Cisco Systems, Inc. - Experts & Thought Leaders

Cisco unveiled a new network architecture to power the campus, branch, and industrial networks of the future. The new architecture delivers unmatched operational simplicity through unified management, next-generation networking devices purpose-built for AI workloads, and advanced security capabilities embedded into the network. AI and IoT initiatives Faced with these challenges, IT teams need a new method to scale operations, reduce downtime Cisco is setting a new standard for how organisations navigate the challenges of skyrocketing traffic, rising cyber threats, and critical uptime requirements created as enterprises rush to harness the potential of AI in the workplace. According to the Cisco IT Networking Leader Survey, 97% of businesses believe they need to upgrade their networks to make AI and IoT initiatives successful, and the stakes are high: a single severe outage can inflict nearly $160 billion in losses globally. Faced with these challenges, IT teams need a new approach to scale operations, reduce downtime, and unlock new levels of efficiency and innovation. How networks are managed and secured “As AI transforms work, it fuels explosive traffic growth across campus, branch, and industrial networks, overwhelming IT teams with complexity and novel security risks at a time when downtime has never been more costly,” said Jeetu Patel, President and Chief Product Officer, Cisco. “With a new architecture, breakthrough devices optimised for AI, and AgenticOps, we’re leapfrogging the industry and reimagining how networks are managed and secured.” Simplifying operations with unified control and AgenticOps Cisco’s unified control platform is further differentiated by ThousandEyes assurance Operational complexity is among the greatest challenges facing IT teams now. Cisco’s unified management platform addresses this by bringing together management of Meraki and Catalyst devices, along with support for next-gen wireless, switching, routing, and industrial networks—all in a single platform that supports any cloud, on-prem, or hybrid deployment. Cisco’s unified management platform is further differentiated by ThousandEyes assurance—which now extends to mobile endpoints, and industrial IoT—and delivers deeper, more actionable visibility into enterprise networks and Microsoft Azure. Cisco’s AI-driven approach A new ThousandEyes and Splunk integration adds real-time insights from network to application. This multilayered approach delivers comprehensive assurance and observability across both owned and unowned infrastructure, helping ensure consistent performance and operational resilience. Supercharging the platform is AgenticOps, Cisco’s AI-driven approach to running modern IT operations that turns real-time telemetry, automation, and deep domain expertise into intelligent, end-to-end actions —at machine speed and with IT teams still in control. Cisco's AgenticOps capabilities are powered by a new Deep Network Model— a domain-specific LLM trained on decades of Cisco expertise, from CCIE-level content to Cisco U. courseware. Generative AI user interface The result is AI that understands networks and works the way IT does, reducing task time The Deep Network Model also powers the Cisco AI Assistant, a natural language interface that identifies issues, diagnoses root causes, and automates workflows. The result is AI that understands networks and works the way IT does, reducing task time from hours to minutes. Also, Cisco is introducing the all-new AI Canvas, a new AgenticOps capability, a generative AI user interface for customer dashboards that enables NetOps, SecOps, and DevOps teams to collaborate, optimise operations, and reduce IT strain. Next-Gen network devices designed to scale for AI To meet the unprecedented demands AI workloads will place on networks, Cisco is unveiling purpose-built hardware that delivers low latency, high capacity, and robust security for the AI-powered enterprise. Each device is tailored to meet the specific demands of its environment: New Cisco C9350 and C9610 Smart Switches to Power Campus Networks: Cisco is launching a new generation of Cisco Smart Switches, powered by Silicon One, that delivers up to 51.2 Tbps of throughput, below 5 microsecond latency and quantum-resistant secure networking to power high-stakes AI applications. New Cisco 8100, 8200, 8300, 8400 and 8500 Secure Routers: As AI transforms branch operations and customer interactions, new Cisco Secure Routers offer native  SD-WAN and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) integration, next-generation firewall (NGFW), and post-quantum security into a single-box WAN solution—with up to three times the throughput of previous generations. Expanded Wireless Portfolio: Cisco is extending its Wi-Fi 7 portfolio with the Cisco Wireless 9179F Series Access Points for stadiums and large venues, and is delivering seamless, cloud-managed roaming for large campuses with the new Cisco Campus Gateway. Expanded Industrial Portfolio: To meet the rigorous performance and reliability demands of industrial AI use cases, Cisco is introducing new ruggedized switches in a variety of form factors to support applications, including visual quality inspections and autonomous mobile robots. Additionally, new critical wireless use cases are now connected with the integration of Ultra-Reliable Wireless Backhaul (URWB) together with Wi-Fi technology in a single access point. Security integrated seamlessly into the network The enterprise networks face a complex and dynamic security landscape. To combat these continually evolving threats, Cisco is integrating advanced security seamlessly into the network, and is unveiling new protections across three critical layers: Securing Network Infrastructure: New Cisco Live Protect provides kernel-level compensating controls, block exploits and defend campus switches and routers — without requiring reimaging or downtime.    