Hosted and Managed Access Control Statistics

'Cloud' access control - how many integrators are offering it? Why?

And for those that do, are they favoring hosted or managed options.

In the industry's first survey of integrator's adoption of cloud access control, IPVM reveals usage and in-depth commentary.

Key Breakdown

The majority offer neither hosted or managed access control.

However, of those that do, managed is clearly the preferred option over the weakly offered hosted option:

We take a detailed look at their comments in the sections that follow.

Neither Option is a 'Must-Have'

A majority of responses are clear: they sell neither hosted or managed access. This shows the limited appeal of either service, since most access control customers are not looking for outside support:

• "We do not. Our customer base is typically medium to large organizations where on premise systems are a better solution."
• "No. In general we do not believe that end users benefit from hosting in most situations when compared with traditional installation. We do not try to sell our customers something that benefits us more than them."
• "We do not offer managed access control. doesn't fit for our customer type, utilities, government, education."
• "It just doesn't  make sense because our customers assign system management internally to their employees."
• "We have both options, but no one shows any interest."

While uptake and interest is constrained, interest in 'managed' services are not insignificant:

Managed Systems Popular

Somewhat surprisingly, more than 1/3rd of integrators report they sell remote access control management services. Most responses pin it as at least modestly successful and a good fit for customers looking for help in operating their system, but uncomfortable with 3rd party hosting or willing to buy their own locally deployed system:

• "We offer managed Access control, because customer don't like cloud solutions because of high security standards."
• "Yes, it was very successful. My former company has been managed access control for about 10 years back when everything had be done remotely via modems. They have two administrators working full time just dedicated to remote admin of access control accounts."
• " The managed services is the primary type that we sell which gives us the ability to take care of the customers needs while they still hold ownership of all their equipment. This allows us to work together with the customer and keep a working relationship with them so it minimizes potential issues."
• "Our managed offerings are driven by the needs of the customer, some end users just don't manage their systems very well."

Hosted For Small End Users

Among those answering positively on the offering, feedback was clear that small end-users are the most likely customer, since internal management resources are limited:

• "Yes. Marginally successful on the smaller installations. Big installs have a resource for that purpose or a guarding staff on site that can manage it already."
• "It's not for everybody, but for smaller systems or for companies with no IT or technical staff then its a good fit."

Hosted Systems Not Popular

As for 'hosted' access control, where a cloud based server holds the central management software rather than local panels or servers, uptake in marginal. Less than 15% of responders sell hosted access, and few of those declare it a successful venture. Most selling hosted solutions note that high pricing and lack of customer interest is responsible for poor sales:

• "We have tried, but most end users do not like the recurring payments."
• "As much as we would prefer the RMR side, no one wants a monthly bill."
• "We offer a hosted solution. It is hard to sell the customers on the monthly charges. It's not for everybody but for smaller systems or for companies with no IT or technical staff then its a good fit."
• "We offer hosted access control from Brivo and Connected Technologies. We also offer a managed service for both. Since they are both cloud based, we do not need to incur additional cost or risk from standing up our own servers and network connectivity."
• "Brivo, not very, hard to get sales to push it."

However, there are some integrators have a different experience with the category, calling it successful:

• "Only through Brivo since they are SaaS providers. It is a great offering. Very good for us."
• "We use AMT for hosting with our HID modules and it is a great stopgap for our customers."
• "Brivo is what we provide and it has proven to be a reliable product and service."
• "We just began the hosted access control and are looking to increase it. So far so good."