The first half of 2014 has been especially important for ALAS. Not only because it was a period of consolidation for a new work team, after some important changes, and the materialization of our Brazil chapter; but because we began to fully fulfill an important goal that we set ourselves at the beginning of the year: to modernize our courses.
The WINGS courses, as planned for this year with the realization of 73 courses, have started on the right foot and we are pleased by the enormous reception they have had, registering 278 attendees to 17 courses between January and May. We have also reached the number of 30 instructors throughout the Latin American region and this figure is growing and updating.
For this year we have retained our portfolio of courses but we have made an important effort to update the contents of the courses of CCTV 1 and 2, Access Control 1 and 2, Alarms level 1 and we have implemented the course of IP Networks and Wireless Networks with new content acquired since 2013.
And something very outstanding, for the orientation we want to give to our courses, is that we have re-launched the successful Project Management course, with new content oriented to the current needs of the guild and the specific needs of end users and the market. (Read Germán Cortés' column in this same section about this renewed course.)
For the second semester we have a complete offer of courses and new instructors who will come to update the message and the method of learning for our thousands of students throughout the region. We invite you to be very aware of this information that we are sending permanently via email, social networks and our different ways of contact.
Project Management in Electronic Security: a need of the sector
By Germán Cortés, ALAS Instructor and General Manager Insetrón
For some time we have been insisting on the positive change that is achieved in the Electronic Security guild in Latin America, when the professionalization of its human resources is achieved; improving knowledge bases, appropriate processes, adjustment to regulations and efficient practices.
One of the most important objectives is to free ourselves from that improvisation – routine, continuous and imperceptible – of the processes we carry out to perform daily tasks in any facility. When looked at in detail, they turn out to be too informal, creating chaos, cost overruns, unforeseen events and inefficiency.
The proper planning of an electronic security project, starting even in its commercial stage, is essential to be expeditious, efficient, effective and obtain better dividends in our companies.
Properly managing a technology project is a function not only of the managerial or administrative part. It is not an issue that concerns only the engineer in charge, as much of the guild considers, but has multiple scopes at a technical and commercial level; therefore, the entire work team should at least understand the methodology created for Electronic Security Systems and contribute to the improvement of the processes that manage to bring the project to the expected end.
In the courses we teach with ALAS, I have met technicians who consider that the commercial issue is not for them, or with sellers who do not pay attention to the technical processes because it does not concern them. In the same way technicians, engineers and salespeople, believe – erroneously – that project management is for the manager of the company or the engineer responsible and not for them.
Knowing methodologies to manage a technology project is the duty of all members of the work team because they must understand the internal processes and adapt to them. Electronic security projects are basically done with humans.
Learning from project management is understanding how processes are cyclical, going through all the officials of the company. Therefore many times a part of the company makes considerable efforts that are lost because someone in another department did not do their job properly.
Project Management methodologies seek to logically order processes and take into account most important aspects, so that we do not forget. Normally everything goes as expected, when there is planning and order. No deception, no sacrifices and no unforeseen events that cost a lot of money.
When the entire team knows exactly what to do, the work almost always becomes easier, more agile and with fewer errors. That's not to say that everyone should be a project manager, they just now understand the "ship's captain" better and help get him to the destination port faster. If along the way there are "storms", there is a better knowledge of how to react in time and resume the "course".
The analogy serves to understand that although not all crew members are the captain of the ship, everyone knows what to do, how and when to do it. It is known that there are rules, schedules, responsibilities, autonomy and all that generates an accurate reaction capacity, in case of unforeseen events.
Managing a technology project seeks precisely that all salespeople, technicians, engineers, secretaries, assistants, installers, suppliers, subcontractors and management staff, know perfectly what to do, when to do it, where to do it, how to do it and communicate properly to have a record of the entire project in a synchronized way and to be able to react appropriately in case of abnormal situations.
One of the best known methodologies of Project Management is the one disseminated by the PMI (Project Management Institute), in which the phases are:
- Beginning.
- Planning.
- Execution.
- Supervision.
- Ending.
Having in mind aspects such as: scope, time, cost, human resources, quality, risks, communications, purchases and the interaction between all of them.
Other methodologies, such as CobIt, Six Sigma, ITIL, BICSI and Prince2 suggest important aspects to take into account when we talk about processes in technology projects. In which, for example, we discover that the project starts from the moment of designing and selling it and not when the contract is signed. In the same way, it is revealed that the process ends with adequate maintenance plus technical support and not when the delivery certificate is signed.
The intention of this article is to indicate to the guild that there are many things that we can improve, when we follow the existing strategies to plan our projects well and avoid looking bad with the end user or sacrificing the profits of our companies, simply because of the informality of our actions.
WINGS has a renewed course that talks specifically about the processes and essential aspects in electronic security projects. I recommend that you take it in the company of the largest number of members of your work team, so that you get the most out of it.
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