Defending Data in Transit: To safeguard data in transit, Cisco has added post-quantum-ready MACsec, WAN MACsec, and IPsec encryption to defend against “harvest-now, decrypt-later” attacks. In addition, the new Cisco C9000 Smart Switches are Hypershield-ready. This will help enhance network segmentation to contain threats at machine speed. Protecting Users, Endpoints, and Applications: Starting from a strong foundation of microsegmentation, AI-powered device classification, and common policy, Cisco is extending protections for every device and application connected across the network. With intelligence from Cisco Identity Services Engine, Cyber Vision, and Cisco Talos combined with Cisco Secure Access SSE, organisations can enforce security effectively at every point in the network. Cisco's new secure network architecture "Organisations are at a critical juncture. The promise of AI is immense, but the reality is that existing enterprise networks are simply not equipped to handle the scale, security, and reliability requirements that AI demands," said Matt Eastwood, IDC. "Cisco's new secure network architecture marks a critical evolution in networking and provides a future-ready foundation for enterprises to confidently embrace AI without sacrificing performance or security." Availability With hardware orderable this month through Cisco or Cisco-certified partners, this new architecture is powered by a single platform, with unified management, licencing and support, and the flexibility to deploy in the cloud, hybrid, or on-premises. The unified management platform is available now, Cisco AI Assistant is in public beta, and Cisco AI Canvas will be tested with select customers this fall.

Cisco announced innovations to help enterprises reimagine security for the AI era. Security teams are racing to securely adopt AI throughout their enterprises, while threat actors are using AI to increase the frequency and reduce the cost of launching sophisticated cyber attacks. To overcome this unprecedented challenge, Cisco is fusing security capabilities deeper into its networking infrastructure, helping companies implement zero trust architectures, innovating on security for AI apps and models, and delivering breakthrough AI tools that improve threat detection and remediation.   Cisco Splunk integrations Cisco announced further Splunk integrations that unify data across platforms, helping security teams Key advancements announced at Cisco Live include solutions for Hybrid Mesh Firewall and Universal Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) that simplify policy management, enhance visibility, and enable enterprises to scale securely without adding complexity to their security stack. In addition, Cisco announced further Splunk integrations that unify data across platforms, helping security teams automate tasks and respond faster to threats.  Cisco AI apps and models “Safety and security are the defining challenges of the AI era—and agentic AI multiplies the risk, as every new agent is both a force multiplier and a fresh attack surface,” said Jeetu Patel, President and Chief Product Officer, Cisco. “At the same time, threat actors are already leveraging AI tools to launch more sophisticated attacks than ever. To help IT and security teams fight back, Cisco is reimagining how we secure networks, protect AI apps and models, manage identity, and equip security teams with the AI tools they need to meet the moment.”   Reimagining zero trust: Fusing AI-powered security  Cisco is addressing these challenges with innovative solutions for AI-ready data centres Robust network security has never been more critical, as enterprises navigate increasingly complex environments characterised by a growing number of applications, a highly-distributed and mobile workforce, and sophisticated AI-driven threats. Adopting a zero-trust security approach – including continuously verifying users, applications, and soon AI agents – is critical to preventing the lateral movement of threats across hybrid environments. Cisco is addressing these challenges with innovative solutions for AI-ready data centres and campus networks, centred on the Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall and Universal ZTNA.  