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
info@nedap-securitymanagement.com
www.nedap-securitymanagement.com