Access control solutions will provide your clients with benefits ranging from enhanced security and time savings to accommodating flextime employees and reducing energy bills. Your clients and prospects, however, may not have the internal resources to manage an access control solution effectively, creating the opportunity for you to provide Access Control as a Service. ACaaS enables access control management from a central hub, often integrated with video surveillance platforms and other applications, to streamline processes and provide a single source of data.
To help you evaluate access control solutions that will work best for your business and your clients, we invited access control solution vendors to share details about their products. The companies that provided information for this product comparison are:
- Feenics: KEEP
- Kisi, Inc.: Kisi Cloud Access Control
In the coming months, we’ll be adding additional solutions from vendors that didn’t make the deadline for this first comparison.
Note: XaaS Journal product comparisons aren’t about rating products or choosing “the best.” And they aren’t paid listings or ratings that some websites publish. Our objective, as always, is to provide VARs and MSPs with unbiased resources to help them make the best decisions for their clients and their businesses.
We also recognize that each business is unique, so one solution may offer higher value to some businesses than to others. We’ve organized information provided by the vendors by feature, so it will be easier for you to compare and contrast them. For more information provided by the vendors, download our “Access Control Solutions” spreadsheet.
Integrations and Hardware
Access control integration with video surveillance platforms and other applications allow streamlined management and more control. An integrated system can detect “tailgating” or passing through a door after a credentialed user opens it, enable biometric identity verification, or even share data with analytics or business applications. The access control solutions in our comparison integrate with a variety of solutions:
KEEP by Feenics:
Feenics is integrated with the following video platforms: OpenEye’s OWS, Arecont Vision’s Contera, Salient, Milestone, Avigilon, Exacq, Ganz Cortrol, Luxriot, Wavestore and Pelco.
Feenics is also integrated with and resells Mercury Security field hardware panels and partners with OEMs including HID, Farpointe Data, Allegion, ASSA ABLOY, Invixium, LifeSafety Power and Stentofon whose products can all be purchased through Feenics.
In addition, Feenics supports video management solutions including OpenEye, Arecont Vision, Salient, Milestone, Avigilon, Ganz, Luxriot, Pelco, Exacq and Wavestore. The solution also has Active Directory (LDAP) integration; Destination Dispatch with Otis, Kone and ThyssenKrupp; LifeSafety Power’s health check; and Invixium biometrics.
The Feenics software development kit (SDK) provides the toolset to access its 100 percent open RESTful API for custom integrations.
Kisi Cloud Access Control:
Kisi is in the process of integrating with Eagle Eye Networks and Meraki Cameras video platforms.
They also provide sensors and actuators for their access control solutions, leaving the choice of standard electronic door hardware up to the reseller.
Kisi integrates with Azure Active Directory, Bixby, CoReceptionist, Cobot, contactless credit, bank and transit cards, Croissant, DoorBird, Envoy, Gingr, Google Apps for Work, Google Calendar, KUBE by WUN, Kanagrootime, Kibana, MINDBODY, Nexdus, OfficeR&D, Okta, OneLogin, Optix, RecDesk, Ring Doorbell, Satellite Deskworks, Splunk, Sumologic, Verkada, Visitor Access Management, and Yubikeys by Yubico.
Kisi’s open API also enables custom integrations.
Access Control Solution Features
Access control solutions automate manual processes that your clients used to monitor and restrict access, saving time, expanding capabilities, and enforcing a comprehensive access plan without adding resources. The features of each solution and the technology behind them, however, can vary among the products you can choose from. Compare how these products address the following use cases:
Identity management
KEEP by Feenics:
KEEP provides IAM safeguards, such as multifactor authentication, no default passwords and capability of multiple levels of password security levels.
Kisi Cloud Access Control:
Kisi allows you to integrate single sign-on (SSO) via SAML 2.0.
Mobile credentials and mobile management
KEEP by Feenics:
KEEP supports HID and Farpointe Data mobile credentials. KEEP also provides mobile administrative apps that are available for iOS and Android. These apps enable add-modify-disable cardholders, remotely control doors, arm/disarm integrated Bosch intrusion panels, lockdown a facility and push out mass notification messages.
