23 PUB. 12 2022 ISSUE 2 Developing an Electronic Security Equipment Lifecycle Roadmap and Program Another trend is the partnership between facilities, security, and information technology to collaborate on the development of electronic security equipment business requirements. The business requirements drive the selection of equipment for acquisition by the financial institution. Including lifecycle replacement program planning into the process adds tremendous value and efficiency. Begin by developing an equipment database by location. The equipment database will help to determine where existing equipment, based on the age of the equipment, fits into the equipment lifecycle. The database should include the equipment manufacturer, the number of security equipment components, location inside or outside the facility, install date of the equipment, and the vendor that completed the installation. The database also allows you to perform annual analysis ahead of the budget cycle to plan for the consistent replacement of equipment that has reached the end of life. If your financial institution plans multiple years ahead, the database provides the information necessary to project annual budgets years in advance. One of the best ways to gather information for populating the database is to have your contracted service vendors complete an equipment questionnaire when they perform annual preventative maintenance. This approach reduces the costs of time and travel. The next step is to determine the lifecycle of each component. A common target is five years for electronic security equipment. Some financial institutions may choose to integrate branch or administrative facility risk into the end-of-life decision criteria. An example would be higher-risk facilities—data centers, cash vaults, and branches with higher crime history— that are first in line to receive end-of-life replacements at five years. Another component of the lifecycle program is a list of approved electronic security products that meet or exceed the financial institution’s cyber standards in addition to the business requirements. A semi-annual or at least annual review of your approved products is recommended to make sure you are spending available electronic security equipment budget dollars on equipment that performs to your standards for the present and future. If a component or components no longer perform to standards and updates are not readily available, it is time to find a different product that does meet or exceed your standards, rather than adopt a constant “like-for-like” or a complete system “rip and replace” all equipment strategy. The lifecycle replacement process enables financial institutions to infuse their security systems annually with current components as older equipment reaches end-of-life. One emerging method of managing your electronic security equipment lifecycle program is an alternative to the typical purchase and five-year depreciation ownership model. For a smaller up-front cost and fixed monthly fee, there are trusted vendors that supply electronic security equipment that meets or exceeds your business and cyber standards for as long as you keep the agreement in place. Increasingly, organizations have found that equipment ownership is no longer an effective strategy for them, based on the value of the equipment at end-of-life and ever-advancing technology offering new features faster than ever before. Electronic Security Equipment Can Do More Keeping electronic security equipment refreshed at endof-life, cyber protected, and high performing is not easy. Funding for electronic security equipment competes with all other financial institution expenditures. Traditional customer-facing systems are often prioritized over electronic security equipment in the competition for limited funds. Others may view electronic security equipment as customerfacing based on the protection these systems provide members and employees. Modern electronic security equipment can do much more than in the past. Camera analytics such as heat mapping can monitor member activity within public areas of the branch for marketing and customer experience analysis. A robust lifecycle replacement program can benefit your financial institution by maintaining equipment that protects the traditional methods and adds additional value in non-traditional ways as technology continues to rapidly evolve. w
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