Your organization deals with various forms of sensitive information. It could be company secrets, customer data, or proprietary research — whatever the case, security should be your top priority.
This is especially true given the heightened security concerns worldwide, with malicious actors targeting businesses everywhere. As such, you must protect your business’s interests and comply with regulatory requirements for data protection. One way to do this is to implement an access control management solution.
What Is Access Control Management Software?
Access control management software helps you control who can access or view specific resources within your organization, when, and under which conditions. This includes physical assets, such as office buildings, and digital assets, such as databases, networks, and applications.
Key Features of Access Control Management Software
For access control software to work as it should, it must have several key features, including the following.
User Authentication and Authorization
Although they’re primarily used together, sometimes synonymously, authentication and authorization are two different security practices.
Authentication is the process of verifying or confirming that a user is who they say they are when trying to access a system or resource. It utilizes various methods, such as user IDs and passwords, biometric scans, and security tokens. When a system authenticates or confirms a user’s identity, it grants them the right to access the resources to which they have permission through authorization.
Authorization is the process by which a system determines the user’s access level and the actions they can or can’t perform.
Real-Time Monitoring and Alerts
Access control software should also allow you to oversee all the activities within a system. To do this, the software leverages features such as activity logs, which provide real-time monitoring. Activity logs provide a record of all successful and failed access attempts, which is essential for creating a detailed audit trail.
Real-time monitoring works in conjunction with alerts. If the system discovers suspicious activities, it raises an alarm and notifies the designated security personnel. Suspicious activities can include multiple failed log-in attempts, unusual access patterns, or access outside normal hours.
Integration With Other Systems
For a comprehensive security setup, the access control management software you choose should integrate seamlessly with your existing systems. It should easily integrate with security systems, identity and access management systems, ERPs and CRMs, HRIS, operating systems, and more.
Benefits of Implementing Access Control Management Software
Access control management solutions have evolved from simple lock-and-key mechanisms to sophisticated security solutions. As such, these modern solutions offer your organization more benefits, including the following.
Better security is the most significant benefit of implementing a modern access control management system. By eliminating the risk of unauthorized individuals accessing sensitive resources, you minimize the risk of breaches that can impact your organization’s overall security.
Moreover, since most of these solutions provide a centralized management platform, you gain comprehensive oversight and control over who can access what within your organization.
Improved Compliance With Regulatory Standards
With so many industry-specific regulatory standards and requirements, your organization has much to keep track of to ensure compliance. For instance, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) have several data security requirements that organizations must meet. Failure to do so can result in severe penalties.
Access control management software can help you avoid these penalties and other consequences, such as losing customers’ trust, by ensuring sensitive data can be accessed only by authorized personnel.
Operational Efficiency and User Convenience
Enhanced security translates into operational efficiency and cost savings. This is because your organization no longer has to deal with costly security incidents.
Moreover, access control management systems help automate tasks like access provisioning and audit trails, which would otherwise require manual intervention. This automation reduces the time and effort your staff needs to spend on repetitive tasks and helps expedite users’ access to vital resources.
Factors to Consider When Selecting Access Control Management Software
Before settling on an access control solution for your organization, there are several factors you must consider. It’s important to understand that your organization has unique needs, and just because a solution works for another organization in your industry doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for you. Therefore, you must consider the following.
Ease of Use
The most important factor to consider before implementing an access control management system is its ease of use. It doesn’t matter how good a solution claims to be; if it proves too technical for your employees, it may lead to adoption challenges and inefficiencies.
That said, before adopting an access control system, ensure it has a user-friendly interface and intuitive features. Features like navigation menus and search bars are vital for helping users find what they need quickly and easily. Additionally, look for a solution that offers customization options for tailoring the interface and features to match your organization’s workflows.
Scalability
Your organization will likely, at some point, experience growth. When that happens, you’ll need a solution to accommodate additional users, locations, and access points without compromising your performance or security. Therefore, when you’re looking for access control management software, ensure that it’s scalable, including:
- Flexible licensing: This allows you to add more users and devices at an affordable cost.
- Cloud-based architecture: A cloud-based system facilitates scalability because it doesn’t require new hardware installations.
- Modular design: This design allows adding new features and functionalities without disrupting your operations.
Cost and ROI
Even if an access control management solution has all the features your organization requires to achieve its security goals, it must make financial sense. A solution that is too expensive may not give you the best return on investment, although the cost isn’t always just about the initial purchase price. It’s also about the ongoing expenses, such as maintenance, support, training, and upgrades. When you factor in all these, the ROI should justify your investment over time.
By the way, a costly solution doesn’t always have the best features or capabilities. Therefore, do your due diligence and compare features across solutions at different price points to ensure you get the best value for your money.
Leading Access Control Management Software
When considering access control software, it’s important to first differentiate between the two main types: physical and digital access.
- Physical Access Control: Manages entry to physical spaces using hardware like keycards, biometric readers, and surveillance systems. Examples include Kisi, ADT, and Salto.
- Digital Access Control: Regulates access to digital systems and networks, focusing on user authentication and permission management. Solutions like Netwrix are in this category.