Zero-trust security framework Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall and Universal ZTNA work together to deliver a robust zero-trust security framework that seamlessly integrates into the network. For zero-trust segmentation, AI application protection and advanced threat shield across diverse environments For zero-trust segmentation, AI application protection and advanced threat protection across diverse environments, including data centres and IoT, Cisco Hybrid Mesh Firewall offers a distributed security fabric.  This fabric includes Cisco and third-party firewalls, Cisco Hypershield and Cisco Secure Workload. For secure, identity-driven access for users and devices, regardless of location, Universal ZTNA unifies policy management and extends zero trust principles even to unmanaged devices and IoT. Cisco’s Security Cloud Control   Together, these solutions secure user-to-application connections and back-end interactions, simplify management through Cisco’s Security Cloud Control, and enhance observability with AI-driven insights, empowering organisations to scale securely and protect their digital assets in a complex threat landscape.  Cisco’s Hybrid Mesh Firewall is adding hardware as well as new enforcement points and policy management capabilities in Security Cloud Control with its latest innovations:  Cisco Secure Firewall 6100 Series: Addresses complexity, cost, and scalability challenges in AI-ready data centres with the highest performance density for data centre firewalling — 200 Gbps per rack unit — and modular scalability.   Cisco Secure Firewall 200 Series: Delivers advanced on-box threat inspection and integrated software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) for distributed branches, at up to 3x price-performance compared to competition.   Expanded Enforcement Points: Cisco Security Cloud Control will extend unified policy management to next generation firewall (NGFW) on Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN (including on the new Cisco 8000 Secure Router Series), Cisco Hypershield-ready C9000 Smart Switches, and Cisco’s Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) data centre fabrics.  Multi-Vendor Segmentation Policy: Cisco Security Cloud Control introduces Mesh Policy Engine, enabling teams to define a single intent-based policy that is enforced across Cisco and third-party firewalls. Not only does this simplify day-to-day operations, it also enables organisations to change enforcement points without re-writing policy.  Cisco’s Universal ZTNA Cisco’s Universal ZTNA will also bring customers new innovations that simplify secure connectivity and enhance visibility across hybrid environments and AI agents.  Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Simplified: All Cisco SD-WAN offerings, including Meraki, now integrate with Cisco Secure Access. This enables customers to choose the optimal branch connectivity while still enjoying a unified security service edge (SSE) policy and consistent enforcement.   Frictionless Phishing Resistance: With the launch of Duo Identity and Access Management (IAM), Duo now acts as an identity broker. With a new complete passwordless option and unique proximity verification capability, Duo layers end-to-end phishing resistance—without clunky hardware tokens—on top of existing identity infrastructure.  Enabling agentic AI securely The emergence of agentic AI is revolutionising workplaces while introducing critical security and safety challenges. These AI agents autonomously access enterprise resources, make decisions, and act on behalf of users, necessitating robust safeguards. To tackle these pressing issues, Cisco is advancing its Universal Zero Trust architecture to:  Secure agentic identities  Enable seamless zero-trust access to enterprise resources  Provide comprehensive tracking of agent actions  Cisco Security investments Cisco's vision integrates cutting-edge capabilities, including automated agent discovery Cisco's vision integrates cutting-edge capabilities, including automated agent discovery, delegated authorisation, secure zero trust agentic access, and native support for the Model Context Protocol (MCP).  This approach is powered by Cisco Duo IAM, Cisco Identity Intelligence, Cisco Secure Access, and Cisco AI Defense, unified under a single policy framework in Security Cloud Control. By leveraging these innovations, enterprises can confidently adopt agentic AI, ensuring unparalleled safety and security while maximising their Cisco Security investments. Transformative approach to security "The AI era demands a transformative approach to security. Organisations need distributed, identity-based, zero trust protection for applications, users, AI models and agents, supported by a unified policy framework," said John Grady, Principal Analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group. "Cisco is in a very unique position to support this with its ability to embed advanced protections directly into the network through innovations like Hybrid Mesh Firewall and Universal Zero Trust Network Access, which safeguard AI models and applications, manage identity, and simplify policy management across distributed environments." Latest innovations from Hybrid Mesh Firewall "As AI continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace and new cybersecurity challenges emerge, it's even more important to fuse security into the very fabric of the network," said Chris Konrad, Vice President, Global Cyber, World Wide Technology. “Cisco is redefining security for the AI era with its latest innovations from Hybrid Mesh Firewall to Universal Zero Trust Network Access. This integrated approach will help our customers to prepare for an AI-driven future and achieve better outcomes, by protecting AI models and applications, managing identity, and providing essential tools to combat increasingly complex threats.”  