Brendan McGarrity, the company's Head of Risk & Design, says ticking boxes to meet legal, regulatory or compliance obligations is a commonplace but self-defeating practice within the security industry, as "there are clear advantages and true benefits to be realised from good governance."
He also notes certain sectors, such as the pharmaceutical or high-tech electronics industries, embrace quality readily, and realise the benefits such an approach can bring, but others are less willing until an event that obliges them to see and think differently.
Singling out the UK's Surveillance Camera Commissioner (SCC) as an interesting case, McGarrity highlights the example of a major retailer who sought SCC accreditation purely because it recognised the benefits of doing so, when he says:
"The business was not obliged to have SCC accreditation; it did not need to tick a box. It did so to demonstrate genuine leadership and strategic influence across the sector. The senior stakeholders were engaged and found to be suitably impressed, and their brand and reputation enhanced among stakeholders and customers alike. It also realised the commercial and operational benefits that SCC compliance could bring, benefits that far outweighed the costs not least an increase in Public confidence in the way the systems were operated and managed.
"Though such compliance was not essential to their business, neither was it required to meet any regulatory obligations, they saw it as a business enabler, and one that gives them competitive advantage."
Unfortunately many high-end integrators continue to see good governance as an opportunity to put distance between themselves and volume-based installers who are perhaps less focused on building long-term relationships and fail to recognise its clear commercial advantages.
