James Thorpe, Editor of International Security Journal, speaks exclusively with Joachim Mahlstedt, Chief Commercial Officer DAS, ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions & Managing Director, Kentix GmbH.
What makes your solution unique in addressing today’s data centre security challenges?
Data centres are growing rapidly and at the same time security needs are evolving. We have to differentiate between different kinds of data centre environments and how we address them.
With Kentix, an ASSA ABLOY Group brand, we focus, for example, on edge computing and hybrid data centres as well as on enterprise data centres. These aren’t necessarily the huge hyperscale sites in massive locations – they’re much more dedicated environments.
This is ideal for banks, for example, or utilities, where they want to outsource part of their data operations and run them in a controlled environment. It’s about moving data into dedicated data centres – and that’s where Kentix comes in.
And this is about more than just access control. It’s about combining access control with power supply, monitoring and bringing everything together in a very logical setup, always thinking from the customer’s perspective. The IT Manager or Security Manager in the data centre is our customer.
When we think about their day-to-day needs, of course they need access to a rack – that’s the basic requirement. But they need to know what’s going on inside it. For example, is there a fire threat at rack level? What are the temperatures in each rack? Is there a leak or water hazard?
By combining these views, we provide an intelligent and efficient setup that bridges physical security, OT and software layers. We also support distributed infrastructure – like broadband cabinets – which all need some form of monitoring. Everything is IP-based and effective access control, monitoring and visibility are essential.
This is exactly where Kentix meets the customer’s needs.
Which key trends are currently shaping the future of data centre security?
There are many risks in this sector. From an access perspective, one key trend is related to applying least privileged access and monitoring abnormal behaviour; ensuring we have a clear view of who has access to which parts of a facility at a certain time.
Beyond that, when you think about the complexity of a data centre, there are risks coming from many areas – cyber-attacks, even the risk of misconfigurations, physical breaches or even regulatory risks.
These threats need to be addressed across different layers. At Kentix, we use a distributed architecture, so decisions aren’t made by some central instance in the cloud.
Instead, the software runs on every single module, operating in real-time across the distributed infrastructure. Our solution is very resilient to any kind of outage or attack.
Finally, what does it mean for Kentix to now be part of the ASSA ABLOY Group?
When we look at the KentixONE solution, it really is an ingenious innovation and has been trusted in the market for the last few years. And now, with the support of a global powerhouse like ASSA ABLOY behind us, we can use that brand as a springboard to take the solution into new regions and markets.
ASSA ABLOY has a global presence, and we have leveraged this for Intersec 2026, for example, to bring the Kentix solution into new markets. This provides us with a great opportunity for Kentix to grow.
The solution itself is ingenious – well thought-out, well programmed, very well-rounded. With ASSA ABLOY’s support, we can take it even further to ensure better customer experiences.
This is also a big benefit for the ASSA ABLOY team, because we can add value to our data centre offerings and expand our physical security portfolio.
I think we’re first in class when it comes to physical security mechanics, and Kentix adds a high-profile addition to that portfolio. There’s a lot in the ASSA ABLOY ecosystem that we can also now bring into the Kentix solution.
For example, we’ve just added our biometric solution to the ID management system.
Thanks to our highly developed, professional development process, we were able to integrate biometrics, like face recognition from ASSA ABLOY’s Control ID, within just a few weeks. Of course, in these sensitive environments, access control remains key, so combining it with face recognition makes a lot of sense.
We’re also integrating our digital cylinder range into Kentix, and there’s much more to come.
The possibilities for integrating components from our portfolio are nearly endless. Access to this technology is one of the major benefits for Kentix in joining ASSA ABLOY – it’s fantastic.
