How Comprehensive Is Your System Documentation?

“I think the panel is over here,” he said.

I followed along from the warehouse, past an IT enclosure on the wall with its door open and wires spilling out, and into a secure office area. “Do your delivery drivers ever enter into the office?”

“Nah,” he said, “they know they are not supposed to go into the office area.” After a pause, he realized the fault in that security strategy. He added, “well, they’re not supposed to.”

After a turn, we were in the lobby. I immediately knew what was coming next. “Here’s one of the panels,” he said, confidently, “there’s one more in the back that only the warehouse people have a code for.”

Through no fault of his own, this facility manager did not know the proper jargon of the industry. I never respond to this with an insulting tone, because I’ve seen it 100 times already. To be honest, I don’t know if I would know the difference had I not spent 21 years doing it every day.

“Awesome,” I said, “I will make a note of that, and you can show me the other one later. So, this is the keypad where you arm and disarm the system. Do you know where the wires for this go back to? There should be a box on the wall with a bunch of wires running into it. It might be in the server room or in an electrical room.“

His brow furrowed as he thought hard.

The rest of the story entailed wandering around the facility, asking maintenance people who have worked there for many years, and eventually finding where the control panel was located. It was “strategically” placed where nobody would ever think to look; high on a wall in the women’s restroom.

When it comes time to get quotes, or replacing one’s system, not understanding the architecture that’s already been invested in puts a business at a severe disadvantage. Furthermore, most integrators will come in and take guesses at it and throw sloppy numbers to either be conservative, or underestimate to win the business; which turns into sloppy work or change orders.

But worst of all, when a problem arises and maintenance is needed, troubleshooting becomes a nightmare.

That nightmare turns into several days without protection. The bigger the system gets, the bigger the nightmare becomes. If you don’t have your system documentation, this is always the place to start in getting a handle on your security program.