ISE® Success Stories

Pritesh Parekh
ISE® West Executive Award Finalist 2016
ISE® North America Executive: Commercial Award Finalist 2016

My first encounter with T.E.N. and the ISE® Programs was through a colleague—he was nominated for one of the ISE® Awards and posted about the honor on LinkedIn. He described his very positive experience so I decided to attended the ISE® West Executive Forum and Awards in 2016.

The Executive Forum portion of the ISE® Programs is particularly beneficial. The roundtables provide a chance to collaborate with my peers on relevant industry topics, and they aren’t bogged down in minute security program details, but encourage discussion on a strategic level that I believe CISOs don't get enough of in our profession. We need that strategy deliberation, and that is why the roundtables work so well. I enjoy being able to meet fellow security executives and professionals at ISE® Programs, where I can learn about their projects and technology initiatives and discover how my team can apply some of their experiences to our own current strategy and challenges.

It’s the high caliber of professionals who attend the ISE® Programs that create such an interactive and beneficial dialogue. At the ISE® Programs, the guest attendance and vendor presence are at more exclusive and manageable levels. I can walk into the event knowing that the people I meet will be worth keeping in touch with when the program is over.

It is always an honor to be nominated for any award, but participating in the ISE® Awards feels especially worthwhile and meaningful. We even published a blog post that helped showcase the achievements of my team, giving us the opportunity to share more about our best practices in the security industry. That recognition has certainly provided our security team with a morale boost, giving us more confidence in our abilities to secure a world-class software company.

If a security executive has garnered a significant amount of success in their career, or if a security team has put together a project that has performed well in their system, I think they should absolutely enter the ISE® Awards. Whether you leave the program as a nominee, finalist, or winner, just being a part of the ISE® Awards gives you and your team greater visibility among peers and colleagues and provides you with the recognition you truly deserve for all your hard work. I really appreciate the high quality experience that T.E.N. provides at their ISE® Programs.