“40 under 40” Class of 2019 — Brandon Easthon, 39

From corrections officer and service and installation technician, working his way up to project manager at The Cleveland Clinic, Brandon Easthon's interest in access control and camera systems sparked his career in the security industry. Easthon has worked for the clinic for nine years, currently serving as project manager.

“I am part of a team that is responsible for managing the security portion of construction projects of varying complexity,” Easthon explained, adding that he serves as the administrator of the clinic's access control and camera systems as well as coordinates service work performed by in-house service technicians and VARs.

Easthon particularly finds it interesting to work with existing integrations and be a part of new integrations. “We are currently working on an integration with our camera systems vendor and an analytics vendor that do not have existing integration, and we are using 'new-to-us' server hardware/virtual server system as the platform; it has been very complicated in the early stages, but could prove to be an exciting pairing,” Easthon said, noting that integrations will only continue to grow in complexity and scope within the industry.

Easthon also pointed to analytics becoming more important in day-to-day security. “There are products out there that can identify abandoned items, aid in identifying weapons and filter video,” for example.

He finds the security industry is already becoming very talented and diverse. “In security communication centers, it is becoming more crucial to have tech-savvy people who can run multiple programs in concert,” he said. “Uniformed security officers are moving away from the traditional 'observe and report,' role and are required to work visitor management systems and camera and access control systems. These requirements will only drive the [need] to bring in candidates with a very strong technology background.”