Indian IT's physical security at stake: No manpower

By siliconindia   |   Thursday, 16 September 2010, 01:21 IST   |    8 Comments
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Indian IT's physical security at stake: No manpower
Bangalore: After the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, the IT industry has armed itself to prevent any such further attacks. The companies are not only seeking support from the government for getting special task forces deployed to their campuses but they are arming themselves against any unpredictable circumstances by recruiting and training private security personnel to take charge of the security of the infrastructure. But this time, the security personnel are not just supposed to show their muscle power, they are expected to take a step further and deal with technology as the IT companies are going to ensure maximum physical security for their employees by deploying the best of the technologies in their respective infrastructure. The problem which lies ahead is the dearth of people to serve this area of the industry. "There is no demand for this job because companies are reluctant to increase the pay of security personnels. If the companies want the security personnels to have a technical bent of mind, they ought to lure potential candidates by making the job lucrative in terms of payment," said C.V.Rao, Executive Director of Raxa Techno Security Solutions. The security personnels are only expected to know the operation of the technology as they have to deal with it on a daily basis but to handle the technical snag occurring at these security check points has to be dealt by engineers employed in the company. This seems to be yet another area of concern for the IT companies, as the engineers are often seen to be reluctant for being associated with the physical security branch. "Most of the engineers do not want to work for the physical security department. They perceive that being associated with the security department which has to largely deal with physical security, will not make them feel good about their job," said Shakthi Leekha, General Manager, Systems & products, Johnson Controls. After the 9/11 attacks at the World Trade Centre, businesses have changed their perception about security. When a company decides on its expansion, a return on investment is always expected. Investment on security is usually seen as a part of company's expenditure and does not have any visible returns, yet companies are heading towards deploying security forces. Speaking about the viability of such an investment, Pradeep Unni, Senior Technical Consultant at Wipro said, "Companies should invest on security to avoid discomforting situations and we put the security system to avert unwanted incidents. Any organization which has got its security measures intact, will add on to its brand value and reputation." Infosys had urged the government for a security cover at its Mysore campus this year. Following the request, government had sanctioned 48 posts of the paramilitary force in various ranks which were deployed at the Infosys campus in Mysore. In 2009, the company had the same requirement for its campus in Bangalore. IT biggies like Infosys, Wipro are taking a joint initiative for ensuring maximum security for their employees. "We have mutual understanding with companies like Infosys in which they would deploy their security personnel if we are in an unfavorable condition and even we have promised to do the same in the time of their need," said Gopal Choudhary, Corporate Head-Security at Wipro.

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