Commitment to security

By: Santiago Jaramillo H.

In the security industry, sagacity is something almost intrinsic to the professional, but it must be complemented with a series of elements that give added value to this important work, and one of them, definitely, is to be in constant learning.

This is stated by the Argentine José Carlos Degiorgis, who is our guest for the CPP section of the month, when he affirms that to be a good security manager, there is no other way than training, "now more than ever I think that we must lead by example. It's also true that you can't know everything, but you do have to know where to find the right information or who to consult."

According to Degiorgis, private security companies must meet the needs of their customers. One of the most difficult tasks in this relationship is the teaching that is given to them. "Many times customers do not warn the totality of their needs, nor correctly detect their threats and assume that with a guard standing at the door, ready, 'holy remedy', and that is not so. Security is much more than that," says our guest.

José Carlos is definitely an authoritative voice when it comes to talking about this industry, since he has a long experience as an official and general manager of large private security organizations, being responsible for the design and implementation of corporate security projects, executive protection and ensuring continuity of operations in several Latin American countries.

"I have worked hard and for a long time to fulfill my work with professionalism and honesty. From my perspective it's easy to 'sell fear', I've never done it. My clients, both internal and external, know they can trust my observations and recommendations. It is quite simple: honesty, integrity and professionalism are values that cost a lot of work and personal effort, but customers finally recognize and value them, "says this professional of the Argentine industry.

Family and friends, a great incentive
Behind every great man, there is always a group of people who are his complement, and José Carlos Degiorgis definitely found in his family and friends that invaluable support that has helped him to always be in a proactive attitude, in fact, as he himself recognizes, they have given him the best moments in his life.

"My family has grown, I have three grown children (Mariana, Ignacio and Carolina), two of whom are already married and with children, which makes me have five grandchildren (Florencia, Sofía, Camila, Joaquín and Martina). I like golf and the course, but fundamentally to share very good moments with my excellent group of friends," he emphasizes.

On the other hand, Degiorgis affirms that the challenges in the security industry are increasingly greater due to different factors, such as the insecurity suffered by most cities in Latin America, which is why the challenge is currently greater.

"In my opinion, today's security permanently challenges those of us who are convinced that technology is an important part of current designs, that transfer of experience to employees and the feed back we receive is a very important part of the interpersonal relationship," he says.

"I think the concentration of the industry as we are seeing it will continue to rise. Customers need to have support from the security companies they hire, the labor laws in our countries have a very marked protectionist profile of the employee, and consequently the responsibility of the contractor in conflicts is very strong, so more and more providers with wide backs are sought to avoid subsequent problems. Here we can apply the 'Cheap is expensive'", says our guest.

In what has to do with the evolution of the industry, this CPP emphasizes that "it has evolved strongly, and that the need to differentiate itself from companies has made them incorporate technology as a complement to physical security. Without a doubt, the security of our days is technological integration as a complement to physical security and not vice versa."

In the same way, Degiorgis indicates that there is currently an extensive menu of electronic security services with which customers find themselves: "The tendency to concentrate in large smart offices, with central security services, means that companies must make private security designs with stand alone concept complemented by the security of buildings".

Finally, and as a recommendation, our guest highlights that although the security industry is growing in Argentina hand in hand with insecurity, "it is very important that service contractors not only do it for price, but that they can judiciously evaluate their threats and obtain from a security professional the most appropriate solution for their reality".

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Our Cpp of the month
José Carlos Degiorgis was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in May 1948. He began performing tasks of instructor sumariante in the Ministry of Education of Argentina (legal-investigative activity) and then develop tasks of direction in other national agencies of that country.

For more than 20 years he was linked to the activity of private security, developing several projects in different Latin American countries (Chile, Peru and Brazil), ending as general manager of one of the main private security companies in Argentina, until in the crisis of 2001 he decided to retire to start as an independent consultant.

He currently has responsibilities as Senior Regional Manager for South America of a major international pharmaceutical company.

The activity in ASIS International for Degiorgis began many years ago after joining the group that relaunched the Argentina Chapter for the late seventies.

From there he has worked hard in all responsibilities (secretary, vice-chair, chairman, assistant regional vice president, regional vice president and currently SRVP of Group 14 South America) being very committed together with other colleagues to after a long struggle of seven years to get the highest certification for a security professional: the title of CPP, Certified Professional in Protection from ASIS International, could be presented in Spanish.