Design now and be ready later: a lesson for 2021

If there’s one lesson we can take from 2020 into 2021, it’s that it’s so much better to be prepared than not.

The rollout of vaccination programmes has brought hope that some sense of normality will return in 2021. The problem is that no one knows what it will look like. This is why Welcome Gate is helping clients to think and plan ahead for what could happen. To design now for quicker deployment later. This article explains how.

A remote approach to security

Many businesses weren’t ready for the sudden transitioning away from working in the office to working from home. You can anticipate and be ready for future lockdowns by adopting security devices connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) and migrating your systems to the cloud. These enable you to check on your sites and allow access to others through your mobile phones. They also allow engineers to monitor and run checks on video surveillance cameras and fire detection devices from afar, and guarding services to be outsourced to external operations centres.

The pandemic-ready office

You can prepare for infection spikes or future pandemics through a variety of means. Upgrades to access control platforms to enable contactless entry can inhibit transmission through contaminated surfaces. Improvements to heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems can ensure that a fresh supply of clean air is circulated continuously through indoor spaces. And AI-augmented video surveillance and analytics are now capable of counting numbers of people in spaces and predicting efficient cleaning schedules based on usage and demand.

Extracting more value from security

If your business is under pressure to perform with fewer people, then you’re probably keen to extract more value from your security products. The great thing about modern security systems is that they don’t just prevent things from happening (as many still assume). They can also fuel efficiencies and proactive planning across the entire organisation.

This is particularly true of security products with high levels of automation. For example, cloud-based access control systems equipped by biometric authentication grant and deny access by themselves, eliminating the need for staffed entrances and sign-in books. Integrations with building management systems mean that doors can be locked, lights turned off and heating or cooling cycled down automatically when the last person has left a building.

Then there’s integrations with enterprise management systems, like the one we built between the physical security platform, S2, and the HR and ERP platform, Workday. These integrations increase speed and efficiency in the provisioning and deprovisioning of access privileges and eradicate countless manual processes.

Convergence and privacy

We’re predicting more closing of the gap between physical and cybersecurity in 2021, particularly as businesses rely more heavily on IoT devices. Taking steps towards convergence of your IT and physical security teams and disciplines will eradicate any weak links in the security chain that siloed approaches cause. Additionally, with more adoption of biometric authentication methods such as facial recognition, it will become necessary to re-evaluate how you collect, store and share personal information, and find ways of complying better with data and privacy protection laws.

To find out more about how you can proactively prepare for what could happen, instead of waiting and reacting when it does, contact Welcome Gate today for an initial consultation.