Not a day passes without reference to cloud-based or hosted services. Consumers use cloud services every day with online banking, and now mobile payment is infiltrating retail and hospitality services. Thanks to the cloud, customers can pay for their latte with a smartphone or register as a guest from their connected device.


Assa Abloy, New Haven, Conn., continues to drive the adoption of mobile access credentials in hospitality and other industries, all managed through the cloud. According to Martin Huddart, president of the Americas for Assa Abloy’s Access and Egress Hardware Group, everything is moving to the smartphone.


“Hotel guests don’t even have to visit the front desk,” he said. “Using an app provided by the hotel, guests check into their room via their mobile or connected device and use that process throughout their stay.


“Mobile technology is reimagining the category of access control. Mobile phone access control is now at a tipping point,” Huddart said.


The cloud conversation in security continues to accelerate. According to Reportbuyer.com, a distributor of industry research reports, cloud computing is one of the fastest growing segments in the semiconductor and telecommunication industry, especially access control. Healthcare and municipal government market segments, which formerly shied away from cloud services because of privacy concerns, are now embracing the technology more fully.


Managed security services are not new, but the cloud brings added convenience to users. Customers can control or manage any part of their service or have their security provider provide administration. They don’t need an on-site server or data center, so costs are lower and more easily controlled—budgeted monthly instead of with a large capital outlay that may not be available for years. The user can access their system on the fly from any web-enabled device and make real-time, immediate changes. When an employee or contractor leaves a company, the user or integrator can quickly and easily remove them from the system. Finally, the cloud is flexible and nimble, offering redundancy and automatic, off-site backup and storage of events with easy data retrieval.


Services beyond security


“There are so many advantages to cloud-hosted services,” said Mike Simon, partner, Connected Technologies LLC, Crystal Lake, Ill. “Cloud-­hosted interfaces allow contractors to view, control and interact with all their customer’s systems on one screen from any web-enabled device. It’s simple to add interactive services—such as security, access control, home automation, video monitoring, energy management and critical temperature monitoring—while the contractor or integrator adds value and recurring monthly revenue. The best part is that once the customer starts using the features of their system regularly, they become ‘stickier’—likelier to stay with those contractor’s indispensable services for years to come.


“Think about the advantages to the user with critical, automatic temperature logging for coolers, freezers and medicines. Information is automatically logged and data readily available in real time, so user’s systems are operating 24/7. This is just one small part of everything that’s available,” Simon said.


The contractor saves truck roll time by being able to diagnose and service systems remotely.


Cost effective, efficient for the user


Contractors who embrace cloud- and web-based services can also separate themselves from the competition and provide an array of new and exciting services they can charge for on a monthly basis.


“Access control complements the cloud perfectly,” said Paul DiPeso, vice president and general manager of Feenics, Ottawa, Canada. “Everything is simple to control and access via the web. You not only have traditional access control availability but real-time, immediate accessibility.”


Feenics recently deployed the Keep by Feenics platform for the not-for-profit Meals on Wheels Atlanta (MOWA), which was looking to streamline access-control management for personnel and tenants, he said.


“Hosted services are easily scalable,” DiPeso said. “For the contractor, it enables them to provide a higher level of connected and remotely configurable services. For MOWA and other small-to-medium businesses, as well as multitenant applications, contractors can provide simple but effective security through the cloud.”


With the cloud, users have choices and can select for the amount of management of the system they want to accomplish on their own or outsource. MOWA opts to carry out most of the day-to-day access-control administration, such as creating badges, because it’s easy and simple for them to do, DiPeso said.


“Hosted solutions are perfect for organizations already busy with day-to-day operations,” said Brian Matthew, director of sales, Feenics. “They won’t have any concerns over software updates, backups, patches and upgrades. It’s all administered seamlessly through the cloud.”


Cloud-based and hosted security management continues to change the landscape of opportunity for the contractor and drive seamless ease of use for the customer. The convenience and sheer scalability lets you add services and new streams of profitability.