With its solutions installed at numerous airports throughout the world, CEM Systems can claim to be the leading provider of access control and security management solutions for the aviation sector. What is perhaps not so well-known is that the company has also achieved considerable success within other vertical market sectors, such as data centres, healthcare, education and utilities.
Philip Verner, regional sales director for the security products division of Johnson Controls, explains how CEM Systems has been able to consistently win new orders for major access control projects throughout EMEA, despite facing stiff competition from countless other access control manufacturers.
Q: Philip, how would you position CEM Systems against the other choices available to consultants, system integrators and end-users?
A: We are able to provide cost-effective solutions for virtually any access control application, regardless of size or complexity. However, we are at our best when meeting the requirements of mission-critical or high-security projects.
Q: Why do you think CEM Systems is able to fulfil the needs of these types of projects better than any other access control solutions supplier?
A: Businesses and organisations, which out of necessity have adopted a zero-risk strategy to protecting their assets, people, property and data, will inevitably need several layers of security to ensure they have absolute control as to who can go when and where within their buildings or sites.
This multi-layered approach to security minimises the opportunities for criminal activity, but also enables users to create a safe and secure environment for employees, contractors and visitors. CEM Systems is exceptionally good at complementing other physical security measures which may be in place, by facilitating the smooth movement of people into and around a building, whilst ensuring that unwanted visitors are kept out.
One of its key strengths is understanding each end-user client and the vertical sector they operate within, whether it is an airport, hospital, data centre or an oil and gas facility. Each will of course, have their own unique security needs. Together with other Tyco brands, CEM systems can use that knowledge to offer a comprehensive, customised hardware and software solution which provides a maximum level of security by being tailored to meet the specific requirements of each vertical sector.
It is also able to provide clients with additional functionality which goes beyond security, by helping them operate more efficiently.
Data centres
Q: Can you give some examples of CEM Systems’ functionality which can help businesses implement a zero-risk security strategy?
A: The benefits of a CEM Systems’ solution can perhaps best be explained within the context of a mission-critical or high-security market application, such as a data centre.
Of paramount importance to a data centre is the need to be able to safeguard confidential data and the servers it is stored on. There is the need therefore to have absolute control as to who is able to enter the building, but also to manage at a granular level from outside the facility to deep inside, when and whom can gain entry to the most sensitive areas.
At the system level, in a facility such as a data centre, users can take full advantage of the functionality available with the AC2000 Security Hub solution and particularly so when it is integrated with other systems and technology such as ANPR, intrusion, fire and video surveillance, for an integrated solution covering the entire site.
AC2000 Security Hub is a security management application which provides situational awareness and allows operators to centrally manage events within an AC2000 access control system. With an intuitive, easy-to-use interface, the Hub provided the tools to enable operators to ensure there is full interoperability between all of a system’s component parts and by doing so, simplify security operations and response times to any alarms or events.
At the device level a good place to start in terms of what CEM Systems can do to help a data centre have this strict level of control would be with its highly secure CEM DESFire smartcards. This is because it uses AES encryption to ensure these cards cannot be cloned or the information on them hacked, thus ensuring only valid cards will give users access to a building.
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