As we highlighted in our previous blog, it took a while for some end users to embrace Cloud-hosted security services. In its infancy, there were many misconceptions floating around about it and a bit of skepticism as to how secure a Cloud-based solution is. But those misconceptions have been put to rest as Cloud-based solutions continue to prove how secure they truly are.
In addition to the growing popularity of Cloud-based video services that we explored in Parts 1 and 2 of this blog series, increasingly more enterprises are electing to also adopt the Access Control as a Service (ACaaS) model. AcaaS is a cloud-based service that provides centralized control and management of access to physical and digital resources. It combines the advantages of subscription-based software as a service (SaaS) with minimal on-site access control hardware.
With an ACaaS solution, access control hardware such as readers remains on premises, but the software and servers are removed and stored at data centers. End users love the flexibility of being able to control access remotely to grant or revoke access rights as needed, when needed. They can also backup and store data securely using a single platform minus the burdens of deploying and maintaining hardware onsite.
Cloud-based access control is an appealing solution for organizations of all sizes, and an especially attractive one for small-to-mid sized businesses. In terms of hardware costs, they only need to invest in installing access readers because, as stated above, there’s no need to purchase servers or operating systems. They enjoy the peace of mind of a highly secure access control system without the hefty investment in IT infrastructure. They also enjoy savings on what they would otherwise have to pay for in terms of the cooling costs or power consumption associated with a server-based solution.
Performing software upgrades also becomes a thing of the past – users automatically are protected with the latest software versions available as part of their service subscription.
And in an era when compliance with data privacy regulations is critically important, end users can rest easier with an AcaaS model. It provides very detailed reports showing which individuals have accessed data and when. This makes it simple to track and manage user access permissions. User activity is tracked, and alerts are generated in the event of any suspicious activity, safeguarding against dreaded data breaches and any other potential security incidents.
Organizational needs and requirements often change over time; a cloud-based model is easily scaled to meet those changing needs. Administrators can add or remove users, assign access permissions, and manage user accounts from a centralized dashboard. Cloud-based access control solutions have earned their reputation for delivering a more scalable, flexible, and efficient means of access control management. They allow users to more effectively streamline their access control operations, improve security, and easily pivot to changing business requirements more efficiently.