Many organizations take a proactive approach to physical security by installing a broad range of physical security devices, such as surveillance cameras, access control systems, smart locks, and other devices used to safeguard a location. Yet, many of these same organizations take a dangerously reactive stance to managing those same devices. Waiting for a device to break and then scrambling for the fix is neither time nor cost effective. If the physical security team is spending their time putting out fires, then tasks that could actively move the business forward are simply not getting done.

By the time organizations realize that their devices have an issue, they’re already facing far more serious problems.  Remember the Brooklyn subway shooter? The Transportation Authority only noticed that its cameras were down when the police requested footage of the incident. Organizations that take a reactive stance to physical security device maintenance are risking human and IP safety, device downtime, operational inefficiencies, cyber-attacks, and other liabilities.

They are also driving up costs. 

Break/fix is expensive

Without ongoing maintenance to ensure your physical security devices are running smoothly, you’re simply wasting your investment and setting your business up for serious dollar drain. Aside from the high costs involved in repairing or replacing the individual device – including costly truck rolls to access the device — the lengthy time to resolution can result in serious downtime. 

For example, a chemical manufacturer with facilities in multiple remote locations may have thousands of connected cameras to ensure the safety of personnel and property.  Without a clear maintenance strategy in place, the physical security team cannot possibly operationally manage each and every device on a 24/7 basis. Every time a non-functioning camera is reported in one of the remote locations, the team must request access for a technician to enter the premises, and sometimes wait days for the request to be processed. When the technician is finally dispatched, over 60% of the time they discover that the camera only requires a simple device restart. During this unnecessary downtime, the manufacturer can be held liable if a security incident occurs. In this scenario, a small problem can quickly become very costly.

Remote maintenance with automation

In the past, only enterprises with large dedicated teams could manage ongoing maintenance of their physical security devices to keep up with the compliance requirements. Employing staff to deal with a myriad of password rotations and firmware upgrades for a massive fleet of devices deployed across multiple sites and locations can be cost-prohibitive and operationally challenging. 

But today, automation has made remote maintenance available and cost-effective to organizations of any size. By automatically monitoring the operational status of the entire device fleet and alerting the physical security team in real-time when an issue arises, remote maintenance enables organizations to take a proactive approach to the operational management of their physical security devices. Automation delivers high levels of efficiency and lowers costs by minimizing the amount of human work involved in these tasks and limiting the dreaded downtime that puts the entire organization at risk. Automation also helps companies achieve security compliance while enabling security teams to focus on higher-value tasks.

With organizations everywhere facing shrinking budgets, physical security teams need to maximize their spend and the impact of their investments. Monitoring the operational health of physical security devices provides the organization with visibility into the end of life of each device. It enables the organization to plan and prioritize maintenance and purchasing activities, eliminating any costly surprises.

Save time and costs with SecuriThings Enterprise

SecuriThings Enterprise is a software-only solution that empowers physical security professionals to operationally manage physical security devices at scale in a consolidated and automated manner while providing real-time visibility and control. SecuriThings standardizes the operational management of devices, enabling personnel to ensure compliance and improve the cyber security posture of their physical security environments. Once deployed, the solution provides automated operations such as password rotations, firmware and certificate management and more. The solution also sends alert notifications for any device issues, as well as predictive maintenance to help plan for device end of life, and prioritize your maintenance activities accordingly.

SecuriThings requires minimal time investment from employees and eliminates expensive on-site visits to deal with break/fix issues. The solution significantly reduces the time and money needed to keep the organization’s fleet of physical security devices operational and secure while freeing the physical security team to focus on mission-critical tasks.

Book a demo for more information about how your organization can benefit from automated operations for physical security devices, here.