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[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”pb-80 padding-box padding-full-left hide-mobile columns-vertical-center”][vc_column][vc_row_inner equal_height=”yes” cms_row_inner_overflow=”” el_id=”rounded-image desktop-view”][vc_column_inner el_class=”vertical-center” width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”22692″ img_size=”syscom_image_rounded” vc_none_hover_effect=””][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=”vertical-center” width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n
\nRole:<\/h4>\n<\/td>\nSenior Director<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n V1 -Manufacturing & Pharmaceutical Department<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n New York Office<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Project Management<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 13 years at SYSCOM<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Hiking, Golfing, Snowboarding, Pickleball<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_mask_bg=”” row_arrow=”” el_class=”pb-30 padding-box padding-full-left display-mobile”][vc_column width=”1\/2″ el_class=”first-column”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=”mb-20″][vc_single_image image=”22692″ img_size=”syscom_image_rounded” vc_none_hover_effect=””][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n Senior Director<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n V1 -Manufacturing & Pharmaceutical Department<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n New York Office<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Project Management<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n 13 years at SYSCOM<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n Hiking, Golfing, Snowboarding, Pickleball<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”pb-80 padding-box padding-full-left”][vc_column][vc_column_text]Frank Cheng doesn\u2019t wait for things to go back to normal. When the pandemic shut down air travel and tied supply chains in knots, SYSCOM clients still needed their systems serviced\u2014but that service is inherently in-person, and Frank couldn\u2019t fly there. So he loaded everything he needed into two cars and hit the road.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>Normally, we just ship out the equipment and fly our teams there for an in-person implementation with the customer,<\/span>\u201d he says. \u201c<\/span>So we packed up about $1,000,000 in equipment into two cars and drove from New York down to Tennessee, up through Michigan, over to the Midwest, and back<\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Frank coordinated interstate travel guidelines and medical tests to ensure they followed policy in each state they visited, and to handle projects in Canada and South America, he tapped SYSCOM\u2019s international team.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “<\/span>We had someone in Canada who could manage the Canadian installs. Someone from South America who could step in closer to there,<\/span>” he says. “<\/span>It was a very fun puzzle to put together.<\/span>”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Frank\u2019s pragmatism and persistence has guided his work as Senior Director of SYSCOM\u2019s manufacturing and pharmaceutical vertical. He leads IT and OT security projects for clients in industries undergoing dramatic operational change on their warehouse floors\u2014and seeing increased cybersecurity threats because of it. For these companies, a single point of failure can be devastating.<\/span><\/p>\n Frank\u2019s job is to see the puzzle pieces and fit them all together.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”pb-80 padding-box padding-full-left hidden”][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”22700″ img_size=”syscom_image_center” vc_none_hover_effect=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”pb-80 padding-box padding-full-left”][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n The manufacturing and pharmaceutical sectors have seen a significant, if quiet, transformation over the past decade. Once largely air-gapped from the rest of IT, OT systems\u2014the machines, sensors, and software that run production environments\u2014are now fully networked.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “<\/span>Operational technology used to be much more isolated<\/span>,” Frank says. “<\/span>It wasn\u2019t necessarily connected to the internet, but a lot of it is now crossing paths with IT. Devices are more intelligent, more complex, and everything is connected.<\/span>“<\/span><\/p>\n This blending of digital and physical systems has introduced a wave of new risks. Traditional IT tools weren\u2019t designed for the legacy protocols, 24\/7 schedules, and real-time demands of OT environments\u2014and historically, OT environments were never considered to be a cybersecurity threat vector.<\/span><\/p>\n “<\/span>In manufacturing, plants go beyond 9 to 5. They run 24\/7,<\/span>” Frank says. “<\/span>Without visibility into your environment, you have no control.<\/span>\u201d And when something goes wrong, it doesn’t just affect one system. It can shut down production, impact safety, or even cause compliance violations.<\/span><\/p>\n In pharmaceutical operations, the stakes are even higher. The same principles that govern low-error drug production also apply to infrastructure. “<\/span>They need strict standards,” Frank says. “When we implement systems for pharmaceutical clients, every phase has to be tested, verified, and qualified. That level of rigor is expected across the board.<\/span>”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Treating OT environments not just as equipment, but as critical infrastructure, requires a new kind of security posture.<\/span><\/p>\n “<\/span>Having visibility of all of your assets is key,<\/span>\u201d says Frank. \u201c<\/span>Being able to monitor it, being able to access it at all different times of the day, but also securing it, separating it from unauthorized access is very, very important.