Adam Stroud, Group CEO of Paxton, speaks exclusively with International Security Journal about Paxton‘s role in the security market.
Paxton secures 30,000 buildings a year across more than 60 countries. Which markets and sectors are driving your growth right now?
Paxton is unlike many companies in the security industry. We pride ourselves on building security systems that encompass a range of physical security needs. This includes access control, door entry, wireless door handles and video surveillance.
More often than not, we compete with manufacturers that offer niche solutions in just one of these categories or aim to integrate separate systems developed by multiple manufactures.
Our approach stems from our desire to provide professional security systems that are simple to install, simple to use and cover a wide range of vertical markets.
When working seamlessly together, these different categories of a security system are greater than the sum of their parts.
We have found that much of Paxton’s growth stems from installers recognising the value of this consolidated approach.
This is particularly beneficial across sectors such as education, healthcare, commercial offices, residential developments, manufacturing, hospitality and public buildings, where we see the majority of Paxton systems installed.
These days, we all expect our technology to be highly intuitive and simple to use.
Paxton has been “banging the drum” for simplicity for over 30 years, so there is an element of the market shifting towards where we have always been.
It is a misconception to think that systems can be made simple through a UI redesign or simply by paring back features.
Simplicity needs to be baked in from day one and needs to be supported by a team of people who truly believe in a simplistic approach in all that they do.
For Paxton, this approach is woven into the core of our business, including our company culture and structure.
Where does Solo sit alongside Paxton10? How should an installer choose between them?
Whilst Paxton10 includes elements of cloud infrastructure to support multi-site and multi-subnet systems, it requires an on-premises server to provide the centralised system management.
Solo’s main differentiators are that it is phone-based and cloud-hosted.
It has been designed exclusively for access to be managed via a smartphone.
By going ‘all in’ with the use of phones, Solo takes a massive leap forward in terms of simplicity and affordability, by using the technology already available in a user’s phone as the decision-making centre of the system.
Unlike traditional networked access control systems, including Paxton10, there is no need to connect door controllers to the customer’s IP network.
Just connect each controller to the lock power supply, wire the relay to the lock, and you’re good to go.
Even the DoorTag, which replaces the RFID reader, is completely wireless and requires no power itself.
With Solo, you get networked benefits, such as real-time event reporting and centralised control over user permissions, with the simplicity of installing a standalone system.
These benefits make Solo particularly suitable for the following types of applications:
- Where there is no existing infrastructure, such as car charging points, utilities or bike storage
- Where the installation may be temporary, such as securing a building site
- Where there are massive numbers of users with many locations, such as a gym chain
- Securing things that move and so cannot be tethered to infrastructure, such as forklift trucks
- Where an application demands a low cost of hardware and installation, such as in storage facilities and hotels
Paxton10 is well known for its full feature set, the intuitive web and phone user interface, it’s on-prem server that can handle multiple sites with ease, its breadth of user identification options – from RFID and keypad to mobile credentials – and finally its native video surveillance functionality baked-in alongside access control.
Cards and fobs have dominated access control for decades – is the industry now making a serious shift to mobile credentials?
Mobile credentials have some serious advantages over RFID and are driving growth in the market through system upgrades.
They add an additional level of security with biometric or passcode verification.
Credentials can be issued virtually, with no need to hand over a physical token.
As users already have phones, there is nothing additional to purchase, which can be a benefit both financially and environmentally.
Lastly, the technology in phones and compatible readers can provide different user experiences, such as long-range mode for car park barriers, or simply touching the reader with your hand with the phone in your pocket.
That said, cards and fobs are going nowhere soon.
There are applications where mobile credentials are less suitable, and there are user groups that prefer the familiarity of simple RFID tokens.
How does Solo change the dynamic between Paxton, the installer and the end user?
Paxton has always been an installer-first company.
We have consistently demonstrated that in the way we do business through a global distribution network.
Our investment in making Paxton the ‘installer’s choice’ is evidenced by our market-leading Support team and five-year warranty.
With Solo, we are providing security installers with more options through different solutions that they can present to end customers to win more business.
The world of technology doesn’t stop for anyone, and it is important for Paxton and our installers that we keep pace with the ever-evolving capabilities and the changing expectations of end-customers.
We have made Solo a subscription-based system that offers installers the ability to extend the service they provide to customers – whilst also providing a significantly reduced upfront cost.
We have found that the vast majority of installers already recognise the value of recurring revenue contracts with customers, rather than a one-off transactional approach.
Solo really helps with this and the opportunities are limitless.
Will access control ever go fully cloud, or is there always going to be a place for on premises?
Cloud technology is improving all the time and brings with it much-touted benefits in scalability, security and cost of ownership.
But I don’t expect it to completely take over on-prem servers for physical security systems.
There are applications that are off-grid for a variety of reasons, and for these an on-prem server is the inevitable choice.
What’s the one trend in physical security that the industry isn’t talking about enough?
What a great question! I’ll give you my answer, even though I admit to being biased.
The industry tends to get excited about ‘more tech’; sophisticated bits of equipment with infinite compute power that can perform AI miracles. I love this stuff, but I’m more impressed with ‘less tech’.
The purpose of a building security system is to keep people and assets safe.
If we can fulfil these core requirements, while reducing the cost and complexity of the equipment required, that’s real progress in my mind.