ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions details their success with the new Wireless Access Control Report: Market trends for 2021 and beyond
The 2020s will be a wireless decade — for consumers and security. In electronic access control, the benefits of wireless include improved cost-efficiency and flexibility, giving facility managers greater control over who should have access, where and when.
A new report sponsored by ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions analyses data from a survey of 400 security professionals. Respondents include end-users, installers, integrators and consultants serving large corporations and SMBs in education, healthcare, industrial, commercial, infrastructure, retail, banking and other sectors.
“Electronic access control continues to become a wireless technology,” says Russell Wagstaff, Platform Director at ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions EMEIA. “Even after a year where many investments have been deferred, the Report finds increased adoption of wireless locks and systems.”
Over a third (38%) of end-users have now deployed wireless locks. The corresponding datapoint from ASSA ABLOY’s 2014 Report was 23%*.
Mobile access control: convenience is now king?
Is mobile access control — based on virtual smartphone keys — already widespread? Among those surveyed, 26% of end-users already offer mobile; 39% plan a rollout within two years.
Convenience is driving adoption — for both building users and facility managers. “Nearly half (47%) agreed that mobile was more flexible than physical credentials, and 36% believe that mobile credentials make it easier to upgrade access rights.”
Convergence: interoperability and its obstacles
Almost every respondent identified the importance of integration across building functions. Half or more would prioritize access control integration with CCTV, alarm and visitor management systems.
However, in practice, deeper integration of systems remains on many “to-do” lists. For most, cost (59%) or a lack of open standards (27%) holds them back. For over a quarter of respondents (26%), lack of expertise is a roadblock — highlighting opportunities for education and service specialization.
Control in the cloud: security and service
One-in-three end-users (35%) manage access in the cloud; of those, around a third employ third-party hosting — Access Control as a Service (ACaaS). The reasons are familiar: cost and convenience.
Most respondents chose “the ability to manage my security from any location at any time” (55%) or “to effectively manage IT infrastructure costs” (50%), or both, from a list of priorities. ”A SaaS solution makes security budgeting predictable,” says Thomas Akerberg, Business Unit Director EMEIA — CLIQ and Pulse, at ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions. “It removes the need to hire additional in-house IT support and maintenance teams: You know ahead of time how much resource to allocate and can scale quickly.”
Sustainability in access control: energy efficiency in the spotlight
The relevance of sustainability continues to grow. Only one respondent in 10 claimed it would not effect their procurement in the coming five years.
The energy efficiency of wireless solutions can have an impact. When asked how access control can contribute to sustainability goals, over half of respondents suggested cable-free installation and operation.
The report notes: “there are energy-harvesting options now available in the market, and many wireless systems ‘switch off’ when not in use, [so] perhaps this represents a development opportunity… as we move towards a more sustainable future.”
To learn more, download a free copy of the Wireless Access Control Report 2021 at https://campaigns.assaabloyopeningsolutions.eu/wacreport2021
For more information please contact:
Thomas Schulz
EMEIA Product Marketing Director
ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions
Phone: +49 (0) 30 8106 2970
E-mail: thomas.schulz@assaabloy.com
Head Office
School Street
Willenhall
West Midlands
WV13 3PW
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Rebecca Morpeth Spayne,
Editor, Security Portfolio
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