Mactwin takes care of everything, also internationally
Many organizations find it pleasant or even desirable that they do not have to deal with more than one party for security.
Even if there are locations abroad.
For Mactwin, it is a daily task to shape the security of organizations – nationally and internationally – and to guarantee the desired level of security, for example for clients from the financial sector. For one of these clients, Mactwin initially only took care of the security of the Dutch offices.
Due to the good experience and the trust that arose, this client asked Mactwin to achieve the same high level of security at all their European offices.
“We gladly accepted this challenge and it also fits perfectly with our drive to completely unburden clients in the field of safety and security.”
These are the words of Twan Reuvers, account manager at Mactwin.
Blueprint prevents mistakes
The desired level of security of the buildings had already been determined; this had to be equal to the level of the Dutch branches.
“We made a floor plan and Security Octagon for these branches,” says Twan Reuvers.
“This means that we first divided the (Dutch) building into security zones, such as public, semi-public and secure. Zones that you will also find in all other buildings of this financial organization. Then, in consultation with the client, we established a set of security measures for each type of transition (from one zone to another) and recorded it in a Security Octagon.”
This approach provided consistency, coherence and balance between the various measures.
Moreover, it was a practical tool for all those involved in this international project.
“It acted as a blueprint for both Mactwin’s project managers and the executing subcontractors in the various countries. It provided clear guidelines and prevented mistakes.”
Cross-border project management
When you are given responsibility for the security of various buildings throughout Europe, experienced project managers who professionally lead the project are indispensable.
Senior Project Manager John van de Weijenberg explains: “In this project – and this always applies to international projects – we worked together with local subcontractors who implemented the necessary infrastructure at the locations.
We selected the subcontractors in close cooperation with our client and then instructed them on site.
In some countries, more coordination was needed than in others.
This was mainly due to deviating laws and regulations, for example in the field of escape routes.
As a result, we had to adjust the established set of security measures for some locations.
After completion of the work by the subcontractors, we carried out a quality check on site.
After that, we were able to configure and commission the security systems remotely, from our Mactwin Operation Center (MOC). And that from Sweden to Spain and Italy.”
Remote management & maintenance
Now that all systems are up and running, they need to be properly maintained and managed.
The management is partly done by the financial institution itself.
From the head office in the Netherlands, all systems for access control, camera surveillance and burglary can be operated and managed.
This means, among other things, that the rights for access cards can be managed from the head office.
The security department can also call up video footage from Amsterdam if an incident has taken place somewhere and they can watch remotely if something is going on.
All this is possible thanks to the central security management platform to which all (local) subsystems are connected.
“Mactwin takes care of the further management and maintenance of the systems together with the sub-contactors,” says Twan Reuvers.
“In the event of malfunctions, our Service Desk first assesses whether the malfunction can be solved remotely – from our MOC. If not, we will call in the contracted local party to fix the malfunction on site. The same applies to management and maintenance. We do as much as possible remotely. Only if there is no other option, we will direct the local partner for this.”
Clear agreements: pleasant cooperation
Twan Reuvers continues: “In partnerships such as this, clear agreements, including about frameworks and powers, between the client and the main contractor (in this case Mactwin) are essential. The clearer the agreements are, the better. It also turned out that the Security Octagon gave a lot of direction and therefore clarity. As a result, we were not only able to implement effective and user-friendly security measures, but we were also able to achieve the desired level of security for all locations.”