Calling all industrial security consultants! Do you have dreams of growing your company but feel sort of — stuck? Whether it is the higher earning potential or building a business where you can delegate work you don’t feel like doing, the prospect of scaling a consulting practice certainly must linger in your mind.
Of course, you’ve already proven you don’t back down from challenges. Choosing to advise facility security officers (FSOs) and support security operations for defense contractors is an admirable profession. But considering all the rigorous compliance demands and the fact you’re managing not just one company but many with diverse security and facility needs, you’re probably overcome with doubt from time to time.
The good news: You’re just one tool away from overcoming these roadblocks and achieving those growth aspirations. Here’s how automation (via industrial security management software) can take your FSO consulting practice to the next level.
Barriers to Growth as an Industrial Security Consultant
Time is often the main culprit holding you back from scaling your practice — specifically, a lack of it. Suppose you’re constantly chasing down information for audit reports, reminding cleared personnel of upcoming training, typing up recommendation proposals, updating FSOs on new compliance requirements, etc. In that case, you’ll never have time to focus on what matters — client engagement and building relationships to grow the business.
So how is your time getting away from you? A few potential causes come to mind:
- No standard process for all your clients → You’re doing the same tasks multiple different ways for each client; it makes you disorganized and leads to potential errors you must fix later.
- Poor reporting and data mechanisms → You’re scrambling to gather paperwork and information from different clients all the time, and none of this information is easily accessible or pullable.
- Bogged down with unnecessary admin work → You’re constantly doing work that could be passed onto the client (or its employees), such as filing foreign travel requests or answering emails with information an FSO could find elsewhere.
Fix these issues, and you’re golden! The more you can free up your schedule, the more time you can spend finding new clients and adding value to existing FSOs with extra face time, proactive strategies, problem-solving, etc.
Automation Takes on the Mundane Work So You Can Focus on Strategic Value and Growth
Now, let’s get you out of this vicious cycle. Industrial security management software can drastically change how you run your consulting practice by storing all your data in one place and setting a foundation for automating repetitive activity.
Odds are that your client engagement probably includes different scopes of work in areas like federal compliance, cleared personnel, on-premise (and potentially cyber) security, facility security updates, and supporting other responsibilities of an FSO.
And these areas are precisely where automation can come in:
Managing Federal Compliance at Scale
Compliance work, by far, drains the most out of a security consultant’s day. Consider all the requirements FSOs must navigate:
- 32 CFR Part 117 of NISPOM Rule
- Department of Defense (DoD) and Defense Counterintelligence Security Agency (DCSA) rulings
- Public Trust programs
- SCI guidelines
- Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) page under industrial security
- Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Program
- NIST 800-218 and NIST 800-171 guidelines
- SEAD 3 Reporting
- FIPS 140-2
- The Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS)
That’s a lot of acronyms. And when you’re an industrial security consultant for numerous contractors, the task load adds up and becomes tough to sort through.
That’s where automation comes in handy. Compliance software for FSO consultants provides a central system to track requirements, deadlines, and progress automatically. You don’t have to constantly ask yourself, “Did I remember to update this security policy for Client A?” or “Are these reporting templates updated for Client B?” You have unified oversight from a single platform.
Another plus: Ad-hoc reporting. Rather than chasing down data and manually typing up reports for upcoming audits, compliance software stores all your client data. Just tell the system what information you need and for which client, then customize it accordingly, and you can generate reports in minutes.
Proactively Handling Insider Threats
Insider threats have become an FSO’s worst nightmare. And as a security consultant, it’s your job to help them manage these risks and give them peace-of-mind through systems for cleared employees to report suspicious activity.
Like most responsibilities, it’s better to be proactive than wait until after a confirmed breach before taking action. Otherwise, you’re taking valuable time away from strategic tasks playing catch-up.
Automation via industrial security software provides a simple way for personnel (across multiple contractors) to report suspicious contacts, travel, and other activity to you and FSO clients. It also offers counterintelligence analysis tools so you can automatically pinpoint areas of concern and where insider threats might be looming.
All your threat data is in one dashboard, ready to notify you if anything seems out of wack.
Ensuring Cleared Personnel Training Stays Up-to-Date
How annoying is it having to send email reminders to cleared employees about completing a training requirement or attending a certification seminar? That’s a lot of back-and-forth and manual progress checking. And depending on the number of clients you have, you could be talking about hundreds of employees — adding up to days you could’ve used to promote and grow your practice.
While you can use spreadsheets or posted notes to monitor training activity for each client, it’s much easier with industrial security software. These tools have modules to track personnel, store and access clearance documents, and see any training requirements they need to complete. You can also save time by providing training progress updates to clients through the ad-hoc reporting features.
The best part: Drill-down functions on the most urgent training requirements so FSOs can automatically notify employees to get it done.
Keeping Your Clients In-the-Know
As an FSO consultant, communicating with your clients is a must. FSOs of defense contractors have a lot on their plate. They want updates from you on security metrics, compliance status, and any recommendations you have to offer.
Industrial security software lets you avoid having to answer questions that clients can answer themselves. Because it stores data across each client’s security operation, it can also auto-feed that data into real-time dashboards. Tailored by role, an FSO could easily log in and get insights such as:
- Number of insider threats / suspicious activities reported last month
- Cleared personnel with upcoming training requirements
- Status of a compliance change / next steps
- Number of visitors currently at a cleared site / screening metrics
Rather than spending time on mundane data reports, you can focus on more value-added industrial security consultant services.
Providing Self-Service Options for Clients
Similar to clients getting information themselves, there are specific tasks they can also complete themselves. For example, you don’t need to take on the large administrative burden of onboarding each new employee, intaking visit request forms, or processing foreign travel requests.
Automating with a self-service portal for your clients keeps them fully engaged in security processes and gives you back your time. Cleared employees can file their own travel requests, make a facility visit request, and report suspicious activity through your industrial security software.
You can also create automated workflows for training tracking and employee onboarding, with regimented processes for each client and role. Employees get email notifications automatically, and you can focus on more strategic client tasks.
Automation Frees Up the To-Do List: More Growth Potential for FSO Consultants
You’d be surprised how much you can accomplish when you’re not scrambling to chase information from clients or bogged down with unnecessary admin tasks. Hence, what automation can provide your security consulting practice — time.
More time focusing on strategic areas for FSOs. More time enriching your client relationships with meaningful face-to-face meetings. More time attending networking events, doing outreach, and marketing your brand to help land new contracts.
And new clients mean new revenue for your practice. Eventually, you can bring on additional consultants or other employees — letting you focus on things you like to do and delegate what you don’t.
Expand Your Industrial Security Consultant Services with MathCraft
Automation can unlock your full potential as an FSO consultant. And MathCraft has the tools to help you grow your practice to the next level.
Access Commander offers centralized security management where you can provide FSO clients everything they need for security governance and oversight. With tools for compliance tracking, ad-hoc reporting, dynamic dashboards, and insider threat management, your client’s top priorities are addressed and you get your time back.
You can also expand your offerings via Portal Commander. Integrating directly with Access Commander, this employee self-service portal brings you (and your clients’) value beyond security. Employees manage their own forms, foreign travel reporting, and training requirements so you can stay more engaged with clients.
Request a demo today to learn how MathCraft can give you your time back to boost profitability and scale your consulting practice.