Duetotheoftenabstractmannerinwhichsecurityisappliedtoanenterpriseâsass ets,determiningstandardsandassociatedcostsistypicallyquitechallengingf oreventhemostexperiencedofcompaniesandtheirprocurementdepartments.Fur thermore,thefinalsenseorachievementofsecurityisunlikelytobetheresul tofanyonedepartmentorserviceanddependentonnumeroussupportingelements ,somefromwithinthecompanyandsomeexternally,toresultinthedesiredobj ective.Itisthereforepuzzlingastowhyacompanythatdoesnotproduceorco mmerciallydistributesecurityproductsandserviceswouldbelievetheywerepro ficientindeterminingthefinancialcostofsuchservicesandiftheyweretoa pplyamarginoferror;believethattheywerewithinamere10-20%oftheprovi derâsprice. Companiesregularlydirecttheirinternaldepartmentstodeterminefair-market-v aluefortheirprescribedsecuritydemands.Somecompaniesalsoengagetheservi cesofconsultantswithallegedexpertisetoassistinthisprocess.Wherethep lanfailsisfromtheveryoutsetwiththemajoritynotevenhavinganyfirstha ndexperienceinrunningsuchcommercialservices,letalonewithinthetermsan dconditionssetbythecompany.Thisexcitesandfrustratesserviceprovidersa sitpresentsaheadachetoeducatethecompanyorandopportunitytoprofitfro mtheirhubrisorignorance.Furtheramplifiedindevelopingmarketswhereless scrupulousvendorsaboundoroperateunregulated. Atthepinnacleofthisphenomenaarethosecompaniesthatapplyatechnicaland commercialselectioncriteria.Theirfirststagepresentsgrosslylimitingcrit eriasuchasminimum3yearsoperatingwithinthatsector,priorsectorexperien ce,specifiedofficelocations,setemployeenumberandsoon.Thisallbutremo vesanypossibilityofcompetitionwithinmarketsoutsideofthemostdeveloped ofcountries.Thesecondstagethenhingesonalltheerrorsaccumulatedbythe companyandtheiradvisorstodeterminewhattheywouldchargeorseeasfairva lueforsuchservices;withasmallmarginforerror.Quitelikelytheywillals othenselectthelowesttender. Forcompaniesthatwanttomaximizetheirbudgets,gettruevalueformoneyorn otsufferfromex-postransom(cheapbidsthatmanipulatethecompanyafterthe successfulcontractingtodrivetheinitialpriceupforfearofre-tenderingco stsandprocessesduetopotentialservicefailure)orwinnerâsremorse(yougetyou rserviceatabargainpriceatauction,onlytodiscoverthatyoucouldhavepu rchasedcheaperorbetterqualityitemsifonlyyouhavebeenbetterprepared)t heyshouldconsiderthefollowingoptions: Getbetteradvice!Onlyusevendorsorindividualsthathavesuppliedthesameo rverysimilarcommercialservicescontinuouslywithoutincident/failure. Developaspecificmodelforsecuritypurchasing.Factorinallthedemands,inc ludingtherequiredpeaceofmindorlossmitigation,thenworktowardsaprice rangerelativetothelocationandindustryforsuchdesiredquality.Donâtassumey ourthreatassessmentandtreatmentsolutionapproachisaccurateeither. Workinacollaborativesolutionsoutcomeapproachwithyourproviders,notaca rrotandstickorcontemptapproach.Ifyouchoosewisely,seekawin-winoutcom e,listentoadviceandmodifyyourinitialconceptstoincludethoseofthepro vidersandyouwillgetamuchbettersenseofthecostsandlimitationsandavo idsurprises/disappointmentslateron.Afteralltheywillbeprotectingyourmo stpreciousassetsonceyoucommittoasolution. Caveatemptorappliesequallytothefoolishandthewise.Thedifferencebeing thatthewisehaveeitherreadtheinstructionsfirstorthefoollearnsfromex perience,mostlikelybad.
