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Why MIS?                                                    P arT 1









                                      FALCON Security is a 5-year-old, privately owned company that uses aerial
                                      drones to provide surveillance and inspection services for customers. Its customers
                                      are large industrial companies that want to reduce their physical security labor
                                      costs or need periodic inspection services for industrial sites. Falcon has contracts
                                      with several large oil refineries in Texas to provide real-time video surveillance of
                                      their sizable industrial facilities. It also does occasional safety inspections on critical
                                      infrastructure components (e.g., flare stacks), which would be difficult and dangerous
                                      to do in person.


                                      Falcon Security’s CEO and cofounder is Mateo Thomas. In the early part of his career
                                      Mateo was a major in the United States Army in charge of physical security at a large
                                      military base in the Middle East. After retiring from the Army, Mateo went to work as
                                      the director of security at a large Texas-based industrial manufacturer. While serving on
                                      a security policy steering committee with business unit managers, he met the young
                                      and ambitious Joni Campbell. He told Joni the company was paying way too much for
                                      physical security. He thought the company could buy a few drones to do the work of
                                      several physical security guards at a fraction of the cost. From his time in the military
                                      he’d seen how drones could be used successfully to improve security with much less
                                      time and effort. The problem was that he didn’t know much about actually operating
                                              the drones. Neither did Joni.

                    Falcon                             A week later, Joni was at a friend’s wedding and saw a wedding
                    Security                              video that included amazing aerial shots of the bride and groom
                                                            on the beach, driving, and walking in the park. Curious, she
                                                              approached the photographer, Camillia (Cam) Forset, and
                                                               asked her how she produced those stunning videos. Turns
                                                                out that Cam did weddings part-time during the summer
                                                                months. Her day job, which she didn’t especially like,
                                                                 was as a regional sales representative for a drone
                                                                 manufacturer. She experimented with drones at a
                                                                 few photo shoots and the results were spectacular.
                                                                Everyone who saw the aerial footage wanted it. She
                                                                was the only photographer in the metro area who could
                                                               produce aerial video, and her business thrived. But
                   Source: SkyAce/Fotolia               with her and Mateo the following Saturday.
                                                              weddings were mostly seasonal, and she still needed her
                                                             day job to pay the bills. Joni knew she’d found the drone
                                                           expert she needed and asked Cam if she’d like to have lunch



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