ASSA ABLOY says compatible technologies can extend existing access systems

In commentary ASSA ABLOY published on Nov. 2, which SecurityInformed.com and asmag.com both carried, David Moser laid out two routes. Moser is SVP and head of Digital Access Solutions at ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions EMEIA. The first route is a new integration-ready system built from scratch. For that one, he steers customers toward platforms that are "open" to some degree, so the system can grow later. The second route keeps the existing security or access system and adds compatible devices that administrators control from the interface they already know.

Timing makes it matter more. The hardware picked in this round of upgrades will sit on doors much longer than today's software is likely to last.

Adding devices without changing the screen

The company says this has knock-on effects. Staff need less training because the interface hasn't changed, there are fewer chances for human error, and real-time audit trails cover more openings. Moser also says integration helps security, facilities and IT teams work together. He gives two examples. Linking visitor management to the access system allows contactless check-in, and linking company digital ID to room booking and room access cuts out manual admin.

For owners of older buildings, the realistic question is likely to be what can be connected to what's already there, not what a new system should look like.

Schools, data centers and hospitals lead

New research shows where access work is likely to grow. On Nov. 4, Facility Executive reported on a Safety & Security in Design report from the American Institute of Architects, developed with Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope. It surveyed architects and specifiers about how they handle security across project types. They expect K-12 schools to see the biggest jump in security emphasis over the next three years.

Controlled access points are the most common security measure in every sector, named by 78% of respondents. Surveillance came in at 60% and visibility strategies at 55%. So access control is already standard. The open question for most owners is how many of a building's openings end up connected to central management, and that is exactly the gap ASSA ABLOY's extension pitch is aimed at.

Commercial real estate is moving in the same direction. In an Oct. 21 Deloitte Insights piece, Abby Levine, David Kaplan, Cindy Li and Sloan Nunziato cited Deloitte's 2027 Commercial Real Estate Outlook. It showed that close to 80% of CRE leaders anticipate upgrading or repositioning the assets they already hold within the next 12 to 18 months. According to the authors, reworking access-control systems or retrofitting cabling can bring disruption and added expense. Operators planning those upgrades could therefore find wireless options appealing.

The software will change before the doors do

Integrators expect the interface ASSA ABLOY wants to preserve to change. In an Oct. 29 Security Sales & Integration feature by D. Craig MacCormack, Everon senior product manager Aaron Barbe said customers keep asking for video, access, intrusion and visitor management on one screen. He expects the next step to be no screen at all: users will ask an AI agent which critical events happened that day. Louis Boulgarides, president and CEO of Ollivier Managed Security, expects old Windows-based access interfaces to disappear as AI takes on tasks like locking doors, sending reports and setting access levels. Rachel Dousharm, director of marketing and acquisitions at Nitor Solutions, said that in the next five years "you'll see access control in the cloud with AI and everything."

Some of this is already running. John Nemerofsky, COO of SAGE Integration, told the magazine that one client connected access control to its customer relationship management platform. The integration responds to door-propped and door-forced alarms and writes incident reports, and the client cut $1.9 million in guard costs in a year. AI also handles that client's employee and visitor badge requests.

Deloitte's authors look at the other end of the timeline. They say infrastructure decisions shape a workplace's efficiency and adaptability for 20 to 30 years, and that access-control points are among the things already fixed by the time occupants move in. Software can change, but reworking access-control systems after construction is disruptive and expensive. Put those two timelines side by side and the gap is plain.

Deloitte says infrastructure decisions will shape a workplace over a 20 to 30-year span, and that while software can evolve, physical infrastructure is much harder to change. That suggests the lock on the door could outlive the software driving it. That gap is the strongest practical argument for Moser's advice on openness. A wireless lock tied to one interface protects the current setup. Moser's case is that open platforms simplify ongoing scalability and help future-proof the investment.

Cost and comparison are the hard part

The strongest objection to all this is money. In the AIA research, 62.7% of respondents named product cost as a leading obstacle to security measures. Another 36.5% said they struggle to evaluate performance differences between security products. The extension model could ease the cost concern for operators who want to avoid a full replacement. It doesn't help with the second. A buyer comparing wireless locks from several manufacturers still has to work out which ones perform as claimed, and the report calls for verified testing data and early talks with manufacturers to close that gap.

The outlook also showed that more than 90% of executives intend to raise data and technology spending in the coming year, compared with 76% a year earlier. AI adoption trails that intent: just 8% have integrated AI solutions, and the other 92% are still researching or piloting them. For most real estate leaders, then, the AI-agent interfaces that integrators describe could still be some way off. Any hardware bought now has to work with today's interface first.

Credentials are the next test

The next change will reach the doors themselves. Jeff Kesterson of Nightwatch Security and Telephone told Security Sales & Integration that he expects physical credentials to become a much smaller part of the market and NFC to grow, over five to 10 years. Nemerofsky predicts more mobile credentials and a move from hybrid to fully cloud-based security setups.

Both shifts depend on how well door hardware works with the platforms around it. A building that extends its system this year could find out whether it bought an open connection when its credentials move to phones or its interface moves to the cloud.