As a campus security professional, you understand the challenge of obtaining executive buy-in. Whether you’re requesting funding for a new visitor management system or defending the need for legacy system updates, gaining support from leadership is often an uphill battle – one that requires a strong business case.
Article author Mohammed Shehzad, along with Philadelphia School District Executive Director of the Office of School Safety Justin Bangs and Assistant Director of School Safety Eric Rosa will present “Digital Video Transformation at the School District of Philadelphia” at this summer’s Campus Safety Conference being held in Austin, Texas, July 21-23. For more information and to register, CLICK HERE.
The following five steps will help you better articulate the value of your security initiatives and ultimately obtain the necessary support and funding to launch your project.
1. Understand Your Campus Security Program Challenges
Campus environments are considerably more complex than their single-facility counterparts. With multiple buildings, private and public access areas, siloed departments, and diverse populations, campuses face unique challenges when developing a holistic security program. As such, your business case begins by clearly communicating these challenges to leadership.
These challenges may seem obvious, and in many cases, they are. Executives are likely already familiar with the financial hurdles faced across the organization. However, they may not know that they already use more than 20 different access control systems or that their intrusion detection system is nearing end of life.
When identifying challenges, adopt a holistic approach that balances specific solutions with big-picture impact. Start by getting granular enough to pinpoint specific campus security problems that your proposal aims to address. Then, connect those challenges to the broader organizational impact, demonstrating how solving them will enhance overall security operations, reduce risks, and improve business operations. By framing your challenges in this way, you’ll show leadership how individual solutions benefit the entire campus ecosystem.
Communicating intangible challenges such as mental health and psychological safety are equally as important but can be especially difficult as they are not easily quantifiable. However, the American Psychological Association’s 2024 “Work in America Survey” found that those with higher psychological safety were less likely to search for a new job in the next year. Framing safety in terms of its impact on employee retention, productivity, and performance helps leaders see its link to the bottom line and emphasizes the need to address these concerns.
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Educating stakeholders on present security challenges answers the “why” question and opens discussions on a key aspect of a security business case: risk.
2. Follow the Risk and Understand Your Organization’s Risk Tolerance
Once you understand your challenges, you can successfully communicate how they pose risks to your campus environment. For example, your campus likely has areas that are publicly accessible and those that are private. What happens if an unauthorized individual enters a private space? Or when a public space is not properly managed? A high transient population in a hospital waiting room may create an atmosphere of unease for patients and staff, putting employee mental health, security, and patient satisfaction at risk.
Know that risk is not a snapshot in time. Your organization’s risks are fluid and therefore require a solid understanding of your environment and its variables. This includes operational pain points that highlight how risk manifests in everyday scenarios (for example: long wait times, inadequate staffing, etc.).
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From there, defining success helps establish effective risk management tactics, while associating risk with relevant metrics provides a way to measure success. Finally, understanding your organization’s risk tolerance helps prioritize initiatives and align security strategies with broader organizational objectives.
Here’s how this may look in practice: Suppose your business case proposes installing new biometric access control readers at the entrance to every operating or diagnostic room in a healthcare campus. In this case, you may ask what the acceptable number of unauthorized individuals allowed in these rooms is. The likely answer is zero. Even one unauthorized person could risk patient and staff safety. It could also damage the organization’s reputation and create legal concerns.
Set a clear success factor, like zero unauthorized access incidents, and link it to specific metrics, like the number of access control violations recorded. This approach will help you build a case for the proposed solution and ensure that leadership understands the risks and how the proposed security enhancements directly respond to those risks.
3. Engage with Stakeholders for a Stronger Business Case
Once you clearly understand the challenges and risks, it is time to engage with relevant stakeholders. This is a challenge as there are many stakeholders to consider before implementing a new security program. Start by outlining the roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder, starting with leadership. This should include systems designers, security integrators, operators, administrators, employees, those interacting with the solution, and other relevant parties.
