SMART Access & identity 2024

ACCESS & IDENTITY ROUND TABLE

Ilze Blignaut.

Walter Rautenbach.

Tarryn Fortune.

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better products they can rely on for longer. A natural consequence of buying tier-1 products is that customers, whether users or channel partners, expect better service and more support from their manufacturers. Blignaut says this is where making it easy for people to obtain recognised certifications, whether in sales or technology, is key. Having a range of recognised courses online allows people anywhere to obtain a certification. It assures them and their employers that they know what they are doing in their field. Companies that cut their margins to the bone have to make up for the loss in some way, and this is often experienced in poor support and technicians who are not trained and certified correctly. The rapid development of software, something HID is focused on, also allows users to use their access and identity products for more than door opening and closing. Not only does this expand the scope of the technology, but also what integrators can offer to the client to increase their revenue. All the companies on the round table have online training and encourage their installers and integrators to ensure their staff are certified and remain certified whenever new hardware or software is released. While doing business through the channel is the norm, most appreciate being able to deal with customers directly (with partners) and assist them in asking the right questions. This permits them to focus on a specific project, for example, and assist in determining the optimal solution out of all the available options.

revenue – since selling quality products means it takes a long time before the client needs to buy new products. In addition, it also allows the manufacturers to provide some form of quality control when installations are done and will enable them to expedite solutions to unforeseen challenges quickly. Services also allow these companies to retain the end user as customers (without bypassing the channel) because they will be available with the relevant skills should the installer or integrator not be around in a few years, or when the required skills, both technical, design and project management, are lacking. This customer-centric approach is not always about revenue; however, when a problem arises, the user often sees the brand name and associates the issue with the brand, not the installer. If the manufacturer can’t jump in and resolve the situation, the brand is damaged. An integrator can always switch brands, but the manufacturer is not that lucky. Services are more important in the era of digitisation, especially as digital credentials such as mobile credentials are adopted. While an overused buzzword, digitisation takes access credentials (mobile and visual) beyond the door to a host of other functions, whether logging into a computer or making payments at vending machines and so on. This opens the door for identity solutions beyond access control, but also requires a more serious focus on the security of the whole process, from start to finish. Just as the IT world tries to secure all parts of its infrastructure, from the endpoint laptop to the servers and databases, identity-enabled functionality requires security to ensure that

and value-adding solutions to their customers, assisting them in knowing what they need and what they get, and that the products have a future roadmap that caters to any new requirements or market changes. According to Russel, it is about “asking the right questions”, helping clients understand their requirements correctly and then looking at what products they need. When it comes to quality and longevity, it is also about comparing products on the same level with the same capabilities, instead of just looking at the price tag. She notes that high-end products may cost more, but the user is also buying the assurance of long lifespans, and that warranties will be honoured (and that the company will be around in a year or two) as well as an investment in efficient support services. The challenge in educating the user channel and community is that sales cycles are longer as clients want to be sure that they get value for the long term if they pay for higher end products, adds Rautenbach. He says most tier-1 companies bring out new products every year, so after a long and drawn-out sales cycle, there are often newer technologies that would suit the client’s needs better, but they have just been through a procurement cycle for the previous range of products. While the low-cost products are always a stumbling block, he says the move to Software as a Service (SaaS) is a positive move for reliable technology. SaaS providers are not paid for the hardware in one big payment, but rather sell their services for a monthly fee where they recover their investments over time. Using poor-quality products significantly increases these companies’ support costs due to frequent callouts, leading them to opt for

The importance of services Another point a few of the participants

made is that of supplying services. There are many benefits in selling services, such as the obvious need to obtain some form of recurring

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