Monday November 2, 03:44 AM

Source: Indian Express Finance

'Security solutions don't need heavy IT infrastructure'

By Vikram Chaudhary
Till the last decade, the physical security at software behemoth Microsoft Corp was not an integrated sustainable programme. There were multiple security groups within each region and country managing security. In short, there was a need, especially after 9/11, to maintain physical safety for the company. That was actually the building block of Microsoft Global Security. We direct physical security technology design, development, and integration for the corporate enterprise, says its senior director, Brian Tuskan. He joined Microsoft in 2000 after serving eight years primarily as a major crimes detective with the Redmond police department, where he specialised in high-tech crime, computer intrusion, crimes against persons, narcotics and fraud investigations. According to him, concerns on the physical security side of enterprises in India is increasing. In a recent chat with Vikram Chaudhary, he demystifies the myths surrounding enterprise securty and measures needed to plug the loopholes. Excerpts: Security is high on Indian enterprises agenda this year. Are they doing it right? We have heard from a lot of government officials and state agencies that the concern on the physical security aspect side of any company is increasing. We saw that thing in the US before 9/11. A lot of federal agencies never shared information with local governments or agencies. So, there was compartmentalisation of information. That s the kind of recurring challenge in the industry also. So there is all the more need for physical security now. Till a few years ago, the physical security at Microsoft was not an integrated sustainable programme throughout the globe. There were multiple security groups within each region and country managing security; there were silos and compartmentalisation of security. So there was a need, especially after 9/11, to maintain physical safety for Microsoft. That was actually the building block of Microsoft Global Security. What are the biggest challenges facing Microsoft Global Security today? Microsoft Global Security oversees physical security/ life-safety, field operations services for global campuses, operational incident management, emergency response plan execution, as well as special event security for global corporate sales and marketing business groups. We direct physical security technology design, development, and integration for the corporate enterprise; global security operations centre technology development and life-cycle management; and corporate investigations, threat management and workplace violence mitigation. I serve as public safety liaison with executive staff and law enforcement and oversee development, incubation and demonstration of the use of Microsoft, and Microsoft partner technologies in delivering comprehensive and cost-effective physical security solutions on a global scale. We are basically a cost centre. So what is the difference between Microsoft Global Security and Microsoft Public Sector and National Security? Microsoft Public Sector and National Security group is basically a part of the sales and marketing team that help integrate solutions with clients and customers, while we are an internal group that has taken a lot of strategies and frameworks developed by the Microsoft Public Sector and National Security team and implemented within Microsoft. Rather we are their first and best customer. Our connection is that Microsoft Public Sector and National Security uses our centres as a global showcase. How does your India centre compare with other centres? We have three global security operations centres (GSOCs) located at Redmond (US), Thames Valley (UK) and Hyderabad (India). The functioning of GSOCs is that it is basically a commanding control centre. It is a kind of anchor and security hub of the Microsoft for physical security. GSOCs monitor, communicate and coordinate responses for more than 700 Microsoft sites worldwide, along with their approximately 1,86,000 active personnel access accounts, 11,000 access card readers, 10,000 video cameras connected to 850 IP addressable digital video recorders, and 330 fire panels. These sites also include more than 5,000 other devices, including duress alarms, biometric security systems and environmental alarms. The centres leverage out-of-the-box solutions such as Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, suite of applications from InfoPath and Microsoft Office, Communicator etc. We also use geo-spatial mapping through Bing Maps. Things that most people know about in a business application, we use them in the most extraordinary way to manage our business. Our people essentially maintain life safety for Microsoft. The functioning of the India centre is to manage all of the physical security signals, alarms, cameras, biometric etc for all Asian facilities for Microsoft. What are the solutions developed by you? Do you share your solutions with other corporations? The solutions are a conglomerate of many pieces of technology that Microsoft develops and sells to the general public. So, we didn t develop anything special for security. We have simply taken what they develop as business applications and put it in the global security environment to manage mission critical operations. And where we see the synergies in the public sector and what we are doing in the private security; a lot of things that we are doing are much more advanced that what you see in the public sector, so, we do go and demonstrate how public sector and private security can better their operations by using the strategies that we develop. The solutions that we develop aren t highly technical; they are configured, not customised. What I mean by configured is that you take the applications and configure to your needs, and that s what we have done. So, we didn t need a heavy IT infrastructure to build the actual operational solution that we have today. What are the business benefits of an arm like yours? There are many business benefits. Labour reduction, for instance, if you use event-based monitoring and use technology for precision response, you don t need to have a guard at every door. You can remotely monitor the area using signal management. So if an event occurs, it ll trigger a signal and an operator at GSOC anywhere in the world can determine through digital video capture precision response as to what needs to be done; do we need to send a security officer, do we call the police, or do we send the fire department to the site? So, reduction of labour is one of the many business benefits. Other thing is the speed to respond to an event (because of the integration), which is much higher than what a physical security can provide. In a line, it is reduced cost and improved security. For Microsoft, the business benefits are that by showcasing the solutions, we are earning revenue for the corporation. You bring in a client, which may be a Fortune 500 company or a government agency, and when they see how we work, how we have put all the pieces together, they show interest in our solutions and we help them with consultants and integrators to help build specific solutions for them. So the business benefit for Microsoft is that a cost centre becomes a virtual profit centre.