A big shout-out to Team UK.
We got the possibility to visit the “Best of Breed Event” and our end-client The Francis Crick Institute during the first week of December.
Best of Breed
Our journey started at the great SamsungKX venue in London where we and our Technology Partners Advancis Software & Services, Suprema Inc. and Zenitel gave inspiring presentations about the massive value that Best-of-Breed security solutions bring to clients with high security needs. One of the common messages of all speakers was that high-quality integrations are key to fit the needs of an end-client. Organizations’ demands with regards to efficiency, data driven decision-making, and convenience are increasing which results in higher standards for flawless Best-of-Breed solutions.
In between the presentations of our Technology Partners (and the one of ourselves, successfully executed by Oli), there were some guest speakers. One of them was a consultant with a lot of experience in access control. Among others, he provided an interesting insight with regards to an end-clients perspective on integrations.
"When you listen carefully to clients when they speak about integrations, you'll notice that they often have difficulties explaining the added value that it will bring for them. Therefore, it is key to provide them with these insights and inspire them to invest in the right solution."
Darek Scott Consultive Solutions
The Francis Crick Institute
The next day, it was time to see AEOS live in action! Because what is better proof of the value that we bring than speaking to a client that experiences the benefits of a Best-of-Breed approach in their everyday business?
The Francis Crick Institute is an independent charity, established to be a UK flagship for discovery research in biomedicine. More than 1,000 researchers work here everyday to find new ways to treat, diagnose and prevent illnesses such as cancer, heart diseases and infections.
It doesn’t require further explanation about the importance of keeping this place safe and secure. The Francis Crick Institute selected Nedap AEOS for this important task 8 years ago. Overall, the head of security of The Crick is very satisfied with AEOS.
However, there have been some issues around upgrading and maintenance with the previous Channel Partner. Therefore, they decided to switch to another CP (Cyber Eye) with a more pro-active approach and better services. Cyber Eye is currently updating the AEOS system to the latest version, which opens the door to many integration benefits.
Once the AEOS installation is updated, Cyber Eye will integrate it into the existing Milestone system. We spoke to the security officers in the Control Room of The Crick and explained to them the benefits that the integration will bring. They reacted very enthusiastic and shared insights about how it would improve their daily operations.
Last but not least, a positive experience about migrating an AEOS-integration from the system of one Technology Partner to another was mentioned. The Crick decided to replace their Salto locks with Aperio from Assa Abloy. The Cyber Eye engineer that had to execute the replacement told us that he had no experience with integrating Aperio. Once he received our integration manual, he was positively surprised by the level of detail. Therefore, configurating the solution and integrating it with AEOS went smoother than expected. He had just a few minor issues, but he described the help of our support colleagues as ‘pro-active and adequate’. In the end, the replacement was completed much faster than expected, which resulted in less downtime (massive cost (and life!) savings!) in the research laboratory. A big compliment!
Key takeaways
- Inspiring the end-client about the added value of choosing for a Best of Breed solution significantly impacts their decision-making
- Having a strong CP network is key to keep end-clients enthusiastic about AEOS
- Best-of-Breed strategy can cause questions: Be clear about what we do ourselves and where we integrate with Technology Partners
- Access control data is becoming more and more valuable for internal strategic business topics like sustainability
- Excellent integration documentation makes impact for both the partner and end-client