<\/span>“<\/span><\/p>\n But in OT, visibility isn\u2019t a one-time network scan. It\u2019s the ability to monitor activity in real time, across a complex web of systems and protocols that weren\u2019t designed to be connected in the first place. It means understanding what\u2019s normal, detecting what isn\u2019t, and responding with speed. Operating from a reactive standpoint isn\u2019t enough.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n “<\/span>You need preventative security and proactive intelligence,<\/span>\u201d says Frank.<\/span><\/p>\n The rule now isn\u2019t perimeter security or quarterly audits, but full situational awareness built for environments where a missed signal can halt production or trigger a safety event. Operations that fully integrate OT security as part of their cyber infrastructure, instead of a second thought, will be the most resilient.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”pt-120 pb-120 padding-box padding-full-left gray-d0-bg”][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n Senior Director, V1 -Manufacturing & Pharmaceutical Department<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”pt-80 pb-80 padding-box padding-full-left”][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n Providing this kind of visibility is crucial to SYSCOM\u2019s enhancement of IT and OT Security offerings. Both physical and digital security measures create a robust, holistic security posture. Two vendors make up the core of what powers our visibility engine: Verkada and Nozomi Networks.<\/span><\/p>\n “<\/span>Verkada is physical security for the modern enterprise,<\/span>” Frank says. “<\/span>High-definition videos, AI-Powered Identity and Activity searches, Intelligent Access Controls. Things you\u2019d think you\u2019d need a team of people watching cameras in a control room to do. It can detect when someone isn\u2019t wearing a hard hat, when someone is using a phone in a restricted area, or even when chemical emissions are present.<\/span>”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In one use case, Frank supported a heavy metals refining company facing material loss across multiple facilities. He and his team are proposing a system, using Verkada\u2019s camera systems for scale integrations, that would be able to identify when specific individuals consistently moved material in suspicious quantities. “<\/span>That wasn\u2019t feasible with traditional systems,<\/span>” he says.<\/span><\/p>\n Nozomi, meanwhile, brings digital insight. “<\/span>They\u2019re one of the top two vendors in the field,” Frank says. “Their tools provide comprehensive asset visibility, 24\/7 monitoring, and threat detection tailored to industrial environments.<\/span>”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Together, these platforms create an OT security posture that\u2019s not just preventative, but proactive. And for Frank, they also enable something deeper: trust.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”pb-80 padding-box padding-full-left hidden”][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”22713″ img_size=”syscom_image_center” vc_none_hover_effect=”” el_class=”hidden”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”pb-80 padding-box padding-full-left”][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n Frank started at SYSCOM as a customer support engineer. He\u2019s since held roles as a project manager, solutions architect, technical account manager, and operations manager. That path became his toolkit.<\/span><\/p>\n Coming from engineering, he understands the technical challenges his clients are facing. To him, \u201c<\/span>having that technical experience and capability is important for being trusted by the engineers,<\/span>\u201d he says. \u201c<\/span>It\u2019s not just a hypothetical solution. It\u2019s based on experience.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n That hands-on credibility carries over into client conversations. When asked how he handles delivering good results versus delivering bad news to clients, he says it\u2019s not that different.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>It\u2019s one and the same, right?<\/span>\u201d he says. \u201c<\/span>The result is what you\u2019re actually going to achieve. You have to make sure you\u2019re being transparent and setting the right expectations.<\/span>\u201d The path may change as the client walks it, but he\u2019s still delivering results.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>There are many ways to get to a solution. You have to expect hiccups, and it may not be the exact path you intended, but you can still achieve great results.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”pb-80 padding-box padding-full-left”][vc_column width=”1\/2″ el_class=”first-column”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n SYSCOM\u2019s workforce spans a wide range of nationalities, backgrounds, and cultures\u2014something that has shaped how the team solves problems and supports clients around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n “<\/span>We have a diverse set of people and cultures within our company,<\/span>” Frank said. “<\/span>That makes us a good match for our clients, especially those with global operations.<\/span>“<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s not just about translating between languages, it\u2019s about translating between ways of thinking. With engineers and project managers who bring regional expertise and cultural context, SYSCOM is able to deliver solutions that meet technical and operational requirements\u2014while also understanding local business norms and expectations.<\/span><\/p>\n “<\/span>Those differences help us move things forward,<\/span>” Frank said. “<\/span>We can be non-traditional with the customer, and it\u2019s appreciated\u2014as long as you\u2019re genuine and respectful about it.<\/span>\u201d<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”22700″ img_size=”syscom_image_center” vc_none_hover_effect=””][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=”pb-120 padding-box padding-full-left”][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n |