Every year our team has a great time at GSX, but this year was extra special.
Last week, ASIS International hosted the 2019 GSX Conference in beautiful Chicago! GSX brings together security professionals from around the world for an amazing week of informative sessions, networking and insightful discussions. We had the pleasure of meeting thousands of people throughout the week at our booth. This year, we sent 29 Resolverites to Chicago so that we could network, speak to customers and potential prospects firsthand, and most importantly learn more about trends in the industry.
On the Floor
The experience on the conference floor was amazing. Every morning when the doors opened at 10:00 a.m. there was an obvious buzz in the air of people looking to learn more about the newest tools and services in the security industry. As busy attendees quickly moved around the show floor, the conversations started flowing.
At the Resolver booth specifically, people were drawn to learn more about what we meant by “Risk and Security Management Software” in the large banner at the front of our booth (accompanied by a smiling member of the Resolver team).
Whenever someone walked up and wanted to know more about who Resolver was and what we did, our team went into full swing. The simple version? Resolver enables security professionals to capture, manage and report on incidents. The reporting is where so much of the value comes in for security teams. We heard from countless people that although they understand that what they are doing every day is impacting the overall business, but they want a concrete, data-backed way to prove that. With Resolver, security teams are able to look at their incident data and measure success. Whether that’s reduced response time or identified areas of risk, without this data, they can’t make decisions that impact the bottom line.
Throughout the conference we were excited about the opportunity to really show off our security solution to attendees. Our security solution is made up of Incident and Investigations Management, Security Risk Management and Security Operations Management software. We got great feedback from current and prospective customers about how they are currently managing incidents and the benefits that they saw from implementing a solution like Resolver to not only automate but streamline their current processes. Several Resolverites (many that were actually present at GSX) are former security professionals and/or ASIS members — so much of what is built into our applications comes from the experience and best practices of actual security professionals.
And this showed. We heard from many of the people that we spoke to that Resolver really understood the inner workings of security teams and what mattered most to help them do their jobs better.
In-depth Industry Sessions
As a leader in security, it’s no wonder why thousands of people come to GSX to participate in the amazing sessions! A few of our Resolverites spent the week participating in the interactive sessions. Here are a few of their key takeaways:
- HARD LESSONS LEARNED: The Critical Role of Threat Assessments in Violence Prevention, presented by Matt Doherty.
- Employees should be trained at all levels of the organization to spot and report violence, since co-workers are often the individuals who notice the early indicators. This must include an ability to safely report any early indicator, especially anonymously. Doherty was clear to state that while WAVR21 is one of the best practice Threat Assessment systems available, the system only works as part of a full Workplace Violence Prevention Program that actually receives credible and accurate information submitted by the end-user.
- How Technology Affects Today’s Security Officers presented by Mark Folmer, Eddie Sorells, and Brad Gordon.
- “Backward looking leads to forward thinking”: If you don’t know what has occurred in the past, it will make it very difficult to identify what needs to happen in the future. KPI and SLA data needs to be used in an effective and measured manner to let you know what is happening and how effective it is.
- How ESRM is Making a Difference, presented by Tom Berkery, Dan Funk and Resolver’s very own Jeff Sieben!
- While security is usually considered an expense only department (not profit generating), it is one of the only departments that mitigates risk and actually lowers premiums. When teams have decided on and developed the process to be able to obtain metrics, and security can be truly measured, premiums can often be lowered even further. So from a budget point of view, while security may not ever be able to show earnings, they can show in several areas, a reduction of expense which can drastically change the impression given by a strictly ‘expense’ related department.
- Employees must be trained on how to respond to risks being seen and identified. Risk management starts on an employee’s first day on the job where the organization adopts a holistic culture that is owned by everyone.
- How to Perform a CPTED Site Survey, presented by Art Hushen
- CPTED is an acronym for Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design and is defined as “the proper design and effective use of the built environment that can lead to a reduction in the fear and incidence of crime and an improvement in the quality of life.
- One very important point that was made during this session is that although CPTED has important and useful elements for crime prevention, those elements must be utilized in a holistic realm with other security assessment findings.
Networking & Events
GSX provides so many amazing opportunities to network and meet security professionals from around the world, and this year was no exception. ASIS does a great job of hosting fun events that bring the entire conference together to let loose, enjoy and meet new people. Our team especially enjoyed the 80’s night featuring Rick Springfield!
Perhaps the best part of GSX is getting to engage with our customers. We love hearing what you have to say about Resolver, and learn how you’re leveraging the solution to protect what matters most to your business. We left GSX on a high note. We’re inspired by the conversations we’ve had and can’t wait to show you what else we have in store.
