Chris Price reports from IFSEC in May, where access control influencer and thought leader, Lee Odess, explained why the access control market is perfectly placed to take advantage of a $60 billion enterprise software opportunity.
The access control market is going through an ‘inflection point’ which will result in big industry changes over the coming years, Lee Odess told a packed audience at a security tech talk at IFSEC.
An industry in transformation?
An expert on the access control and smart lock industry, Odess said that while the industry has been characterised by the words ‘no and slow’ when it comes to adopting new technology, this is no longer the case.
Lee Odess speaking at IFSEC 2023
“What’s happened is that Covid has accelerated a handful of changes, particularly around digital transformation.”
According to Odess, although many commentators talk about IT convergence as the biggest impact the industry faces, it is also likely from enterprise software, as well as cloud and mobile computing.
He said that rather than looking at mobile as an ‘iteration of existing legacy systems’, external companies such as Apple and Amazon (which owns companies in the security sphere, such as Ring) are focusing on a mobile first approach.
“Complete systems are being built around the concept of an admin and an end user providing total control from a mobile computing device.”
Access control “perfectly positioned” to take advantage of business opportunities
Whereas previously the expectation of an access control system was ‘to keep the bad guys out’, now it’s about ‘letting the right people in.’
“For the last 30 years our systems were seen as doing their job if you walked up to them and they didn’t work because at least you weren’t letting someone in who shouldn’t be there,” Odess told the audience.
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With this shift towards ‘letting the right people in’ comes a massive business opportunity for the access control system to become the hub for a whole host of other services. He estimated this could be as much as a $70 billion market, far bigger than the $10 billion market opportunity that’s often quoted.
“This $60 billion difference is in enterprise software that is being created.”
He cited London-based company Smart Spaces as one example of a company that is offering integrated services – or ‘frictionless technology’ as it calls it – at 22 Bishopsgate in the heart of the city.
“Here’s an enterprise software system that sists on top of access control so that when I walk in, I can control just about everything I want with my phone, from tapping to enter the building, ordering a latte and reserving a room.”
Whereas previously admins of access control systems knew nothing about the end user (other than how many people had cards or fobs), this has changed completely. “Now almost overnight we have a new stakeholder – the person who has interacted with our system – and with that comes a completely different expectation.”
Far from being a system to keep people out, access control needs to embrace the end user. And while Odess warned of companies moving into the sector with very deep pockets, he said that access control providers were perfectly placed to take advantage of the software opportunity.
“I don’t care how good the lattes are, if I don’t feel safe and secure in a building I’m not going to go in.”
Listen to Lee Odess speaking earlier this year with IFSEC Insider Managing Editor, James Moore, on the Security in Focus podcast…
