From Door to Data
By Russ Gager
April, 2008
Selling single sign-on systems, which provide access to buildings andnetworks with a single credential or biometric, means selling the ROI associated with those systems.
The convergence of physical and logical security has been a favorite topic in the security industry for several years, but its implementation in sign-on systems that use a single card or biometric to access a building and a computer network has been more of a goal than an installation to date.
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| Stand-alone locks also can be integrated with logical security when they utilize card access.
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Manufacturers have been doing their part by creating such systems, but systems integrators are still in the early stages of developing the markets for them. Some single sign-on systems are in beta testing, and the integrators did not want to release information about installations yet. But forward-thinking security companies think the market for converged physical/logical security systems will be quick to develop once the return-on-investment (ROI) can be demonstrated.
Arthur Bourque, president and CEO of Surveillance Specialties Ltd. (SURV), Wilmington , Mass. , has been approaching his customers about single sign-on systems.
"We think the demand is weak," Bourque concedes. "Most of our customers who are in the physical security world aren't aware it is out there. When you sit and talk to them about it, their eyes get big. They start to think about it, and they get excited about it."
A manufacturer of single sign-on systems reports that its integrators are selling and installing systems for customers who are using the access portion, but not the logical sign-on part of the system. Bourque has an idea about why that is happening.
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