The hottest trend in access control for large enterprises is to provide more centralized control of systems at multiple locations. In this article, SDM profiles three access control system upgrades that, to varying degrees, have added centralized control.
At one end of the spectrum is a large manufacturer, which has 55 locations that operate autonomously but have a real-time feed into a centralized database. At the other end of the spectrum is a major utility company that is upgrading its 70-location system so that it will be controlled by a database driven by an interface with the company’s human resources system. Our third example is a large financial firm whose chief concern was that its new central command station could back up access control systems at five satellite locations.