Splunk integrations unlock new threat detection and response   As security challenges become more complex, organisations need integrated solutions that enhance visibility, accelerate detection, and streamline response. Advancements between Cisco and Splunk strengthen interoperability across key security workflows. By unifying and enriching data across platforms, these enhancements help security teams respond faster, reduce manual effort, and extract greater value from their security operations. This expanded functionality includes:  Surface Insights from Cisco Secure Firewall integrated with Splunk: Customers using Cisco Secure Firewall will be able to unlock deeper threat insights within Splunk by ingesting firewall log data. This enables advanced detections and helps security teams maximise the value of their Cisco and Splunk investments.  Expanded Threat Detection, Investigation and Response (TDIR) Coverage with Enhanced Detection Integration with Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense: The Cisco Security Cloud App for Splunk now delivers deeper support for Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD), enabling enriched correlation and detection content aligned to TDIR workflows. Combined with telemetry from Cisco AI Defense, Cisco XDR, Cisco Multicloud Defense, Cisco Talos, and other sources, Splunk accelerates detection use cases across hybrid environments.  Streamlined TDIR with Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) integrations for Cisco Secure Firewall: Expanded SOAR integrations now include Cisco Secure Firewall-specific actions to support containment and response within TDIR workflows. This is in addition to the currently available Cisco Talos Threat Intel integration. Playbooks can automatically isolate hosts, block outbound connections, and apply policy controls, reducing manual effort and accelerating resolution.  Connected Application Risk Signals from Splunk AppDynamics: By forwarding Secure Application events into Splunk, security teams gain visibility into application-layer vulnerabilities and threats, helping to contextualise findings within broader business risk. 

Cisco unveiled groundbreaking innovations to simplify, secure, and future-proof data centres, empowering organisations to scale their AI ambitions with confidence. Cisco’s leadership in hyperscale and AI infrastructure-as-a-service markets demonstrates the foundational role that secure, resilient networking plays in the data centre architecture. In Q3 FY25, Cisco notably surpassed its annual target of $1 billion in AI infrastructure orders from hyperscalers a full quarter ahead of schedule. Cisco's latest innovations Cisco's latest innovations enable enterprises and service providers to continue to accelerate Building on this momentum, Cisco's latest innovations enable enterprises and service providers to continue to accelerate the transformation of their infrastructure for the AI era.  These innovations underscore Cisco’s unique position as a trusted partner for hyperscale builders, neocloud providers, enterprises, and service providers, enabling the entire ecosystem to evolve and meet the demands of AI-driven workloads. Secure networking technology "The world is moving from chatbots intelligently answering our questions to agents conducting tasks and jobs fully autonomously. This is the agentic era of AI,” said Jeetu Patel, President and Chief Product Officer, Cisco. “As billions of AI agents begin working on our behalf, the demand for high-bandwidth, low-latency, and power-efficient networking for data centres will soar. Cisco is at the forefront, delivering advanced, secure networking technology that’s foundational to the AI-ready data centres of the future.” AI-ready infrastructure “The criticality of secure connectivity becomes more apparent as AI use expands across the enterprise,” said Matt Kimball, Moor Insights & Strategy. “Cisco’s ability to deliver AI-ready infrastructure to its customers, along with its investment in AI-enabled operations differentiates the company." "It is this kind of partner and customer-first thinking that leads to AI-powered tools that abstract the complexity associated with deploying and managing AI infrastructure. AI reaching its full potential is dependent on a resilient network on which partners build and deliver solutions and services." Simplifying, securing, and modernising AI infrastructure Cisco provides enterprise customers with new solutions to modernise their data centres Enterprises need to evolve and build out their current infrastructure to support their unique AI workloads, all without adding complexity or sacrificing safety and security. Cisco provides enterprise customers with new solutions to modernise their data centres, including hardware innovation and more powerful, simplified management capabilities.  