HID ANZ sales director for Identity and Access Management Solutions Bernard Evans has a knack for waxing lyrical about the power of Privileged Identity Management (PIAM) systems to streamline access and security at facilities.
A PIAM-based system relies on high levels of automation – and subsequent convenience and productivity – to overcome the clumsiness of physical access control and allow people to enter, exit and move around a facility independently and safely.
HID SAFE is one such PIAM-based digital access and security management system that offers a completely “centralised view” and specialises in managing “access for everyone”.
In illustrating how PIAM can enhance – rather than render obsolete – a facility manager’s role in access and security management, Evans indulges in a daydream about working as a concierge in a hotel and navigating the fallout of manual access systems. While reliable, manual systems can distract from the often forgotten people-centric nature of facility management.
“Your day is spent dealing with the friction that can come from trying to solve problems from a manual access point of view,” he says. A building automation expert, Evans joined HID in 2012 from a vast career background in aircraft avionics engineering and airport electronic systems.
PIAM – a centralised management system that Evans says is the largest innovation in the security industry from an identity management perspective – enables facility managers to spend more time interacting with people in a productive and positive way.
Like an FM without their PIAM
According to Evans, labelling PIAM as an essential tool for FMs is an understatement, particularly when managing buildings that possess occupational limits and necessitate transferring 300 or more people across buildings during a renovation or evacuation.
“PIAM is a technology that seamlessly moves people without disrupting them and gives them all the information to understand challenges when making changes,” he says.
Evans is well accustomed to people being bewildered by the multi-purpose power of the PIAM-based HID SAFE. “I always remember when I was in a discussion with one of the engineers who said, ‘Really? Does it do all of that?’”
HID SAFE sits in the boundary between digital identity and physical access management and emerged from brainstorming possible antidotes to challenges in access management and security.
A building automation expert, Evans joined HID in 2012 from a vast career background in aircraft avionics engineering and airport electronic systems.
PIAM overcomes obstacles inherent in disparate physical systems
Evans says security and access management for large companies with a vast digital identity catalogue can be incredibly difficult, therefore HID is committed to developing efficient and non-clunky risk management in security via PIAM.
“We just wanted to make sure people can get to where they need to go and do the work they need to do with the least amount of friction,” says Evans.
He says a major hindrance to seamless access control is companies relying on “several disparate physical access control systems” that are not connected and integrated.
PIAM’s power lies in centralising identity lifecycle management into an easily accessible location to discern an attribute’s status.
“From that single point, it doesn’t matter how many systems you’ve got, everything is in one spot, which also helps when you start changing systems downstream when they get older. You’ve got all the centralised data and if something happens, whether it be by region, location or identity type, it doesn’t matter how many systems you have, you can simultaneously integrate to new systems as you acquire businesses,” says Evans.
Hesitancy to future-proof through centralisation is hazardous
An individual system has merit in isolation, says Evans. However, complications arise when systems are fused together. Operating in silos was appropriate in past eras when decentralisation was popular and cross-pollination and intercompany collaboration were rare. A somewhat unlikely hero for centralised security solutions came via the internet.
“The internet has been a huge opportunity for many organisations to improve operations by introducing centralisation to better serve customers,” says Evans.
PIAM is still a relatively fledgling digital management system, meaning it is often damaged by misconceptions. Evans witnesses organisations panicking and overhauling an entire system due to misunderstanding the value of PIAM.
“Unfortunately, the biggest problem is that people are just not aware that PIAM for physical identity management exists,” he says. This gap in understanding PIAM encouraged HID to create a more efficient security system. “HID seized this opportunity and via acquisition created the first PIAM,” he says.
Evans explains how PIAM is more than an access system that opens doors.
“It’s a key management system for bike locks and car parks, even for locker and storage systems.”
Similar to the widespread fear that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will replace jobs, Evans observes people claiming PIAM is capable of eradicating the need for human involvement. However, PIAM can be used in collaboration with physical access.
“It does not replace physical systems such as security guards, CCTV and lanyards – those systems are an important part of this ecosystem,” says Evans.
Evans sympathises with the fears of those reluctant to embrace a new technology, yet labels this failure to launch as hazardous, as it can reflect a wider unwillingness to future-proof systems.
“You’ve got to find the right people to represent you and support these technologies,” he says. “It’s a huge investment in time and money because you’re taking people away from things that make money today.”
However, he underscores access woes and the subsequent destabilisation of a day’s proceedings. “There’s nothing worse than turning up late to a meeting and you then have this extra step of signing in with paper and pen or waiting in line for access and by the time you get through it, you’ve lost 15 minutes,” says Evans.