Next, consider each individual’s goals and objectives. These goals go beyond security to encompass broader business objectives that ultimately affect how you address each stakeholder. A CFO will value data points presented in dollars and cents, while concerned parents want to know what their child’s school or university is doing to ensure safety on campus.
Lastly, create a documented plan of communication. This is perhaps the most critical aspect of engaging with your stakeholders as it helps prevent silos and roadblocks. State each stakeholder’s preferred communication style and frequency. Also, explain how you will collect and act on their feedback. Keeping a record of all communications ensures that decisions and action items are documented and accessible.
Successful stakeholder engagement also involves interacting and iterating. Demonstrating early wins can build momentum and secure buy-in for the project. As you continue communicating and gathering feedback, the plan will evolve to meet changing security and organizational objectives.
4. Use Data to Strengthen Your Campus Security Proposal
Data is the core of your campus security business case. It is not only the most effective way to communicate value, but it is also indisputable. Think of it as the language of the C-suite, who are more likely to make decisions based on facts rather than feelings.
“This access control system can reduce tailgating by 30%” is a much more compelling argument than “This new access control system will help prevent unauthorized entry.”
As organizations increasingly rely on data-driven decision-making, having specific, actionable, and relevant data points is essential to securing buy-in. Begin by ensuring that the data you use applies to your campus security program. This means using data sources that match the goals and challenges you identified earlier. The data presented should answer questions like: “How will this data impact the security program? How will it reduce risks?”
Now that you’ve demonstrated how data can address security challenges, it’s time to shift the focus and explore how security data can be leveraged to drive operational improvements. If high energy costs are a concern shared by stakeholders, highlight how access control data can identify underutilized spaces to reduce unnecessary energy consumption. Explain how license plate recognition tools can not only enhance parking security but also optimize parking lot usage. Or advocate for the adoption of video analytics that provide data to guide future event planning, such as determining where to add new entry points or when to adjust staffing levels.
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These examples showcase the broader value of data collected through security systems. When leadership and campus security are aligned, available data points can be a powerful tool for demonstrating value, creating operational efficiencies, and reducing risks across campus.
5. Vet the Plan with a Pilot Program or Market Analysis
Even the most well-crafted business plan will fail if it doesn’t work in your specific environment. That is why implementing a proof of concept (PoC) is critical to building your case.
Many security professionals overlook this step as it requires a financial and time investment. However, a PoC or pilot program will help identify potential issues that might not appear on paper. These insights may seem minor but can have a major impact on the success of your program, helping you save valuable time and money.
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If a PoC is not feasible, conduct a thorough market analysis to ensure your proposed solutions are relevant to your needs. Are they scalable to meet the demands of your infrastructure? Does your IT department have the capacity to support them? If not, you may need to consider other solutions or external resources.
Other considerations include financial and contractual requirements. For example, as the security industry moves toward Software as a Service (SaaS)-based models, your organization will need to rethink traditional contracts and service-level agreements (SLAs). Subscription models replace one-time payments, and you can only determine which option best suits your budget by conferring with your stakeholders.
Properly vetting your plan allows you to proactively identify potential risks, test the viability of your proposed solutions, and ensure that the system will perform as expected in your unique environment. In doing so, you build confidence with stakeholders and prove that you’ve carefully considered all factors before asking for an investment.
These Steps Will Help Secure Leadership Buy-In for Your Initiatives
Now that you’ve successfully built your campus security business case, it’s time to present it. The goal here is to build trust with leadership by demonstrating that you’ve thoroughly thought through every aspect of the proposal. Use data and real examples to demonstrate value and be prepared to answer questions.
By aligning security improvements with broader organizational goals and establishing a solid plan, you can secure the support needed to move forward with your initiatives. Remember, you’re not just making a case for security. You’re advocating for an investment that benefits the whole campus.
Mohammed Atif Shehzad is managing director of Atriade. He can be reached at [email protected].
