Here’s what we know:
In this age of digital transformation, organizations of all sizes and industries are moving to more automation, cloud-based services, and integrations as every part of the business world becomes digitally focused.
We know that economic disruption caused by COVID-19 and the subsequent slowdown of commerce has hurt many businesses. However, security and access control have become essential business requirements as we all figure out what the future of work looks like. If anything, the pandemic will act as a catalyst to spur more innovation and digital transformation throughout the business world.
Here’s what we asked:
We recently took a poll of our database to understand the adoption of subscription software as a service. We were interested in seeing if costs are the motivations and barriers to entry and if companies are starting to look at access control subscriptions as a way to bridge the divide in keeping employees, buildings, and assets safe.
Here’s what we learned:
Our findings were enlightening and demonstrate a gap in knowledge of the new subscription software business models and the speed of digital transformation. It also illuminated the opportunity to help security professionals in need of new technology achieve their security goals through subscription security, a more affordable option in times of tight budgets.
Survey Results
We first asked what the likelihood of purchasing software as a service was for them. This has become a much more common practice as everything from cable to coffee can be bought on subscription. A large number of respondents, 75% said they were somewhat ‘likely’ to ‘very likely’ to buy software on a subscription.
Likelihood of purchasing business software as a subscription
Oddly, that leaves 25% of respondents who are not likely to buy software on a subscription.
Hold that thought.
Next we asked if they already had software as a subscription. It’s almost unfathomable that a company today would not have some sort of subscription, CRM tool, email or other platform but the results were split 50/50.
Half of the respondents said they do not have any software subscriptions. Remember, this is a poll of facility and security professionals.
Already have business software subscriptions
We then asked if cost was a barrier to purchasing access control and a whopping 82% said yes.
Access control cost are a barrier
That number is not surprising given the current economic climate and the tentative budgets many companies are grappling with. We know that security is not a luxury but an essential business need which is why Brivo has created several payment programs to help businesses of all sizes and industries afford the solution they need.
Finally we asked if they would be interested in purchasing access control as a subscription and 58% responded they were not sure if they were interested in Access Control as a Subscription.
Interest in access control as a subscription
This gives us a great opportunity in our industry. A large number of prospective buyers are not yet using subscription software, and are likely not aware of the benefits of access control as a subscription.
From this data, we can make a few assumptions:
- Security may be full of luddites, or it may be full of professionals unaware of their options in new technologies and the advent of digital transformation. We see this as our opportunity to help the security market find and afford new security solutions that can transform the way they manage security.
- We in the security industry who are working to move our community into the future need to do a better job of educating our own on the benefits of digital transformation.
Either way, this is opportunity knocking. It’s up to us to help educate the market and share the benefits of cloud-based access control.
While this was a simple poll we took of interested shoppers, and the strong scientific rigor on methodology might not be as foundational, this does offer up an opportunity to do more research into the prevailing attitudes.
It’s never too late to learn more about access control as a subscription and how it can generate return on investment for your business. You can also use our calculator to determine the total cost of ownership and what it takes to move your security practice to the cloud.
Methodology
We sampled a database of individuals in charge of managing the security of a commercial or multifamily property who had shown interest in access control. There were 3200 potential targets and 180 respondents which provided a 5% response rate.