How Tech Trends Are Shaping Enterprise Access Control
Industry experts weigh in on the end user expectations and megatrends — like the cloud and AI — that are shaping the enterprise-level access control space.
Enterprise-level access control systems generate a large database of cardholders that users want to use for other purposes.
IMAGE COURTESY OF GENETEC
Access control at the enterprise level presents unique challenges. Organizations of this magnitude may operate across many locations, sometimes spanning the globe. Certain megatrends — such as the widespread adoption of cloud-based services — can better equip integrators to meet end user’s needs.
The convergence of technology is also shaping the market as customers increasingly expect a “single-pane-of-glass” solution — one solution for all of their security needs that can be managed from one dashboard. And finally, the promise offered by artificial intelligence (AI) advancements have many industry experts looking at the technology’s potential to meet end users’ needs.
Trending Toward the Cloud
By now, the industry is beyond familiar with the benefits of transitioning to the cloud, which is why unsurprisingly end users are continuing to migrate to those solutions and services based in the cloud.
“I hate to say it because it’s been such a cliché trend for the last 10 years, but I do actually believe it to be the truth,” says Dave Sweeney, district director, Advantech & The Cook & Boardman Group, Winston-Salem, N.C. “We are seeing a lot more end users asking about migrating to a solution that supports cloud first. Three to five years ago, many of them were saying it’s always going to be on the local area network. We’ve been talking about it for so long, but we’re actually starting to see it play out in the real world.”
The added benefit for the enterprise level organization is that transitioning from the local network, on-prem solution to the cloud-based solution can help them manage access across their multiple facilities. “Now, the security management people and the IT managers are putting in these cloud-based systems,” says Jon Kinsey, vice president of business development for national accounts, Integrated Protection Services, Cincinnati, Ohio. “And as we go through their facilities, replacing all of those, they can manage it on one pane of glass — it looks like one account.
“They have a global view of the United States, and they have a dot on that map for every facility that they have,” Kinsey says. “Whether it be Columbus, Detroit, or Albuquerque, if you touch that dot in the browser then it opens up that account and you can see the devices, the logs, and the video feed. It’s much more streamlined and it puts the technology at your fingertips.”
Looking towards the future of security, there are technologies that are reshaping the industry as a whole, which share a common denominator — almost like a backbone. That common denominator is the cloud. “There are several things that are all coming into play together,” says Barton Kartoz, general manager, Secuni, a security integrator based in Edison, N.J.. “One is obviously the cloud. Another is AI. The two are connected in the sense that the really big players in AI are building everything on the cloud.”
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Expectations & Integrations
Coming back to the present, the cloud transition is playing into the end users’ hands. Experts agree that the two most common integration requests are video and AI, and the move to the cloud is making these requests easier for the integrator to meet. “As we’re moving into the cloud it’s more natural and cost-effective to integrate video,” Kinsey says. “Access control and video can integrate together and give you video clips along with every access event that happens.”
It’s always been a separate access system, video system, and intrusion system. With the convergence of technology, I think soon you could easily just start to say you have a security management system, but we’re not quite there yet.
“I think in the future, you might see these systems start to merge together and just be one system,” Kinsey continues. “It’s always been a separate access system, video system, and intrusion system. With the convergence of technology, I think soon you could easily just start to say you have a security management system; but we’re not quite there yet. They still all exist as separate things that you’ve purchased, but I can see that change coming in the future.”
How does the integrator’s perspective on the trends in enterprise-level access control compare to the manufacturer perspective? SDM reached out to get a glimpse at their point-of-view.
SDM: What trends are you seeing in access control at the enterprise-level?
Jonathan Dupont, national account manager, AMAG Technology, Hawthorne, Calif.: We’re really seeing the enterprise access control market come to a balance. If you look historically over the last few years, we’ve been on the seesaw of operational efficiencies versus security. It’s been a trade-off.
You go back to the pandemic and end users wanted people counting. ‘We don’t really care what the enterprise access control system does, we just want it to count people.’ People return to the office and now we need those doors to be a little bit more secure. This year, especially, we’re really starting to see everything come together and balance out where customers are looking for both operational efficiencies and security enhancements.
We’re making a huge call for visitor management within the enterprise access system and tracking how visitors are operating within buildings. What days are they coming in? When are the most popular times for checking in visitors on the operational side? What areas are they going to? Based on that, users may need to create more policies to help keep their organization compliant with any of those security standards.
David Ellis, regional director, enterprise, Genetec, Montreal.: Probably one of the biggest by far would definitely be the cloud. Cloud is a wonderful approach to allowing both the integrator as well as the end user to get out of the server business, which is a huge desire. Especially our enterprise end users have been road mapping our strategy together around how we transition them in that direction.
or the channel, the biggest advantage with cloud is recurring revenue. The other thing that continues to go hand-in-hand with all of that is making it easy to deploy. When you’re in a Software as a Service (SaaS) environment for access control, it just makes it so much easier because you’re not having to go through those end users’ networks and firewalls.
And then the other thing is that, when you’re managing that system, you’re the one pushing the updates. You really are in a much better position to streamline the operation and probably increase those profits along the way.
Steve Barton, vice president of business development, PACOM, Fishers, Ind.: For enterprises, access control technology has become the central component in a system that delivers business intelligence (BI) that makes buildings more intelligent, interconnected, and secure. Using the internet of things (IoT), the cloud and advanced access control systems that allow building services to communicate with ease, enterprises are turning raw data into meaningful information that makes running their buildings more efficient.
Beyond the increased security benefits, this allows building managers to optimize energy use within a building, for example, by analyzing building occupancy data and determining where lighting, HVAC and other building services are truly needed.
