HID Global survey reveals pressing themes “reshaping” security industry

By looking at what’s driving the next innovations and the technology that supports them, the security industry is empowered to create more value for its organisations and its people.

Conducted late last year, the survey reveals five common threads focused around sustainability, Identity-as-a-Service, digital ID and mobile authentication, contactless biometrics and supply chain-related issues.

Footprint transparency

End users are increasingly demanding that solution suppliers provide footprint transparency in terms of their operations, product sourcing and R&D practices, with 87% of respondents to the survey stating that sustainability ranks as “important to extremely important.”

Mirroring this trend, 76% of those individuals questioned said that they’ve seen the importance of sustainability increasing for their customers.

To support this growing demand, security teams are leveraging the cloud and the Internet of Things on a greater scale in order to optimise processes and reduce resources. Additionally, new products and solutions are being strategically developed to address sensible energy usage, waste reduction and, what’s more, resource optimisation.

Embracing Identity-as-a-Service

The majority of survey respondents (81% of them, in fact) stated that they’re offering a hybrid work model. As an example, 67% of respondents suggest that multifactor authentication and password-less authentication are most important when it comes to adapting to hybrid and remote work, while 48% point to the importance of mobile and digital IDs.

Interestingly, the survey also reveals that almost 50% of those organisations interviewed are not quite ready to implement a comprehensive Identity-as-a-Service strategy.

Digital IDs and mobile authentication

Identification and authentication are more commonly completed via mobile devices, including smart phones and wearables. The growing popularity of digital wallets from major players such as Google, Apple and Amazon is a key driver of this trend.

Expanded capabilities allow smart phone users, for example, to add keys, IDs and digital documents directly in the wallet app. These include, but are not limited to, driving licences, verifiable COVID-19 vaccination information, employee badges, student IDs and hotel room keys.

According to the HID survey, commercial property companies are outpacing those in other key verticals by leveraging mobile access as part of their larger tenant experience apps.

Contactless biometrics

Biometric technologies represent a major step away from more conventional means of access control. Using biometrics as an additional authenticating factor (eg biometric scans to verify an individual’s physical identity) can help organisations eliminate unauthorised access and fraud.

The importance of this trend is exemplified in the HID Global survey data, which highlights the fact that 59% of respondents are either currently using or planning to implement/test biometric technologies in the near future.

Supply chain issues

According to the HID Global survey, 74% of respondents were impacted in some way by supply chain issues in 2022, although 50% are optimistic that conditions will improve this year.

Companies in the property sector were most affected, with 78% of them listing supply chain problems as their main concern.

More than two-thirds of organisations with fewer than 1,000 employees indicate that they were highly impacted by supply chain issues in 2022, but they’re also the most optimistic that these issues will resolve themselves in 2023.

According to HID Global, by better understanding the aforementioned topics, security professionals will be more prepared to adapt faster, deliver exceptional digital plus physical experiences and capitalise on breakthrough innovations in solutions and services.