What to look for in security management software

Security management software mostly grew out of workforce scheduling, which is why so much of it treats compliance as an add-on. For a contractor, that is the wrong way round: a roster that is easy to build but places an unlicensed officer is worse than no roster at all.

Questions worth asking in a demo

• –Can I see licence status on the roster screen, or do I have to leave it?
• –What happens if I try to assign an officer whose licence has expired?
• –Where do screening documents live, and can I produce a complete file for one officer?
• –Can I see who was actually on site last Tuesday, including subcontracted officers?
• –Does the client report come from the same records, or is it assembled separately?

The second question is the most revealing. A system that lets the assignment happen silently is a record-keeping tool; a system that flags it is a compliance tool.

Things that sound important and usually are not

• –Module counts — what matters is whether the modules share one record
• –Mobile apps with long feature lists, if officers only ever book on and log incidents
• –Configurability that requires a consultant to use

Things that sound minor and are not

• –How easily you can export everything, on the day you decide to leave
• –Whether permissions are granular enough to keep vetting files need-to-know
• –Whether an alert reaches the person making the decision, or a shared inbox

On price, see how much security management software costs.