Access Control as a Service (ACaaS) offers additional revenue and end-user penetration opportunities that traditional access control solutions do not, according to a recent study published by IMS Research (now part of IHS Inc. ), titled The North American and European Markets for Access Control as a Service (ACaaS).
“ACaaS presents more of a plug and play type installation and has opened up the market to the wider installer community including locksmiths that have traditionally not installed access control hardware/ software solutions,” says Blake Kozak, report author and senior analyst at IMS Research. “Other opportunities for ACaaS also exist with smaller end-users, e.g. those with less than 50 doors to manage and within large organizations that cover a wide geography such as utilities that own several hundred substations.”
Facility managers pose a huge opportunity for suppliers of ACaaS. In large office buildings, it’s typical to see facility managers deploying access control equipment at the building entrance and within each office. Rather than having each office maintain a server or having the facility manager administer a server for each tenant, by utilizing ACaaS the manager could pay a fee to have the system managed/ hosted removing the need to maintain that system. Using ACaaS, each tenant maintains their own solution and works closely with the dealer/ provider when updates are required. For the facility manager, security concerns can be passed to a third party and the additional fees charged for ACaaS can be added to the ongoing monthly rent.
In summary, ACaaS could be the answer for suppliers looking to increase market penetration. Small, independent, family-owned businesses are now a real opportunity. The residential sector also cannot be ignored having seen a recent influx of home automation and smart home technologies. With wireless electromechanical locks also gaining in popularity, that can be connected wirelessly to home automation systems or other smart home applications, ACaaS could be the added RMR providers have been looking for.
