ASIS Releases Security Metrics Research Report
The report provides a tool to help security pros evaluate and improve their metrics and use them to demonstrate ROI, among other benefits.
A new metrics research report and security metrics tool released by the ASIS Foundation provides security practitioners with resources to measure and demonstrate the value of the security function.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A new metrics research report and security metrics tool aims to fill a crucial gap in the profession and provide security practitioners with resources to measure and demonstrate the value of the security function.
Titled “Persuading Senior Management with Effective, Evaluated Security Metrics,” the report culminates a multiyear research project funded by the ASIS Foundation following work done by the ASIS Defense and Intelligence Council.
The main purpose of the project was to develop a tool that will help security professionals evaluate and improve their metrics and use them to demonstrate return on investment, as well as alignment with organizational goals, according to ASIS.
Without compelling metrics, security professionals and their budgets are left to the intuition of company executives, the report’s executive summary states. “With metrics, the security function grounds itself on measurable results that correlate with investment, and the security professional can speak to leadership in a familiar business language,” the report notes.
Dr. Linda Florence, PhD, CPP, president of the ASIS Foundation Board of Trustees, describes the report as “ground-breaking research for the security profession.”
“Finally, we have scientifically based information and a validation method that are applicable to the entire field and makes a significant addition to the security body of knowledge,” she says.
The ASIS Foundation awarded a grant in spring 2013 to Global Skills X-change (GSX), partnered with Ohlhausen Research, to carry out the project. The research project produced a database of selected security metrics and guidelines for effective use of security metrics to inform and persuade senior management.
“This report outlines the limitations of previous attempts to guide the collation and use of metrics and presents a methodology for their integration into security practice today,” says Professor Martin Gill, Director of Perpetuity Research & Consultancy International and a member of the ASIS Foundation Research Council. “Those needing to find ways of showing how security can and does add value will find much to learn from this important study.”
The research project and the new metrics tool will be reviewed at an education session (Security Metrics: Leveraging Performance Measures to Gain Efficiencies and Demonstrate Return on Investment) on Sept. 30 as part of the ASIS Int’l Seminar and Exhibits (ASIS 2014) in Atlanta.
Download the report here.
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