HID SAFE relies on PIAM as an integration platform functioning on high levels of automation to allow people to access a facility at any time of day.
Self-service would erase a familiar annoyance
Evans narrates an irksome situation all too familiar to people who work in facilities, whether that be a 40-storey office building on Collins Street, a shopping centre or a school. “When you lose a badge, it can take weeks to get a new one because there’s all kinds of compliance,” he says.
HID SAFE relies on PIAM as an integration platform functioning on high levels of automation to allow people to access a facility at any time of day.
It centralises information via a single platform and manages access for a visitor or an employee who frequents a building five days a week.
Moreover, Evans would like to see more industries follow in banking’s footsteps and welcome self-service as a security and access control method. He envisages a future where someone can use an app with in-built security credentials to request a new card.
“Self-service is something we have never seen in the security industry, it’s something we associate with banking – accessing your app and knowing everything about yourself.“People can apply for access without having to pick up the phone and disrupt others in the organisation,” says Evans.
Self-service security also slashes the amount of calls to the helpdesk and smoother drop-offs for delivery drivers. “Self-service frees up operators to be more proactive alongside contractors and vendors that are simply trying to get about their work and access a facility,” says Evans.
Evans says the self-service uptake has already been a “game changer” for large industries and organisations such as mining and manufacturing that have access populations anywhere from 65,000 to 130,000 people.
“When you assume there’s maybe 600 people per day having to change their profiles or losing cards, that’s a lot of maintenance,” he says. “If organisations adopt PIAM, the improvements and efficiencies for their security and productivity are immense.”
A frictionless environment
HID SAFE allows for an “incredibly frictionless environment”, says Evans. It remedies the past reality of needing to go to individual systems and email people directly to discover points of access.
“The aim is for everybody to be productive and not delayed because everybody contributes to an organisation’s income,” he says. “The system provides a centralised view and ensures when you are put into other systems, you are always unique. There’s no misrepresentation and human error when people enter your name.”
The act of resetting a password or calling the help desk can take 10 to 15 minutes, which is time better spent talking to a client or having a meeting with a colleague. “Time is lost for people suffering the problem and the people taking the call,” says Evans.
Additionally, a centralised system comes with minimal risk. “From an operational risk, I would say it’s better than it ever was before. All the information is sitting in one place and it’s a cloud-based solution, which has amazing abilities in terms of backup and duplication,” says Evans.
Potential hackers or those breaching security have to go through the impenetrable force that is HID SAFE to access information.Airtight security is achieved through PIAM anonymising the information that will appear in downstream systems.
“If there’s a risk downstream, instead of putting your full name in that downstream system, we’ll have something in place of IT that anonymises your data,” says Evans.
Automatic, systematic and hydromatic
Evans underscores PIAM as a valuable automation tool. “With automation, you prevent manual intervention and it really doesn’t matter where you are, you can still make sure the facility runs smoothly.”
The power of automation is demonstrated by the work of Jana Johnson, the Australian War Memorial’s facility manager. She references a slightly Mission Impossible-esque story to illustrate how automatic remote-controlled technology can deliver efficient outcomes for facilities.
“We have to make sure the site is in darkness just before the Anzac Day dawn service starts,” says. “I once had to run around to three different buildings and turn circuit breakers off but now I just use an iPad to turn the Memorial lights into Anzac Day mode.”
Evans cites an example of AI working in conjunction with automation to proactively keep a facility secure in the event of someone badging illegally across multiple doors. “The system now has the smarts with AI to pick up that someone has attempted entry across more than two doors,” he says.
Security will be able to act immediately as they are armed with information to make the necessary decisions. “The system will possibly do a preliminary audit against the card to help understand why this incident is happening and what they need to do in the future to make the environment better,” says Evans.
COVID-19 gave contact tracing a good name
Although contact tracing nudged its way into the spotlight during lockdown, as managing users of a space became crucial, Evans says this caveat of visitor management has existed in access and security management for years.
“The pandemic proved that you need to be aware of the existing environment and make sure you educate anybody who is coming in contact with your organisation to allow them every opportunity to be safe,” says Evans.
A vast array of people enter a facility every day, a system such as HID SAFE enables facilities to exercise a duty of care.
Safety must be guaranteed before someone even sets foot in a facility, Evans says.
“A digital visitor management system not only protects people before they get there by screening them and giving them information on how to arrive safely, but also protects them if something happens at the facility.”
Photography supplied.
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