Andy Grove, the founder and former chairman of Intel Corporation, calls it an inflection point: “a time in the life of a business when its fundamentals are about to change.” Access control has reached one of these points. IT technology is starting to impact every area of a traditional system. While much has been written about the use of the corporate network and about new forms of credentials, the changes in computer software will also be profound.

Historically, access systems have been hosted by a computer running a traditional Windows program. If additional workstations were required, each used an additional client program. There is, however, a growing trend to question this basic design. At the center of the changes is the browser user interface standardized by the Internet. Let's have a look at a few examples of how some creative people have used that interface to change the basics of access control.

Spreading out the Task

Fundamentally, access control management applications haven't changed in 25 years. You fill in a database that either allows people to get in the door or not. What has changed is the way these systems get administered. Over the years, system size and complexity have increased, so the job of maintaining the access database has mushroomed. While large companies today routinely tie their systems back to an HR database to reduce that workload, such interfaces only solve half the problem. They contain the “who” information, but the information on where each person can go, and when, is still missing. Instituting a rule- or policy-based approach that allows a certain type of employee certain levels of access will help, but it is not a cure. There are always exceptions.

Worse, the trend is for the number of controlled doors in buildings to increase. With more doors, a policy-based system becomes less effective at reducing the administrative workload. Why will the number of doors increase? I have discussed this subject on these pages in greater depth in the past, but converting the door hardware to an IP-based technology has the potential to cut total system cost by a third. (See ST&D Jan.2005: “IP Access on the Way.”) Less cost per door means more doors.