CHARLESTON, S.C. — Verint recently hosted an Engage conference of end users and channel partners focused on its Fraud & Security Solutions (VFSS).
The intimate gathering of about 140 people demonstrated laser focus on the company’s financial market customers and partners, who shared insights on customer security challenges to protect their banking and credit unions.
Matt Tengwall, Verint’s vice president and general manage, shared that this year’s session was unique by design. He wanted a more intimate atmosphere facilitating opportunities for communications between customers, partners and the Verint team.
“I wanted to create the right ‘vibe’ for customers,” he says.
In the past, VFSS was included in the larger Verint umbrella of companies and partners who focused on operational call center and workforce optimization solutions.
In the security industry, relationships matter. Building stronger relationships is a competitive advantage for Verint.
Rob Raymond, global senior vice president of sales for Securitas Technologies US shared his thoughts on the revamped event.
“For me, I was happy to see a more focused event specifically on fraud and security as opposed to the huge Engage event where security was 5% of the focus,” he says. “Networking with valued customers, supplier partners and deeper discussions were more effective.”
Verint is the financial video market leader with close to a 70% market share. Their secret? Listening to their customers and understanding that high quality video, consistent up time video availability, practical technology upgrade paths, and marathon performance records is what gains customer loyalty.
That and not chasing new, overhyped emerging technology in favor of a more conservative strategic product development philosophy.
More About Verint Engage Fraud and Security Solutions
I moderated a session “Proactive Defense: Addressing the Active Shooter Threat in Banking” with a distinguished panel including Dave Campbell, senior vice president of corporate security for Dollar Bank; Jonathan Kirby of Redstone Federal Credit Union; Bob Michels of First National Bank of Dennison; and Robert Kalamaras, police chief in Fairfield, Conn., to gain their insights and share experiences in the following areas:
- Preparing a plan for active shooter – workplace violence.
- Considering your threat risk factors and mitigation.
- Technology, processes, and policies applied mitigate risks.
- After action realities of an active shooter scenario.
Taking a proactive approach to the active shooter threat, which unfortunately is on an upward swing according to FBI statistics, was a primary topic. The panel tackled preparing for such an event, the different risk vectors that must be considered, the technologies that can help, and included a unique law enforcement POV by Chief Kalamaras, who responded to the Sandy Hook school shooting; wrapping up with processes, procedures to consider, and best practices.
The audience engaged in a very interactive question-and-answer session with the panel. Active workplace violence impacts everyone in your community.
Some questions they wanted answered included:
“How can we get our C-suite on board and fund a stronger workplace violence process?”
“What are the best practices for building an active shooter response program?”
“How can we evaluate our risk factors more effectively?”
The panel shared their experiences to help address what has worked for them. This included proactive planning, examples of best practices, and suggestions on applying technologies that work from the trenches to the boardroom.
Event highlights I thought were valuable and unique for the attendees included:
Verint FSS vice president of engineering James “Jim” Moran shared their vision technology development roadmap that addressed current engineering focus along with a peek at their cloud perspective strategies.
A wide majority of the financial services market has resisted sharing security data in the cloud.
While operational business data makes sense, security does not in their view. Jim and his engineering team chose a smart middle ground with a “black box” approach that allows greater flexibility in a phased cloud approach for legacy technology to efficiently migrate when the time is right.
While I closely follow emerging technologies, the business risks are certainly much higher for early adopters regardless of marketing hype of advantages. Verint takes a measured approach that serves their financial market customers well. ROC (return on confidence) beats ROI (return on investment).
Security directors are measured by department and system performance.
“The show this year enabled greater peer-to-peer learning and dialogue from security professionals which simply builds stronger relationships,” shared John Crossan, vice president of Verint’s Fraud & Security Solutions team. “Learning how peers addressed similar challenges with improved technology and best practices deploying that technology was valuable from my perspective.”
Talking about technology with actual end users is a learning experience if you listen carefully. Verint listens well. Moran shared an intelligent technology roadmap, including a practical, clear road map of their technological development.
Managed services is a hot topic for both integrator and end users with limited resources. The MSS product introduction manages the quality and service delivered; a great tool for integrators who wish to drive recurring revenue with managed services delivering greater ROC (Return on Confidence).
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