An analogy once shared by Dan Rothrock of Zenitel Kansas City, Mo. compares the security world to that of a three-legged stool, with the legs being access control, video, and audio. The convergence of these three is starting to be more present at the enterprise-level. “Video will always be something that is of interest in the enterprise space, but audio is becoming more relevant and important,” Sweeney says. “We’re seeing some of the non-traditional audio companies get into audio, companies like AXIS and Hanwha, companies that make IP connected edge devices are starting to get into audio.”
Sweeney continues, “And we’re seeing customers starting to use audio more. Most often we see it in partially occupied facilities. Do I need a robust audio system in my building if it’s staffed 24/7? Probably not. I just have somebody walk out to the front door and talk to the person. However, let’s say the third shift has nobody on-premise and, second shift is half remote and half in-office. Now some of these remote audio capabilities have become a little bit more relevant.”
As for the convergence of all three technologies — access, video, and audio — Sweeney says, “Then we’re starting to see the combination of all three. Maybe a video analysis flags something and then an audio event triggers, which suggests that the person steps away from the front door. That audio is adding a third layer to some of these automated responses.”
Kartoz echoes this expectation, saying, “At the enterprise level, most people are expecting to have integrated systems where they get both the video and the card access data simultaneously. Everybody expects it right now.”
Single-Pane-of-Glass
“I think the trend towards single pane of glass will continue,” says Kelly M. Smith, director of sales, PSA Network, Central U.S and Canada, Westminster, Co. A big part of this expectation is that end users want to use the massive databases generated by enterprise-level access control solutions for other uses.
“I still think one of the most common ones is Active Directory (AD). The single sign-on initiative is continuing to proliferate in our customers’ environments,” Sweeney says. “They’re now starting to take off the tertiary subsystems, if you will. They did the big ones first. So we’re continuing to see Active Directory integration with a big push for single sign-on throughout most of our larger enterprise type clients.”
Kinsey adds, “Active Directories are a big thing, because it makes it very seamless for managing databases. When you’re talking about enterprise, you’re talking about large cardholder databases. So anything you can do to make managing that data easier is huge.”
John Rathwell, president, Detection Systems & Engineering, Troy, Mich., agrees. “A lot of customers are asking for the access control credential to work for other functions in their building, such as logging on to PCs,” he says. “They want to be able to possibly use it for time and attendance. If you’ve got hourly employees that need to log on, can they just use their access control credential? That way employees are only carrying one credential around that they can use across multiple systems or platforms.”
SDM also tapped manufacturers to see if they had any advice for integrators operating in access control at the enterprise level.
SDM: What advice can you offer access control integrators at the enterprise level?
Jonathan Dupont, AMAG Technology: The biggest tip I can give an integrator is sit down, have the hard conversations with the end user and get to know what their plan is. Sometimes, the end user says, 'I need a reader and all they do is install that reader.' They don’t ask any further questions. They didn’t do anything to understand the 10-year plan of that end user: how they plan to grow; how they plan to evolve as an organization, and where — as a security integrator — you can best help them grow into that plan with technology.
You solve the problem for today, but you create two more in the future. What you installed was perfect for today’s problem, but it doesn’t help them grow. It doesn’t help them evolve or align with who they want to be as an organization. Some end users are going to be a little bit hesitant at first, but once you get them talking about their organization and where they see themselves, not only are you going to create the biggest internal champion for your organization as an integrator, but you’re also going to be doing more than just providing a solution for today. You’re future proofing everything they could ever need.”
David Ellis, Genetec: In any enterprise system, it’s planning. Pull your channel partner in early. With Genetec, we have all three entities at the table, because that’s where all the discovery happens at all angles. And because of that we’re able to basically anticipate potential issues. Most organizations do not need to be stuck in one or the other — on-prem or cloud. Many need to have a hybrid approach to their infrastructure because their needs differ depending on where their locations are or what their application is.
Steve Barton, PACOM: Cybersecurity and security policies are becoming a key part of enterprise access control. Ensure that you choose a system that enforces strong access policies and permissions. By this I mean that accessing the system uses strong authentication, and that users’ access permissions are automated as much as possible, and regularly reviewed.
What AI Means for the Future
As for the future of enterprise-level access control, AI is certainly top-of-mind. “The advancement of AI adoption into access control, and all aspects of electronic security, will continue,” Smith says. “The expression, ‘We don’t even know what we don’t know,’ comes to mind. AI will be deployed and developed in a manner that we can’t yet imagine.”
The advancement of AI adoption into access control, and all aspects of electronic security, will continue. The expression, ‘We don’t even know what we don’t know,’ comes to mind.
Rathwell offers, “Rather than carrying an access control credential, AI is going to use facial recognition. There are some companies doing this now. As I approach a door, it will release the door strike or the mag lock to allow me in. AI is going to tell the system, ‘That’s John Rathwell, he’s allowed to go through this door on this day at this time.’”
Smith shares excitement about AI, saying, “Personally, I’d like to see AI go even further. In all aspects of electronic security, can we train AI to look for things out of the norm? Without predetermined analytics, can AI identify things that don’t usually occur? For example, spotting cars where they aren’t supposed to be with video surveillance; noticing that an employee is in a part of a building they shouldn’t be, etc.? In general, the use of AI in everyday business practices makes security integrators more efficient and professional in the day-to-day operations. Something as simple as an AI-based email crawler to sift, file, and prioritize incoming emails is a huge leap forward, and still not realized to majority of operators.”
It’s easy to get swept up in AI fever. Kartoz offers this piece of grounding advice, “We are here to develop relationships and solve whatever problems that relationship brings to us. We don’t push AI because it’s the next big thing. We talk to the customer about AI and if we see a problem that we think AI will fix, then we’ll discuss it with them.”
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