Five Questions: Stephen Grein

Stephen Grein was recently hired as director, Enterprise Solutions, for Guidepost Solutions LLC, a Dallas-based company specializing in compliance, investigations, and security and technology consulting. Grein brings his extensive experience in technology, business expansion strategies, development of engineering solutions, and high-level contract negotiation to the firm. His systems experience includes video systems, cybersecurity, networking equipment and vital network services. Security Systems News asked him five questions.

Are you married? Any children?

I do have a family, and we have been living in North Texas for two decades now, and are part of the Catholic community up here.

What are some of your hobbies?

I was a collegiate swimmer, a scholarship athlete, and water sports are in my blood, so I love to scuba dive and do things like that. I also find myself being kind of a techie or a gear head, so whether I am taking apart my '69 Fiat Spider or trying to figure out how the toaster works, I really like to get in there and take things apart and see if I can make them work a little better.

How did you first get started in the security industry?

I came from the IT world, so I have a lot of success and experience in doing networking, video broadcasting over networking, and that kind of thing. Around the turn of the century I got involved with a company that had a little encoder that eventually became part of someone else's technology for IP, so I functionally got into the industry through IP, which was the next big thing in the market back then.

Are there any particular technology trends you are excited about?

When you start looking at all of the interesting nuances of the word analytics and what analytics can bring to the security role, whether it is making us more secure or creating greater value or being more productive—that is where the industry is going.

Do you have a particular favorite author?

I am an avid Clive Cussler reader, and I have been reading his books since high school. He has created sort of an underwater Bond character, but I really like where he is going with a number of his pieces about security, and he talks a lot about technology.