By Melissa Stenger
Disrupt or be disrupted is a guiding principal of many organizations. It is a matter of necessity to stay competitive. Yet many will try and fail. KMPG’s global research points to three critical factors for business transformation success (1):
Principal #1: Focus on the customer
Understanding your customers’ needs allows you to evolve your business model to optimize value. In the world of access control, end users demand solutions that are cost effective. Rather than huge upfront capital expenditure they prefer predictable operational expenses. This has given rise to the access as a service market that is experiencing double digit growth, according to IHS (2).
Cloud-based access control has represented a breakthrough in reducing the costs associated with implementing and maintaining systems. With cloud access control systems, there is no need for a local server, expensive IT infrastructures, or personnel to manage their upkeep. This moves the responsibility and the ‘heavy lifting’ of managing IT infrastructure from the customer to their manufacturer. In addition to reducing cost, centralized management increases efficiency and ease of use for customers that need to secure geographically disparate locations.
Principal #2: Continual innovation
Addressing emerging needs requires data and analytics to anticipate trends and organization speed to respond effectively with solutions. Access as a service presents many opportunities to evolve your offering as opportunities emerge – this applies to manufacturers as well as integrators. Access as a service becomes an enabler for a new business model built around recurring software and service opportunities. With access control software running in the cloud operating connected devices, the constant flow of information around the status of a system allows integrators to proactively provide services for customers, eliminating downtime and creating a seamless experience for the customer – a service not possible without the internet of things (IoT). These services deepen relationships with customers and drive continued trust and the opportunity to expand these services.
Principal #3: Thrive on change
Agility is key to success as markets evolve quickly. As KPMG highlights “Organizations today have a vast array of options when it comes to making build, buy, partner decisions. Marketplace advances such as cloud, cognitive/artificial intelligence, and 3D printing technologies provide the potential to gain new levels of customer value, cost effectiveness, and flexibility to allow for future pivots—all at the same time (1).” Manufacturers and Integrators have the responsibility to their business and their customer to evolve, change and leverage new technologies. Access as a service, at its core, is about being agile and reacting to needs quickly. When you add a connected device to cloud-based access control changes can happen much more rapidly than traditional offline systems. With these connected systems, manufacturers and integrators can continue to upgrade features and functions, but also business models around these to monetize the solutions.
Opportunity emerges
By focusing on the needs of your customers and reacting with speed and agility you can transform your business. Embracing cloud-based access control allows this to be accomplished with ease.
About The Author
Melissa Stenger,
Director,
IoT Services Platform
Allegion