Cost efficiency is higher than ever among the priorities of today’s security and facility managers. At the same time, the ways in which they must support their organisation is in a constant state of flux.
Access is one area where cost savings can be made: streamlining access management is often key to achieving more without breaking the budget. Getting the right solution in place represents a long-term investment in the health of a business’ cost base.
Evolving workplace demands
Hybrid work-patterns, increased on-site deployment of contractors, workspace reconfigurations, and increasing compliance demands are no longer exceptions; they are everyday realities in many organisations.
To meet these growing demands, even in times of budget limitations, security and access management must remain flexible, secure, and future ready.
Why access digitalisation matters
Digitalising access, with the latest electronic and electromechanical locking solutions and systems, has become one of the most effective ways to tackle these demands. It provides a concrete return on investment (ROI) which benefits the organisation over the long haul.
In at least the following seven ways, access digitalisation marries increased building security and safety with ongoing, sustainable cost savings.
#1: Eliminating hidden costs in a dynamic organisation
Mechanical access systems were never designed for a world in which change is ever-present and often unpredictable. With traditional mechanical access, every lost key, access update, or organisational shift triggers manual workload, site visits, and additional costs.
Digital access replaces physical interventions with software based control, including remotely. By supporting workflows and not just access, this approach reduces recurring costs while boosting operational agility.
#2: Relieving budget pressures with lower installation costs
Digital access solutions do not usually need extensive wiring or disruptive construction work. Often devices are battery-powered, and so don’t need cabling, or they generate their own operating energy.
A faster, low-footprint installation translates into less need for specialist contractors like electricians and minimal disruption. This directly lowers project costs – an immediate benefit when budgets are tight (which in most businesses, is most of the time).
#3: Reducing admin workload to streamline operations
Manual key-handling consumes time and resources. Digital access enables faster issuing, amending, and revoking of access rights, which reduces workload for security or facilities teams and lowers ongoing labour costs without compromising control.
Digital access devices and systems can also integrate with complementary digital products such as time-and-attendance or visitor management.
By linking access events with workforce and visitor presence, organisations reduce duplicate data entry, minimize errors, and streamline everyday administration.
With these and similar system integrations, security managers deliver additional organisational efficiencies beyond access management alone.
#4: Retiring physical keys to eliminate rekeying costs (and risks)
With digital access, lost credentials can be blocked instantly. This is impossible with mechanical keys, where a missing credential triggers a cycle of emergency callout, locking cylinder replacement, and unplanned expenditure.
This saving represents one of the most tangible cost-efficiency improvements over a digital system’s lifetime. Of course, at the same time, limiting the risk of lost credentials remaining in circulation also boosts site security. It is a win–win for cost and safety.
#5: Deterring security threats to prevent costly incidents
Digital access provides traceability and visibility as standard. Audit trails and access insights help reduce internal incidents, support investigations, and limit the financial impact of breaches.
Higher security also has cost-reduction implications. For example, according to IBM, the average cost of each data leak – as a result of cyber, physical, or hybrid cyber-physical breach – is now EUR 3.75 million.
Still further efficiency gains are achievable when digital access is integrated with other security systems such as CCTV or intruder detection. Correlating access events with video or alarm data helps security teams to respond faster, investigate more efficiently, and avoid prolonged disruption – which also mitigates operational costs.
#6: Staying flexible to minimise reinvestment when the organisation evolves
With a wireless digital access solution, office moves and refurbishments may be handled through reconfiguration rather than construction.
It is often possible to move a wireless access device from door to door, for example, saving time and money.
Existing systems can be extended by adding and seamlessly integrating devices at new openings, instead of starting again from scratch.
In these and other ways, digital access can adapt without new hardware or infrastructure, helping organisations to avoid the duplication of security investment as their needs evolve.
#7: Future-proofing security even when budgets are limited
When budgets are under pressure, long term value performance matters more than short term saving. Over the medium term, digital access significantly reduces total cost of ownership (TCO) by lowering installation, in-use, and change related costs.
This can include the harnessing of technologies such as energy harvesting to reduce costs in a sustainable manner.
Access digitalisation enables organizations to invest once, remain flexible, and be ready for what comes next.
David Moser, SVP & Head of Digital & Access Solutions at ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions EMEIA, said: “Switching to digital access is not about adding complexity or cost. It is about preventing unnecessary repeat expenditure, strengthening security, and ensuring access management can keep pace in an era when organisational change is a constant, across sectors and geographies.”
“This is exactly the approach taken in ASSA ABLOY’s portfolio of Digital Access Solutions. Our solutions are engineered to help security and facility managers reduce costs at the same time as they future proof their buildings.
“Careful management of resources is not a barrier to access digitalisation and workflow innovation, when organizations identify the right solution with ASSA ABLOY – whether this is a new access system or the addition of connected devices to increase the reach and power of an existing system.”
