The Power of Networking

By Corrina Stellitano

When the international IT consulting firm American Management Systems (AMS) decided to upgrade its corporate-wide security management system, company leaders sought an integrator with the manpower and the skill to accomplish the job efficiently in widespread locations.

Traditionally, AMS would have consulted a national provider with branch offices in many American cities. This time, however, they turned to a network of smaller security systems integrators.

Securing information globally

Fairfax, Va.-based AMS, acquired in May 2004 by Montreal-based CGI Group, operates 50 offices worldwide and generated more than $952 million in revenues in 2003. The more than 7,000 AMS employees serve clients such as financial institutions, government agencies, and communications companies — entities that build success on the security of their information. AMS clients have included seven of the 10 largest banks in the world; eight of the 10 largest telecommunications firms; 44 U.S. state governments; and more than 200 North American cities, counties, and universities.

Fifteen years ago, fewer demands were placed on AMS’ first full-service security system, Software House’s C•CURE 1 Plus Ultra Security Management System. The system covered only six U.S. locations that communicated via dial-up connection. By the late ‘90s, the number of AMS offices was multiplying quickly, and John Rzewnicki, AMS’ director of corporate security, was lobbying for the system to be operated on the company’s wide area network (WAN).

“We had begun to get both client demands and general security demands to increase the number of offices on the network,” he recalls. “It was a reasonable request. We were responsible for protecting the clients’ information, and they wanted to ensure there was limited access to the files that we were working on.”

The transition to the WAN was accomplished, but AMS’ systems were challenged again as the company began issuing universal access control cards to employees worldwide.

“Our previous CEO felt the (universal access helped) our employees feel like they belong to one company even if we are spread across the globe,” Rzewnicki says. “When our employees travel, they can access any AMS office in the general access area, log onto the WAN, and use office facilities with ease without having to check in for a visitor card. Yet we can still restrict access to exclusionary areas for special projects.”

All AMS employees carry an HID access card printed with the employee’s name, ID number, and the city they are assigned to, but not the company logo or address of any company location. A post office box number and a worldwide security hotline number allow found cards to be returned to AMS.

The added burden and cost of administrating universal access for 7,000 employees on a database server maintained by an outside company soon required AMS to bring the administration of its main server in-house. Still, the company needed a system that could double as a physical security system and smoothly integrate the company’s new Intellex CCTV system into the alarm sequencing protocol. In the fourth quarter of 2003, AMS began the first phase of its CCTV installation with 25 Panasonic and CBC America cameras in 10 locations.

Rzewnicki was reluctant to switch from the C•CURE brand. “The 1 Plus Ultra system was very robust, giving us an unlimited capability to expand and build larger networks,” he says. Instead, he decided to upgrade to the C•CURE 800 system.

AMS began looking for a potential systems integrator, but Rzewnicki was concerned. “We had 34 offices in Europe, Canada and the United States, and we were planning simultaneously to open a new office in Poland and four more offices in the United States,” he says.

Rzewnicki first considered a huge well-known integration company, but then approached Alan Kruglak at Genesis Security Systems. Kruglak had first helped AMS with the C•CURE 1 Plus Ultra installation in 1990 when Kruglak owned another systems integrator, GIC Security Systems. Kruglak vowed to accomplish the project in all locations seamlessly and under budget.

“Genesis planned to integrate my internal staff into the process, reducing labor costs and giving them valuable hands-on training; and that was a unique suggestion,” Rzewnicki says. “[Kruglak’s] package involved using all my existing hardware, and merely upgrading the firmware to the latest version compatible to C•CURE 800.”

Another facet of Kruglak’s plan was who would be completing the work. It seemed like an ambitious plan for Genesis’ staff — 18 employees and 14 contractors — to transition 50 offices without downtime. Kruglak had a team approach in mind.

Networking AMS

For AMS, Genesis Security Systems performed the conversion of the 10,000-card database from the C•CURE 1 Plus Ultra system to the C•CURE 800 system in three days. Rzewnicki was pleased with the speed and the ability to shift from an Alpha server to the more common Dell server, made more beneficial by AMS’ partnership with Dell.

To manually upgrade the firmware in the 100 remote data gathering panels, Kruglak enlisted the help of National Security Integrators (NSI) members and several associates in areas not covered by the NSI network. He shipped them instructions and the upgraded firmware, and Genesis technicians coordinated the conversion from AMS’ new server location in Fairfax. Then the remote members worked in their far-flung locations to bring the system online, seamlessly, as Kruglak promised.

“I expected to have some problems, with the nature of our system, how widespread the network is, and the fact that we were working overseas,” Rzewnicki says. “ But [Kruglak] has a worldwide network of contacts and he was able to get in touch with qualified Software House technicians and make sure the systems were converted and running smoothly.”

So smooth was the transition, it was almost unnoticeable, Rzewnicki says. “When I talked to senior management about the accomplishment of the conversion, they asked when it happened. No doors failed to function; no cards failed to work in doors. The system was never down.”

In addition, Kruglak’s team trained AMS’ contract monitoring staff and two internal technicians, who also attended supplemental training from Software House. Today, AMS monitors its 50 locations from one central monitoring station. Locations as far away as Brussels, Krakow, Stockholm, and Warsaw are monitored in real-time.

“It’s the most robust access control and security system software I could find,” Rzewnicki says. “When it’s monitored by CCTV, and you have the doors programmed for prop and force, and you also tie in glass break sensors, then you really have a security system as well.”

Originally Published:
June 2004, Access Control & Security Systems