Cisco is also continuing to build on its relationship with NVIDIA to deliver validated infrastructure solutions, and to provide a safe and secure foundation for AI agents built with open models. New innovations New Unified Fabric Experience with Nexus: Customers will be able to simplify network operations and enhance operational efficiency across environments, converging ACI and NX-OS VXLAN EVPN fabrics with unified data, control, policy enforcement, and management. The Unified Nexus Dashboard consolidates services across LAN, SAN, IPFM, and AI/ML fabrics into a single pane of glass. These capabilities will be available in the next Nexus Dashboard release in July 2025. Maximise AI Networking Performance: Customers can optimise AI workload operations with Cisco Intelligent Packet Flow. Available now, it dynamically steers traffic using real-time telemetry and congestion awareness across AI fabrics. With “end-to-end" visibility across networks, GPUs, and distributed AI jobs, more issues are detected proactively.  Additionally, Cisco and NVIDIA showed progress towards a unified architecture; at Cisco Live, the companies showcased the first technical integration of Cisco G200-based switches and NVIDIA NICs, demonstrating NVIDIA Spectrum-X Ethernet networking based on Cisco Silicon One that supports NX-OS, Nexus Hyperfabric AI and SONiC deployments. Expanded AI PODs: New configurable AI PODs enhance flexibility and scalability for diverse AI workloads, including training and fine-tuning. Cisco also continues to align with NVIDIA’s innovation timeline; the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition GPU  is now available to order with Cisco UCS C845A M8 servers. Together, the companies continue to work towards delivering validated solutions as part of the Cisco Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA Enabling Safe, Secure AI Adoption with NVIDIA: Cisco AI Defense and Cisco Hypershield provide visibility, validation and runtime protection of the end-to-end enterprise AI workflow, and are now included in the NVIDIA Enterprise AI Factory validated design. With AI Defense, enterprises can secure AI agents built with pioneering open models and optimised with NVIDIA NIM and NeMo microservices. Optics for Simple Upgrades: New 400G bidirectional (BiDi) optics enables customers to easily transition to 400G networks while preserving their existing duplex multi-mode fibre infrastructure ensuring cost efficiency, scalability and enhanced data centre performance. The new optics will be available in the second half of the calendar year 2025. Building up a new Neocloud market Cisco is playing a pioneering role in helping these providers establish their footprints As demand for AI-powered outcomes continues to increase, organisations are exploring new ways to scale quickly and stay adaptable, leading to the emergence of new GPU-as-a-service and Infrastructure-as-a-service providers – a new Neocloud market.  Cisco, building on its expertise in designing and building some of the world’s largest networks for global service providers, is playing a pioneering role in helping these providers establish their footprints. Announced partnerships HUMAIN: Saudi Arabia’s new AI enterprise is working with Cisco to help build the world’s most open, scalable, resilient and cost-efficient AI infrastructure using Cisco Nexus, UCS, Hypershield and Splunk. G42: The UAE-based global technology group announced a strategic collaboration with Cisco, laying the groundwork to advance AI innovation and infrastructure development across public and private sectors. Stargate UAE: Cisco joined the Stargate UAE consortium as a preferred technology partner, providing advanced networking, security and observability solutions to accelerate the deployment of next-generation AI compute clusters. Setting up service providers for success in the AI era Cisco’s Agile Services Networking architecture is designed not just to handle the increase and change in network traffic characteristics of AI, but also to fundamentally shift service providers’ network architectures so they can support and monetise new kinds of services. New innovations New Devices: New converged access and edge router devices, powered by Cisco Silicon One. These devices expand the Cisco 8000 series portfolio, which has allowed service providers to reach new levels of network efficiency and functionality. Agentic AI For Service Providers: A new multi-agentic framework for Cisco Crosswork Network Automation with AI capabilities to help accelerate operations and decision-making. This framework allows service providers to solve their most complex challenges through Cisco-built and customer-built AI agents, all working together towards a vision of autonomous networking. Non-terrestrial (satellite) Networking: Seamless integration between terrestrial and satellite networks. This architecture supports robust service assurance, dynamic resource allocation, and new monetisation opportunities in remote, underserved sectors like maritime, aviation, IoT, and disaster response.

