The ideal world of security
Transcription
The ideal world of security
Trend Article The ideal world of security Security expert Ross Bale shares his view on what the ideal world of security would look like in the education sector and what should be taken into consideration to accomplish this. “A security management system needs to be able to adapt to changing educational requirements.” Educational institutions have a wide range of security requirements ranging from fairly basic access control areas such as halls of residence through to sensitive areas such as high risk laboratories. Besides this, universities are under increasing pressure to ensure that buildings and sites are safe which is made more difficult due to the large volumes of people entering and leaving. These factors make the decision for a security management system and judgements of its achievements a critical one. Ross Bale is sharing his view on what the ideal ‘world of security’ looks like and what should be taken into consideration to accomplish this. Security Management Top of the list What specific demands should universities have when selecting a security management system? The desire to have a single card, with a single point of management is increasingly high upon the list of security managers that I talk to within education. Of course, the importance of the ability to cope with different levels of security and an unlimited amount of different users – or buildings for that matter, are seen. However, even more important is what is unforeseen. Universities or colleges change dramatically over the years. They expand when the amount of students increase or they adapt educational models driven by ever changing governmental regulations. These changes are often unforeseen. This is why a security management system needs to be able to adapt and expand over a period of time as requirements change. This will protect the initial investment in the system over a long period of time and will ensure the system doesn’t reach an end of life. An ideal world So, what would the ideal world of security at universities look like? First of all, when choosing a security system, the main priority is to improve security. However, a security system should do much more, such as easing workflow and “When a security system is able to adapt to changes in the educational field, it will protect the initial investment and will ensure it doesn’t reach an end of life.” administration. And because of this it should be able to consolidate multiple systems into a single infrastructure. Not only will this lower the costs, it will also meet the university security policy easily. Besides, when such a system is using open standards, a wide range of third party systems, from CCTV to intercom and intrusion for example, can be added. This enables universities to purchase the best of breed solutions, to integrate with legacy systems and to use the existing network and server infrastructure managed by the IT department, without compromising network or physical security. Reducing admistration What makes reduction in workflow and administration so important? Especially in universities, a lot of different people use the security management system. New students come in every year, who need to receive badges and permission to certain areas within buildings of the university. These permissions will even change if existing students change courses or move to the next year at the end of the summer. This will bring a lot of administration and coordination. A security system should meet this by easing the process. This can be done by utilising advanced features such as ‘data import’ from a University Administration Database to reduce manual data entry and streamline processes such as card issuing or ‘rule engine’ functionality where sets of rules for access can be defined and configured once after which the system will automatically enforce it and change permissions when necessary. Systems and databases are more and more integrated. What are the consequences? Again, increased workflow and decreased administration by automation and process improvement. Integrating student and staff information systems, for example, with the card management solution and access control system has different benefits. A specific example is international students that do not comply with student visas. This has consequences for universities, like financial penalties or withdrawing permission to teach international students leading to negative reputations and reduction in income from international students. “Integrating student and staff information systems with card management and access control ensures increased workflow and decreased administration.” Access control events can be used very easily to produce regular reports for the Border Agency on whether international students are attending the university in line with their Visa. Another example of integration and something that’s often forgotten, is the management of lockers for students. This is essentially access control on a micro level. As lockers appear in an access control system, security access templates and student information already held within the system for access control can be quickly used to secure the contents of the lockers. And this is getting more valuable now as more universities are introducing bring your own device initiatives. So, because of integration with other systems, such as IT systems, security is more than just protection of people and assets. Correctly implemented, security is a business enabler adding value to a university’s processes. Nedap Security Management 1310 Waterside - Arlington Business Park Theale - Reading Berkshire RG7 4SA - United Kingdom “Consider using the security management platform to secure the contents of student lockers. This is access control on a micro level.” T +44 (0)1189 166820 [email protected] www.nedap-securitymanagement.com