by Ray Bernard PSP, CHS-III
May-Jun 2017
Long overdue, there is finally a security event where security design consultants and engineers can put their heads together with leading manufacturers, to address security design challenges and get up-to-date on the details of security technology innovation, as well technology current and future directions.
Q: Given the rapid pace of technology change and evolving client risk pictures, what’s the best conference for getting insights of value to security design consultants?
A: The CONSULT 2017 Technical Security Consultant Symposium is the first such event, being held October 21 – 24 in San Antonio, Texas by SecuritySpecifiers.com.
Limited to 100 attendees, this invitation-only event is the place for consultants to absorb knowledge, sharpen skills, and enhance capabilities to better perform our security consulting and design mission.
Key topics include:
- What are your cyber risks?
- Creating better designs and better specs.
- Lessons learned from actual case studies.
- Where is technology heading, and how does it affect you?
- Leveraging your available resources.
- Industry’s direction and challenges.
- Lessons learned case studies.
Focus on Knowledge, Needs and Insights
The select group of technology vendors will come ready to discuss company direction and technology roadmaps. This is not a “selling” event. There are no booths or displays. Manufacturers will discuss where they’re headed and will be open to hear your input. This is a chance to help guide their future thinking.
Attendees can earn up to 15 credits for CPP, PSP and CSPM certifications.
Interactive Sessions
There are general sessions on technology direction and cyber security, manufacturer round table sessions to improve how well consultants and manufacturers are in sync. Breakout sessions will present case studies for discussion and analysis. There are design approach sessions to update yourself on the status of interoperability standards, system hardening approaches, and end-to-end system design utilizing cloud-based applications.
Designing for the Future Security Operations Needs
Experts from the Construction Specifications Institute will provide insights into specification writing techniques, coordination issues and available resources and certifications. You can learn about Division 28 proposed changes to MasterFormat 2018, and what’s happening with MasterSpec.
Submit for the Design Project Award
The Elliot A. Boxerbaum Memorial Award has been established to recognize a consulting or engineering company which designed and specified a completed an outstanding security design project, accepted by the client in 2016. All entries will be judged around the following criteria:
- Collaboration: with end-user, architect and integrator
- Scope: nature of project, geographic and technical factors, breadth of consultant involvement
- Challenges: during design, big and implementation
- Innovation: uniqueness and creativity elements of the project
- Results: how were budget, schedule and project objectives met?
Entries must be submitted by May 26, 2017 (application available here).
Peer Networking
One of the most valuable benefits of this conference will be the opportunities to collaborate with consulting peers who have similar challenges and objectives to our own. I’m looking forward to the event and I hope to see you there.
Write to Ray about this column at ConvergenceQA@go-rbcs.com. Ray Bernard, PSP CHS-III, is the principal consultant for Ray Bernard Consulting Services (RBCS), a firm that provides security consulting services for public and private facilities (www.go-rbcs.com). He is the author of the Elsevier book Security Technology Convergence Insights available on Amazon. Mr. Bernard is a Subject Matter Expert Faculty member of the Security Executive Council (SEC) and an active member of the ASIS International member councils for Physical Security and IT Security. Follow Ray on Twitter: @RayBernardRBCS
© 2017 Ray Bernard