Isaac Valencia, Director of SISSA Monitoring Integral is the Professional of the Month, who told us how his path has been to take the company to where it is currently located.
By Security Sales
Isaac Valencia is the Director of SISSA Monitoring Integral, a Mexican company specialized in the integration of security solutions that has earned a space within the competitive electronic security industry. At 40 years old, we recognize the work of this professional for the sector.
Our guest was born in Mexico City on May 16, 1980, he has a degree in computer science from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, with a postgraduate degree as Director of Business Security at the Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid.
17 years ago Isaac's professional life began within the industry, which began with the development of different traditional access control solutions, which he developed to incorporate more cutting-edge technologies, such as biometric solutions for fingerprint, facial and iris identification.
Later, our Professional began to investigate other areas of security and protection, through projects that needed the implementation of fire detection and mitigation solutions, perimeter protection solutions and solutions related to alarm systems, that is, all kinds of systems that could be incorporated into integration platforms.
"Since I began to venture into the security industry, I have always been interested and busy in the development of technological solutions, which we continue to do to this day and is what has allowed us to consecrate ourselves as integrators of turnkey solutions," explained Isaac, who is now focused on the development of the business rather than that of technological solutions, as it did in its beginnings.
Security Sales: What are your personal challenges, and your next goals to meet?
Isaac Valencia: Now that I have just turned 40, one of my main personal challenges is to pay more attention to the issue of health; if we do not have health, it will be very difficult for us to attend to our daily obligations. Similarly, I find myself mostly focused on my family. For a long time I lived alone, dedicating between 15 and 18 hours a day to my work, which is a great change in my life.
We are always susceptible to accidents or illnesses, however, when starting a family my way of seeing things changed and my priorities were ordered, so today I try to mitigate all kinds of risks, mainly in terms of safety and health.
My personal goals are related to the fact of having more energy in my day to day to successfully meet all the challenges that arise; and as for the professional, my main objective is to consolidate and grow all the businesses that we have opened these last two years.
VDS: What challenges do you face as a professional from the point of view of the relationship with employees and collaborators?
Isaac: I am certain that the most important factor for the success that SISSA has achieved is its human capital. The knowledge and skills that each of the people of this company have developed, hand in hand with a correct coordination and direction, is the main source of all the results we have obtained.
VDS: What do you think are the reasons for your recognition in this market?
Isaac: What can be seen today about SISSA from the outside is the result of many years of hard work. When you undertake, when you try to consolidate an idea, at first no one believes you; however, when over time you manage not only to meet expectations, but you stay at high levels of service and with high quality products, you begin to obtain recognition and, in turn, generate some capital of knowledge in the sector, which can only be achieved with perseverance, perseverance, time and work. In this way, your personal professional experiences become the experiences of a company.
VDS: What has been the evolution that the industry has had in Mexico in the years you have been working in it?
Isaac: Contemplating since 2002 or 2003, when I had my first approaches in a professional way to electronic security issues, until today, the reality is that the panorama has changed a lot, let's say that it has been "professionalized". At that time I witnessed and participated, from a role of implementation and integration, in projects of which I could not understand their design or how it was possible that they had been sold.
Currently, to implement an electronic security project there must be a clear and precise methodology that controls the various aspects that it integrates, including, for example, an executive project, a risk analysis, etc.
In addition, today, around 95% of electronic security devices work through a communication platform or a data network, which has generated that technology professionals gain ground in this type of projects and these are analyzed from a more technological perspective and no longer so much from the perspective of the security professionals of yesteryear.
VDS: How do you see the future of this industry?
Isaac: The fact that a large number of electronic security devices work on a data network leads us to a process of digitization, which has been advanced in Mexico, due to the current situation, practically for two or three years, making the issue of the Internet of Things increasingly real. In turn, these new processes bring new challenges for the security industry, including computer security.
Computer security is gaining more and more ground in the security industry thanks to the risks and threats posed by this digitization process, such as information theft or information hijacking. SISSA Digital, one of the business divisions of SISSA (apart from SISSA Monitoring Integral and SISSA Infrastructure), characterized by its software factory, is focused on the development of solutions aimed at the digital transformation of the different processes of all types of businesses.
Currently, SISSA has the opportunity to work with companies that reside not only in Mexico, but in different parts of the world, such as Miami, Panama, Ecuador, among others, which we have achieved from our main competitive advantage: development of customized technological solutions that meet the specific needs of our business partners.
Anecdote
There are many anecdotes I could tell about my experiences in the field of security, as each project we develop is a story in itself. For example, when we carried out a project that consisted of technologically equipping and putting into operation a prison in Michoacán, they were dates when the group of the so-called Ruana was very active, so, for just over a year, the entire work team had to perform its functions within the facilities of a wall for quite long periods of time, since we were not allowed to leave for safety reasons, which, considering the difficult conditions in which we found ourselves, implied a great commitment on the part of the work team.
What I rescue from this type of experience is how gratifying it is to see that in each of the projects we have carried out we have obtained positive results, regardless of the difficulties that may have been presented to us, resulting in our work endorsing us to access interesting projects.
The Family Side of the Professional
Isaac is married and has two children. He is passionate about football and is a fan of the Cruz Azul team "for as long as I can remember, although in my whole life I have only seen him win a championship," he says.
He also reads technical articles, likes music from ballad to rock, and enjoys travel, even if at the moment he can't because of the pandemic.
Isaac reveals other of his personal characteristics: "I like the ability I have to solve with security and firmness the problems that are presented to me since, although sometimes I am not very clear about the answer to a situation, I have the belief that as long as one does his part, God will also do it. On the other hand, I do not like the way in which my tolerance has decreased over the years, which I attribute to the experience gained about people's actions, about their inexidity; it would be ideal to believe that there is no evil in the world, but unfortunately this is not the case."
"I had a very fortunate childhood. I grew up next to my dad, my mom and I'm the 5th of six siblings, so I've always had someone by my side, which I treasure and value deeply," Isaac concludes.