In the UK there is a new data reform act working its way through the legislative process. As the law changes, the market changes – so this year will see many companies trying to read the tea leaves and adapt their offerings to take advantage of the emerging changes. The security marketplace is, apparently, constrained by the need for great privacy – it appears to be a zero-sum game – you can have privacy, or you can have security, you can’t have both. In the second half of the year, it is likely that more firms will require services which enable the use of video analytics to extract operational value from visual data, while using AI-powered tools to protect privacy as standard. Privacy-enhancing technologies One of the areas where there is a huge interest is among retailers, who use video cameras not only to reduce shrinkage and protect employees, but also for video analytics (to understand customer behaviour). Several other industries such as transport, retail, and healthcare have also had an increased rollout One area which is extremely interesting and very poorly understood is the extent to which these videos troves are protected under GDPR. The short answer is they are protected, and the second half of 2022 will see more retailers adopting privacy-enhancing technologies to allow them to open up their security footage to help optimise operations and marketing. There will undoubtedly be a rise in live video capture for safety and accountability. Seven US states now mandate body-worn cameras for police officers, and they are also common practice with UK police. Several other industries such as transport, retail, and healthcare have also had an increased rollout. CCTV camera operators In parallel, both public and private organisations are turning more towards video analytics, as they can be useful in many different contexts; they can help in saving time for CCTV camera operators, help efficiency in monitoring places for crime, and can be integrated into other systems – i.e., counting footfall at different locations – as well as use for smart parking, automatic licence plate recognition, and facial recognition. 2022 will bring further growth in consumers investing in personal video surveillance for their homes. With the pandemic having forced many to stay at home, home security has become more of a priority. Ring, which produces doorbell cameras, is increasingly popular: they are now the largest corporate-owned civilian-installed surveillance network in the U.S. Personal security cameras Countries like China have already incorporated heavy use of facial recognition technology Interestingly, some of the first GDPR cases and fines have arisen surrounding these cameras, with questions surrounding lawfully processing data and invasion of privacy. As a result, we could see more of a legal requirement for individuals to process footage from their personal security cameras in compliance with GDPR. While the privacy and human rights issues surrounding facial recognition remain heavily discussed, its use will become a lot more ubiquitous – but with concurrent pushes for regulation. Countries like China have already incorporated heavy use of facial recognition technology, and in the West, particularly in smart cities, it is being adopted in different areas; namely, in airports, retail stores, hospitals, and in the workplace, as well as verifying identities online. Trialling facial recognition The police in the UK have also been trialling facial recognition AI for ‘predictive policing’ to tackle crime and use these video analytics for intelligence gathering. In the second half of the year, the EU will reach resolution on its new AI Act that looks to ban facial recognition for a range of sectors. The EU will reach resolution on its new AI Act that looks to ban facial recognition for a range of sectors Companies’ attitudes toward privacy are shifting. Attitudes towards security methods for securing data are changing, with it no longer being a simple check-box exercise, but important for brand reputation and marketing purposes. Investing more money and effort into securing data privacy, as well as weighing out the benefits of data localisation, will become more commonplace for businesses when trying to keep customer data secure. Managing personal data Cyber-attack will continue to be one the largest risk for data management, alongside data misuse from employees. Recent statistics from CISCO have shown that over 50% of consumers would switch to companies they believe have better policies around the handling of data. Consumers are wanting greater trust and transparency from the businesses they engage with, leading to companies changing the way that their internal and external practices deal with and manage personal data. Privacy is no longer about compliance and more to do with business reputation and trust – and customers and employees are becoming more cognisant of this. The author of this article is Simon Randall, CEO of Pimloc, the video privacy, and security company.

