40 under 40: William Scabora, Atlas Consulting

YARMOUTH, Maine—Design and technology have been interwoven throughout William Scabora’s career in the security industry.

Currently the President of Atlas Consulting, a technology consulting firm in the Austin, Texas area, the 31-year-old Scabora, RCDD, served as Senior Consultant with COMBS Consulting Group in Austin when he was nominated as a 40 under 40 winner for the Class of 2020.

During his time at COMBS Consulting, Scabora was responsible for the direct design and project management of new construction projects for AV/IT/Security for large commercial projects.

Having been in the security industry for more than a decade, Scabora explained that he

initially started his career within the IT infrastructure realm and was quickly tasked with translating his existing networking knowledge into the ever-evolving world of security and its convergence with IP networks.

“Once I got a taste of what security has to offer, I was hooked with the vast amount of technologies, manufacturers, and applications,” he said.

Frictionless Security Systems

Scabora noted that one of the top trends in security today involves the idea that “frictionless” security systems, based on current global environments, are quickly taking shape.

“The application was being cultivated and applied before the pandemic and is being accelerated due to market demand,” he explained. “This demand will generate a quick adoption and technological acceleration for capabilities of security systems and the credentialing that will be required for the systems of the future.”

In regard to security technology that he is excited about, Scabora believes that the evolution of what a credential is is changing, from the aspect of encryption and “token” type.

“But I believe it will become increasingly more evident that the way we access physical and digital spaces will quickly become concentrated to a single means of credentialing, such as facial recognition or use of mobile devices, via NFC [Near-Field Communication] and UWB [Ultra-Wideband],” he pointed out. “This helps to further the confluence of IT and physical security, which will continue to become more synonymous as time marches on. This will make each individual end user become more comfortable with the application, leading to better applied security all the way around.”  

Relational and Humanistic Interaction

As we navigate through these unpredictable times brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Scabora stressed the importance of cultivating relationships in order to succeed both personally and professionally.

“The most important piece of wisdom I can impart, in any capacity, is that everything we do needs to be relational and not transactional,” he explained. “If you approach any personal or professional interactions with a humanistic first approach, you will always be able to build a connection between you and any other parties. We work in an industry that is equally as important as it is confusing to those who use it; as a whole, we should continue meeting our end users at their point of comfortability and offer continuous education through relationship building.”

Exciting Times

Scabora was extremely optimistic about the future of the security industry, especially with an abundance of new technology being introduced.

“I believe we are at the most exciting time the security industry has seen thus far,” he said. “The technology is upgrading exponentially year over year, Owners are adopting the new technologies at a rapid pace, and there is an abundance of information available for shared wisdom and lessons learned. I would, however, say that I would like to see a fresh batch of young security individuals to help keep the momentum going.

“There, I believe, is a notion of security being like a traditional residential burglar alarm,” he continued. “Whenever I mention to another person that I work in the ‘security’ industry, there is a connotation that comes with that. Once I spend the time to explain what we really get to do, the technology we get to wrap ourselves in, and the vastly different types of projects there is a thought-provoking change in dynamic.”

Scabora took an artistic approach when asked what could be done to recruit more talented, diverse young people into the security industry.

“I see there being a need to educate and really present what the security industry is, as an artist,” he said. “The different realms of security allow for those with many different types of ‘canvases’ eager and waiting for their chance to paint their masterpiece. I look forward to helping bring in the next generation of artists into our lovely little world.”