McKesson Global Security Operations Center

In 2008, McKesson’s Corporate Security & Safety Department established a small Corporate Security Operations Center – or CSOC – to monitor the company’s North American distribution centers. Originally designed to accommodate a single watch officer, the CSOC featured one multimonitor workstation, a server, and a wall-mounted screen for monitoring CCTV and alarm systems.

“The old CSOC was about 300 square feet – basically a closet,” laughs Ed Shubert, Senior Director of Corporate Security and Safety at McKesson. “It was cramped and hot, but it served our needs at the time.”

However, those needs would soon evolve as McKesson extended its global reach in the following years. By 2014, the company had significantly expanded its operations domestically and abroad, with its acquisition of Celesio – a leading European pharmaceutical company – cementing its status as a global health care leader.

Ed recognized that McKesson’s expanding global presence would bring with it new risks and security challenges, and he believed that the CSOC could be leveraged to help monitor and mitigate these new risks. Under his leadership, the CSOC team began evolving its operations. Originally monitoring just 10 distribution centers, the team was soon overseeing more than 35. A new Global Risk Management program was also introduced to help protect McKesson’s people, products, and property worldwide.

From CSOC to GSOC

Ed soon realized that the scope of his team’s operations had outgrown the small, cramped CSOC facility. “We saw that our programs were delivering a lot of value, and we wanted a facility – and technology – that would allow us to continue developing them on a global scale,” he says.

He proposed a plan to transform McKesson’s CSOC into a GSOC – a Global Security Operations Center. He envisioned a worker-friendly, technology-rich environment complete with a watch floor, conference room, and collaboration space.

As part of the new facility, Ed hoped to implement a high-tech video wall system that could better support his team’s new visualization needs. “Our old, single-display solution was limiting,” he explains. “It served us in the beginning, but it wasn’t large or flexible enough to support our growing operations. I knew we needed a video wall.”

In early 2016, Ed received approval on his GSOC proposal and was given full command of the design and execution of the project. As he began researching video wall solutions for the facility, he had several key requirements in mind. “Ease of use was a non-negotiable,” he says. “I needed the operators to be able to easily control the system and change the configuration of content on the displays.”

“I also knew that video walls can become very expensive if they’re not functioning correctly, so I wanted to find a vendor with a strong support program.”

After evaluating a number of vendors, Ed selected CineMassive to provide a turn-key video wall solution for McKesson’s GSOC. “I was impressed with CineMassive’s technology and the guidance they were able to provide for my solution,” he says.

Construction began on the Global Security Operations Center in August of 2016. Just three months later, the new facility and its CineMassive video wall system were fully operational. The completed, 2200-square-foot GSOC features a spacious watch floor, a high-tech conference room, four offices, a collaboration space, a kitchen, and a break room. Proudly displayed on the wall of the break room is the GSOC’s mission statement: ‘Collect, Analyze, Deliver Data to Mitigate Global Risk. “WE HAVE YOUR BACK.”’

On the watch floor, three operator workstations – with sit-stand desks and ergonomic chairs – face a bright, CineView LCD video wall with a 4×2 configuration of displays. A watch officer at one of the workstations monitors the array of camera feeds, maps, security applications, and television news displayed on the video wall.

A CineMassive Alpha video wall controller allows all of the team’s content sources to be displayed on the video wall simultaneously, creating a real-time operating dashboard. “This is the heart of the operation, right here,” explains Ed. “We are receiving data on a moment-to-moment basis from all of our programs, and the video wall gives us a snapshot of events happening globally.”

Leveraging the video wall system in the new GSOC, the team has been able to expand its operations to support three major initiatives: Monitoring, Global Risk Management, and a myriad of C-Suite support services.

Ed is pleased with the outcome of the GSOC project and says that the new CineMassive system is helping his team work more effectively and efficiently.

“With the CineMassive system, we can visualize our data more effectively than we could in the past,” he explains. “We can display far more information at once, and we can cut and slice it efficiently to keep a focused view. This has allowed us to support all three of our programs and continue building on them over time.”

He reports that his team’s new visualization capabilities have already produced a return on investment for McKesson. “By using the video wall to monitor our cameras and access control systems remotely, we have been able to eliminate physical security guards from many of our facilities, which has saved the company thousands of dollars,” he says.

Looking to the future, the team hopes to continue developing their operations and delivering even more value to McKesson and its employees. “We’re building a holistic program, and we want to keep expanding it in the years to come,” says Tony.

Reflecting on the success of the GSOC project, Ed says he’s proud to work for a company that prioritizes the safety and wellbeing of its employees. “I’m truly proud of the services that McKesson provides through our corporate security and safety programs,” he says. “We get a lot of letters from employees thanking us for protecting them when they were in danger or became ill abroad. Just hearing that we’ve helped someone in Europe, India, or New York – it really means a lot.”
 
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Additional Reading

Security Magazine, Creating the GSOC: 4 Leading Examples of Successful Security Operations Centers