generated and ends the moment the project manager delivers the CCTV system working, according to the specifications requested and obtained from our technical study. From this moment the project is considered closed and the operation of the product begins, which for our case will be the operation of the CCTV.

For the next editions, clear examples will be developed of how management processes develop and are intertwined with the nine areas of knowledge, which are the second component of the matrix for project management, according to the guidelines of the PMI®.

*Henry Rivera is the manager of Centinel Seguridad.