Report: Demand for PIAM systems expected to grow substantially

July 18, 2017
Large access control manufacturers could see their grip on the market weaken

According to a new report from IHS Markit, physical identity access management (PIAM) systems are expected to see a significant uptick in demand over the next several years and could even begin to pose a threat to more traditional access control equipment manufacturers.

Although global PIAM market revenues, excluding ASIA Pacific and Africa, totaled just $136 million in 2016, the market is expected to grow rapidly to nearly $500 million by 2021.  

In a research note, Jim Dearing, senior analyst for access control and fire at IHS Markit, said that the ability of PIAM systems to link together and manage multiple brands of access control hardware undermine the allure of some large manufacturers' offerings which are often touted as providing some of the functionality of a PIAM system across an enterprise, such as the central management of credentials and active directory integration. However, to be able to do this, the end-user must exclusively adopt that manufacturer’s brand company-wide.

“Because PIAM makes it easy to control multiple brands of equipment across a single installation, it also makes it easier for the end user to change the access control equipment over time by using the PIAM to ease the transition,” wrote Dearing. “Historically, suppliers have always fought extremely hard for ‘greenfield projects.’ The first access control brand deployed had a huge advantage over the competition because the easiest way to expand that system later on was to buy the same brand again. PIAM software, however, potentially eliminates this advantage for manufacturers.”

Dearing said if the adoption of PIAM continues at the projected rate that larger access control suppliers could see their grip on large-scale projects, such as those in the transportation, corporate enterprise and utilities sectors, begin to weaken. IHS estimates, for example, that the number of access control projects in the transportation sector that include some form of PIAM system will quadruple over the next five years. For their part, end-users within these industries are attracted to the ability that PIAM provides them with in terms of automating credential management and complying with legislation. They also have the budgets to afford such a system.

Barriers to Adoption

Despite the positive outlook, Dearing said there are still a number of hurdles that PIAM must clear in order to achieve true mass market adoption as only two percent of all commercial access control projects included some form of PIAM system in 2016. One of the biggest challenges inhibiting PIAM adoption is their complexity.

“Early adopters often have a clear picture of what they would like the system to do. The problems arise when they start to realize that their pre-existing physical and logical security infrastructure is not able to meet their own requirements,” wrote Dearing. “This usually comes in one of two forms: access control hardware limitations or weaknesses in their corporate governance and workflows. Both result in delays to PIAM system implementation.”

Thus, PIAM solutions require large commissioning and design efforts, according to Dearing, both in the initial and post-implementation process due to system maintenance needs.

Dearing said another adoption barrier for PIAM is the high-level of collaboration that is required between the physical security and IT departments of an organization, two sides that often do not see eye-to-eye, especially when it comes to finding equilibrium in the “security versus convenience” balancing act. While IT managers want to ensure that PIAM systems are devoid of cyber vulnerabilities, on the other side of the equation, physical security executives do not want the building’s perimeter left open to intruders because of a network breach or have their system rendered useless due to a DDoS attack.

Opportunities for Physical Access Control Suppliers

Dearing said that PIAM also presents an opportunity for access control system suppliers. For example the addition of logical integration adds a variety of unique selling points to a standard access control system, enabling them to become more competitive in the market. Also, Dearing said that if a number of suppliers add some form of logical integration to their offerings that it could potentially slow the adoption of full PIAM systems.

“It is unlikely that a particularly cost-sensitive end user would opt for a bespoke solution when they are already getting some level of logical integration from the physical security manufacturer,” Dearing concluded. “Furthermore, a traditional supplier that fully commits to developing its logical integration capabilities may be also able to provide a true “off-the-shelf” solution. This would be more affordable than the current PIAM systems on the market and would have the potential to drive greater adoption in small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) projects.”

Click here for more information about the report.