Enterprise security directors often count on an integration firm to handle jobs ranging from day-to-day activities to long-term, technology-laden projects. However, before entering a relationship, you must know what's reasonable to expect from an integrator – as not all are created equal. Here are some tips that might make the selection process easier. Completing comprehensive classwork An integrator's experience working in an enterprise environment is an obvious consideration. Ideally, that experience fits well with your business. Any enterprise experience is a plus, but local, state, and federal regulations create precise yet very different rules for securing a utility instead of a hospital. That's also true for university campuses, manufacturing facilities, and many other operations. Many manufacturers offer certifications awarded after completing comprehensive classwork and testing Look for certifications indicative of an integrator's commitment to staying on top of industry changes. Organisations such as ASIS International and the Security Industry Association offer certifications showing an integrator's team members have mastered security principles and skills. Many manufacturers offer certifications awarded after completing comprehensive classwork and testing. Also, ensure an integrator sells and services equipment that integrates with your current security systems. Using multiple systems for the same function is less efficient. Project update meetings Go beyond an integrator's slick brochures and websites to ask tough questions about previous experience. How would the integrator handle a hypothetical situation in one of your facilities? Ask the integrator if there will be one project manager for all jobs. And ensure that person handles all interactions with security subcontractors. Ask if the integrator provides regularly scheduled project update meetings. It's frustrating to wonder how your project is progressing. Ask if the integrator's team can work during the hours and days that result in the least interference to your daily operations. Ask for onsite system training to save time and eliminate travel costs. Gathering sensitive data Look for an integrator with proven experience working with an enterprise IT department A malfunctioning component may be more than an inconvenience – it may be a severe security threat. You need to know how quickly your integrator can respond when things go wrong. Ask about available service plans. And consider the embedded staff approach in which the integrator places employees on your site full time to handle day-to-day and emergency activities. Much of the security equipment – video, access control, intercoms, visitor management, and more – is wireless and dependent upon networks operated by your IT department. Network-based devices provide more opportunities for hackers to gather sensitive data or cause critical equipment to malfunction. Don't trust your security operations with an Integrator unfamiliar with at least basic cybersecurity principles. Look for an integrator with proven experience working with an enterprise IT department. At a minimum, ensure the integrator can set and change security device IP addresses and port locations. Certifications from providers such as Cisco, Microsoft, and IBM indicate an understanding of various IT technologies. Potential security partners Knowledgeable integrators work with the well-encrypted Open Supervised Data Protocol (OSDP), now an internationally recognised standard. Run from any integrator who suggests operating an access control system with used Wiegand technology offering no encryption between cards and readers. It's easy for hackers to capture data and clone a working credential. Technology moves at a rapid pace. Your modern system of a few years ago may be long-of-tooth. You need an integrator capable of bringing new and innovative ideas to the table. You want an integrator who conducts in-house testing of new products, not relying solely on a manufacturer's claims. You want an integrator capable of thinking outside the box to solve a complex security problem. These ideas are just a start in assessing an integrator's value to your enterprise operation. However, they will help you sort through potential security partners to find one that best meets your needs.

There is a broad appeal to the idea of using a smartphone or wearable device as a credential for physical access control systems. Smartphones already perform a range of tasks that extend beyond making a phone call. Shouldn’t opening the door at a workplace be among them? It’s a simple idea, but there are obstacles for the industry to get there from here. We asked this week’s Expert Panel Roundtable: What are the challenges and benefits of mobile access control solutions?