Many solutions offer hybrid capabilities, combining aspects of both categories. Here are some of the best access control management solutions you should consider:
Kisi
This cloud-based access control management software has the following features:
- Mobile access
- Remote global management
- Integration with more than 20 security systems, including video surveillance
- Lockdown features
- Scalability
ADT
ADT is a video surveillance system that can help your business monitor movement within its building. Its key features include:
- Mobile app accessibility
- Integration with other alarm systems
- Remote access control
ISONAS
ISONAS eliminates the need for complex control panels by offering pure IP access control. Its features include:
- Real-time access management
- Easy installation
- Minimal hardware requirements
- Customizable dashboards
Brivo
Brivo provides cloud-based access control management and video surveillance. It also offers several mobile applications for access management in intelligent buildings, like Brivo Mobile Pass. Brivo’s standout features include:
- Multifactor authentication
- Video integration
- Analytics
Salto
Salto provides multiple access solutions for buildings, including contactless cards, digital key technology, and radio-frequency identification bracelets. Some of its features include:
- Keyless access
- Remote management
- Temporary PIN codes for visitors
- Data and event logs
Netwrix
Netwrix Privileged Access Management solutions helps organizations control digital access to critical resources by managing access to systems, infrastructure and networks. Some functionalities include:
- Implementation of just-in-time access
- Access approval and certification
- Service account management
- Enforcement of zero trust privileged access
Implementation Strategies for Access Control Systems
You’ve finally chosen an access control system; all that is left is implementing it. This might look easy, but the solution may not work as expected without a strategic implementation. To successfully implement the solution, you can incorporate the following best practices:
- Train your staff: This is the most important task because if employees don’t know how to use the software, your investment will be in vain. As such, set time aside for employees to attend training programs on how to use the system effectively.
- Implement a phased rollout approach: Instead of implementing the access control solution across all departments simultaneously, it’s best to start with one or two departments and then monitor the system’s performance. You can then use the lessons you learn from the initial rollout to improve your implementation in subsequent phases.
- Establish clear communication: During the implementation process, it’s vital to maintain communication with all stakeholders using the system. This helps catch any issues early and address users’ concerns regarding the software.
Advanced Features and Technologies in Access Control Software
Technological advances have led to new access control software features in recent years. Some of these features include the following.
Biometric Systems and AI Integration
As AI adoption takes shape across different industries, access control software hasn’t been left behind. AI integration with biometric systems has enhanced security and efficiency in access control.
Biometric systems can now accurately and swiftly authenticate individuals through facial recognition, fingerprint scanning, and even iris detection by leveraging machine learning algorithms. Moreover, due to AI’s continuous learning and adaptation, the accuracy of biometric identification improves over time, reducing the occurrence of false positives and negatives.
Mobile and Cloud-Based Access Controls
Due to advancements in mobile technologies, you can now access secure areas and resources by using your smartphone as a key. Moreover, with the integration of cloud technology in access control software, users can unlock doors, grant permission, and monitor access activity from anywhere, which is vital for enhancing both convenience and security.
Maintaining and Updating Your Access Control Systems
One of the most important best practices for ensuring your access control systems work as they should is performing regular maintenance and updates.
Upgrading Software and Hardware
As with most technologies, regular updates mean better security and performance. Therefore, it’s crucial to ensure that your access control systems are running on the latest updates and patches.
To ascertain whether your software and hardware are running on the latest and most secure update, you should stay in contact with your system’s vendor. Additionally, you can implement a routine schedule to check for and install updates.
Routine Maintenance Tips
Routine maintenance is also crucial for optimal performance. Some tips you can adopt include:
- Checking all physical components of your access control system, such as door locks, card readers, and control panels, for signs of wear and tear.
- Periodically reviewing permissions and auditing user profiles to ensure that only authorized individuals have access to secure areas.
Ensuring Ongoing Compliance and Security
You should also perform regular security audits to assess the overall security posture of your access control systems and ensure compliance.
To do so, you can use existing laws and regulations as benchmarks to perform your audits. For instance, standards such as the GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS can help you identify hidden vulnerabilities and verify that your security measures are up to standard.
You can also implement continuous monitoring tools to track system performance and security in real time. Ongoing monitoring ensures that you can quickly identify and address security issues and anomalies, which is essential to avoiding system downtime and costly repairs.
Future Trends and Innovations in Access Control Technology
From simple lock-and-key mechanisms to sophisticated digital solutions, access control systems have come a long way. To say that we’ve reached the peak of innovation in regard to access control technology would be premature.
- Predictive Analytics. With the adoption of AI still in its early stages, we’ve yet to experience its full capabilities in access control software. You should expect to see trends like predictive analytics, where instead of access control systems reacting to security incidents, the systems anticipate these incidents in advance. This will help prevent incidents from occurring altogether, or at least enable security personnel to rapidly respond to them when they do occur.
- Zero Trust Models. Traditionally, and even now, access control systems relied on an “inside is safe, outside is safe” kind of defense. But this model has proved to be unreliable and vulnerable to sophisticated cyber threats. Zero Trust security, on the other hand, assumes that threats may already be present both inside and outside the network. As such, the future will see more organizations incorporating continuous verification of users and devices, regardless of their location or network environment.
How Netwrix Can Help
The importance of implementing access control management software cannot be understated. Given its numerous benefits, the investment involved is more than justified. However, physical access control management is just one piece of your larger security strategy. To fully secure your organization and its resources, you must also focus on data security.
Netwrix can complement any access control management software to help you achieve comprehensive security across all layers. Our privileged access management software enables you to keep track of all privileges within your systems, clean up privileged access artifacts, monitor activity in real-time, and manage your privileged activity in one place.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is access control management software?
Access control management software is any technology that controls who can access or view specific resources within an organization or system, when, and under which conditions.
What are the three types of access control?
There are several types of access control, including:
- Role-based access control (RBAC)
- Attribute-based access control (ABAC)
- Discretionary access control (DAC) or Dynamic access control (DAC)
- Mandatory access control (MAC)
What is the most used access control system?
Passwords are most commonly used, especially on mobile phones, laptops, and computers.
What is an example of access control management?
An example of access control management is when you must log in to your banking app. Before you can access it, you must provide your username and password. If you’ve enabled multifactor authentication, the application may require another short code sent via email or text to allow you in.