Kisi Cloud Access Control:
Kisi allows you to use Bluetooth on iPhone and near-field communication (NFC) on Android. Kisi’s proprietary Tap to Unlock functionality guarantees a speedy, yet reliable, and secure unlocking experience.
The administrator can add and remove mobile credentials from the cloud-based dashboard or assign/automate the provision and de-provisioning processes.
Visitor management
KEEP by Feenics:
Feenics’ native visitor management component can be used in KEEP’s Windows desktop app or via the HTML5 web client.
Kisi Cloud Access Control:
Visitors can receive short term keys via email that contain a link valid to unlock the door during the duration of the visit.
Elevator controls
KEEP by Feenics:
In the traditional relay-based approach, Feenics supports operational schedules per floor and access levels for cardholders per floor, giving each floor its own unlock schedule. This allows cardholders to have access to different floors at different times of the day or week. Users can choose elevator control via cab call, floor control or by integrating to the destination dispatch software for Otis, Kone and ThyssenKrupp.
Kisi Cloud Access Control:
Kisi provides access to elevators based on specific conditions.
Alerts and reporting
KEEP by Feenics:
With Feenics, any event can trigger an email or SMS message to a recipient or multiple recipients.
Users can prepare reports on the fly directly in the live monitoring window or via specific timeframes. KEEP also has predefined reports that users can run at any time.
Kisi Cloud Access Control:
With Kisi, alerts can be based on unlock events or status events. They can also be pushed via the API.
For reporting, Kisi can export events or sync with data analysis tools, such as Splunk or Kibana.
MSP/IT Solution Provider and End-User Training
Successful implementation of any access control solution must include employee education and awareness to ensure users understand how the solution works, how it fits within the company’s overall security strategy, and what users’ responsibilities are. It’s also vital for your team to develop expertise to effectively provide and support the access control solution. The vendors in our comparison offer training for both you and your clients:
KEEP by Feenics:
Feenics’ online Learning Center provides technical certifications for solutions providers, and occasionally, certification is offered in a live setting. Additional training for resellers and end users can be customized and can be offered in live upon request.
Kisi Cloud Access Control:
Kisi offers one-to-one remote onboarding and training sessions.
Pricing and MSP/IT Solution Provider Commitment
As you evaluate potential access control vendor partners and their solutions, you’ll also find that pricing models and partnership terms can vary. For example:
KEEP by Feenics:
KEEP is offered as a hosted subscription model, per reader license. As the number of doors with the end user increases, pricing decreases at specific reader counts. In addition, KEEP supports unlimited concurrent users and cardholders at no additional costs.
There is no minimum commitment from Feenics’ IT solution provider partners.
Kisi Cloud Access Control:
Kisi sells solutions based on monthly or yearly licenses.
Kisi’s reseller program allows resellers to buy Kisi’s products and licenses at discounted rates. To become a reseller, the solution provider must have at least one successful access control deployment.
New and Soon-to-be-Released Features
The vendors in our comparison also had the opportunity to share information on new features and what to watch out for in the coming months:
KEEP by Feenics:
Feenics moved from SQL licensing to MongoDB as a database engine, to provide a better customer experience and lower licensing costs for the end user.
Support for FICAM (FIPS 201-2), the federal government’s bridge for common access credentials, will be completed in Q4, 2019. In addition, single sign-on (SSO) will be ready in 2019.
Kisi Cloud Access Control:
Kisi recently released its proprietary and secure Tap to Unlock functionality, guaranteeing a speedy, yet reliable, unlocking experience without a Wi-Fi or LTE connection.
Final Thoughts
As the security landscape, technology, and business processes continue to evolve, updating access control policies and solutions are vital for your clients to continue to protect their facilities, their assets and their IP. Access Control as a Service won’t be a “set it and forget it” solution—your clients will need your continued expertise to adapt to their changing operations. This is good news on many levels for MSPs and other IT solutions providers. Providing Access Control as a Service can not only open the door to providing new and complementary solutions, it also gives you a natural way to maintain communication and stay front of mind with your customers—regularly demonstrating the value you are providing their organizations.
If you’d like more information on access control solutions or you’d like XaaS Journal to provide additional insights on how providing Access Control as a Service can make a positive impact on your business, please reach out. We welcome your feedback.
