Front Cover Feature Access Control Read more online at www.securitymattersmagazine.com
The Future of Access
Management
In conversation with Security Matters, Stephanie Ordan (Vice-President of Digital and
Access Solutions at ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions for the EMEA) talks about the
future of access control and outlines how the company’s recently launched Incedo
platform-based access management solution will address the ever-changing landscape
Q: When looking at the market as a
whole, what major forces do you see
impacting the access control sector in
the next few years?
Stephanie Ordan: We’re on the brink of
significant change in access control. In
fact, change beyond access control. From
a forward-looking perspective, it’s
becoming less useful to talk about
building management functions in
isolation. Rapid urbanisation and
technological change mean systems are
being used simultaneously every day and
often with unnecessary duplicated
administrator workload across platforms.
As a leading manufacturer in the
EMEA security market for many years
now, our challenge is to develop
solutions which create a seamless
experience for security managers and
building users. Providing intelligent and
seamless solutions designed to meet the
changing needs of our customers is
critical in this fast-moving environment.
Analyst TechNavio forecasts that the
demand for Access Control-as-a-Service
will grow at 22% annually through
2022*. Technologies like wireless locking
and secure mobile keys on a smart
phone have now become mainstream
and render electronic access control
increasingly attractive propositions for
small and medium-sized businesses.
Q: How would you define a smart
building that provides a seamless
experience for its users?
Stephanie Ordan: A smart building
needs an ecosystem where data flows in
every direction. Intelligent analytics
track use, the environment and more
data points to make better automated
decisions in real-time.
The way in which we live, work and
move continually evolves. Here at ASSA
ABLOY Opening Solutions EMEA, we
understand that, when it comes to
securing doors and spaces, adapting to
diversity is everything. Flexibility and
simple scalability allow security and
other building functions to facilitate the
changing ways in which we move inside
and through today’s buildings.
Smarter buildings deliver many
tangible benefits. For example, existing
commercial buildings currently waste up
to half of their energy consumption**.
Smart energy management can help to
minimise that waste. Access control has a
role to play here. If the building
management system knows who’s
present, it can modify heating or cooling
systems automatically. This optimises the
thermal comfort for occupants while also
reducing energy consumption, cost and
the overall carbon footprint. This only
happens when systems are joined up.
The European Council for an Energy
Efficient Economy estimates that smart
building technology will reduce energy
use by at least 15%***. Automated
controls and smart software are the key
ingredients here. Recent research
conducted by commercial property
expert JLL identified a rent premium of
between 8% and 10% for smarter and
more sustainable office buildings
alongside lower vacancy rates****. These
efficiencies go part of the way towards
explaining precisely why.
Q: You’re talking about systems
integration then? Of course, this has
been a growing trend in access control
and security across many years now
Stephanie Ordan: At ASSA ABLOY
Opening Solutions EMEA, we’ve long
pioneered the benefits of integration.
Our award-winning Aperio wireless
locking technology, for example, is
integrated with access control systems
from over 100 different manufacturers.
The next generation of buildings will
demand that we take another big leap
forwards. Across multiple industries,
leaders identify ‘ecosystems’ as the main
driver of change for their existing
business models*****. Security is no
different in this regard.
Building administrators want a single
solution that’s available everywhere and
unites all of the functions relevant to
them (ie access, locking, CCTV, energy
management and everything else) into a
single, powerful and flexible software
environment. The latest access control
software report produced by Omdia
Technology states that: “Access control
software will play a critical role... for
future innovation”******.
Our new Incedo ecosystem is the
logical next step. Indeed, its first
iteration for commercial businesses is
called Incedo Business.
*To learn more about the new ASSA ABLOY Incedo
system visit https://campaigns.assaabloy
openingsolutions.eu/incedo-business
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