Jim Coleman to receive SSN Security Legend Award

YARMOUTH, Maine—Security Systems News is excited to announce the winner of its second annual Security Legend Award, which recognizes security industry professionals who have been leaders throughout their careers, and who continue to selflessly give back to help push the industry forward.

SSN is proud to honor Jim Coleman, who founded and ran Operational Security Systems (OSS) for nearly half a century, with the 2020 Security Legend Award. Coleman joins Bill Bozeman, president and CEO, PSA Security, and Jim Henry, independent consultant, inaugural winners of this annual lifetime achievement award. SSN will present the award to Coleman at our SecurityNext virtual conference, Feb. 24-25, 2021.

“I was very honored and humbled back in February to receive the first Legend Award along with Bill Bozeman; it is an even greater honor now that Jim Coleman will be joining us,” said Henry.  “All systems integrators seek to be a ‘trusted advisor’ to our clients. Jim is recognized in that capacity by all stakeholders in the security industry (consultants, manufacturers, end users and his integrator peers).”

Coleman’s soft-spoken style also makes him “the gentleman of our industry,” Henry added. “Jim does not need to raise his voice to be heard.  I have noticed that when Jim speaks, the room goes silent as everyone values his perspective. Congrats to Jim for this well deserved recognition of career achievement!”

Coleman founded Operational Security Systems, a security systems integrator, directly upon graduating from Georgia Tech, and with his brother Tom built OSS into a respected specialty contractor with offices in Atlanta and Orlando, approximately 50 employees and annual revenues of about $10 million. Clients like The Coca Cola Company, Delta Air Lines, Home Depot, GTRI and UPS brought projects locally, regionally and internationally for the past 45 years. OSS was acquired in 2017 by Convergint Technologies, a $1 billion systems Integrator based in Schaumburg, Ill.

“I am honored to be chosen for this Security Legend Award,” Coleman said. “For 50 years I have found this industry to be challenging, fulfilling and fun! I am reminded that most success comes through interacting with others: to learn what (and what not) to change; to confirm (or discount) observed trends; and to share ideas, best practices and painful lessons learned. Being on dealer advisory boards, attending Industry conferences and belonging to industry alliances has fostered, for me, a community of acquaintances and friendships that have encouraged the mutual sharing and honing of insights and knowledge.”  

Coleman has been active in both industry and community, serving as the past president of the Buckhead Rotary Club and a past Board Chairman of Senior Citizen Services of Metropolitan Atlanta. He served as President of Security-Net, an international organization of affiliated security integration companies, participated on many corporate advisory boards and has authored numerous technical articles for industry magazines.

Coleman and his wife Darlene live in Sandy Springs, Ga. He currently serves on the board of AppBarry, an Atlanta based software developer of cloud and mobile based applications and as an advisor to TeqCharging, an IoT startup that has developed and markets an electric vehicle charging control platform.

Studying the “impact of technology on our society” has been one of Coleman’s lifelong learning passions, he said, noting,  “Since ‘getting out’ of Georgia Tech the world has transitioned from the beginning of the 3rd to the beginning of the 4th Industrial Revolution. These are exciting times for our industry with the confluence of Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, 5G Communication Networks, IoT, and Two-Sided Platforms, ushering in exciting opportunities for technologically adept organizations.”

He added, “Those that embrace and leverage the opportunities presented by these 4^th Industrial Revolution elements over the next decade will become the next generation of Security Legends.”

Monitoring how these technologies disrupt and transform the physical security marketplace in the 2020 decade seems like “a worthy endeavor” in the twilight of his Integrator career, Coleman said.

Come join us in honoring Coleman at our Security Legend Award Reception on Feb. 24. 2021 at our virtual SecurityNext conference.