Access control platforms adapt to identity-driven security

As organizations manage a more diverse mix of employees, contractors, temporary staff, and visitors, access control systems are being pushed to evolve beyond traditional badge-centric models.
 
For physical security systems integrators and consultants, the shift is not simply about adding new credential types. It is about aligning physical access with the same identity-driven principles that now govern IT systems, cloud applications, and enterprise workflows.
 
Across enterprise, education, healthcare, and commercial environments, security teams are under pressure to reduce manual processes, avoid duplicate records, and ensure that access rights reflect real-world roles and employment status. The growing reliance on identity platforms and standards is reshaping how access control platforms are designed, deployed, and integrated.

Identity platforms as the foundation

One of the most visible changes in access control architecture is the tighter integration with enterprise identity management platforms. Instead of maintaining separate databases for physical access, organizations are increasingly relying on a single authoritative identity source.
 
Hanchul Kim, CEO at Suprema, said access control platforms are now integrating with identity systems that serve as a system of record.
 
“Access control platforms are increasingly integrating with identity management systems that act as a single source of truth,” he said. What began as basic administrator account provisioning has expanded into full lifecycle management of users and credentials.
 
This shift reflects how organizations now operate. Employees, contractors, and temporary staff may all require different access privileges, but their identities are typically created and managed in the same enterprise directory. By linking physical access to that directory, security teams can reduce inconsistencies and manual reconciliation.

Group-based provisioning replaces manual configuration 

A major operational change is the move toward group-driven access control. Rather than configuring access rights individually, organizations assign users to groups within their identity platform. Those groups then determine permissions within the access control system.
 
“In most real-world deployments, SCIM-based provisioning is group-driven,” Kim said. “Users are added to groups in the identity platform, and those groups determine their access rights in the access control system.” According to Kim, this approach avoids duplicate user records and ensures access policies are aligned with organizational structure rather than ad hoc decisions.
 
For integrators, this means access control deployments increasingly depend on a clear understanding of how customers structure their identity groups. Physical security is no longer configured in isolation. It must mirror HR, IT, and operational realities.

Cloud adoption accelerates identity integration

The rise of cloud software has played a central role in accelerating identity-driven access control. As organizations adopt more software-as-a-service applications, identity platforms have become the gatekeepers for access across multiple systems.
 
“This shift has been driven by the broader adoption of cloud software,” Kim said. “As organizations rely on an increasing number of SaaS tools, identity platforms such as Microsoft Entra ID and Okta have become central to how access is granted and revoked.”
 
Without automated identity integration, onboarding and offboarding quickly become unmanageable. Kim noted that in the absence of this model, every personnel change could require manual updates across “five, ten, or even twenty systems.” For physical security teams, this creates risk, delays, and administrative burden.

Standards reduce operational overhead

Standards-based integration is emerging as a critical enabler for scalable access control. SCIM, or System for Cross-domain Identity Management, automates user provisioning and deprovisioning based on identity lifecycle events. Single sign-on further reduces complexity by eliminating separate credential management for each platform.
 
“Standards like SCIM significantly reduce this operational burden by automating provisioning and deprovisioning based on identity lifecycle events, while SSO removes the need to manage separate passwords for each platform, improving both security and usability,” Kim said.
 
For integrators, standards-based approaches can simplify deployments across multi-site and multi-tenant environments. They also make it easier to integrate access control with existing enterprise systems without extensive customization.

Identity management expands beyond large enterprises

What was once limited to large organizations is now common across smaller deployments. Identity management tools are no longer reserved for enterprises with thousands of employees.

“One of the most notable changes in recent years has been who is using identity management,” Kim said. “What began in large enterprises is now common among organizations with 20 employees or fewer, simply because SCIM and SSO are the most practical way to avoid duplication, drift, and manual reconciliation.”
 
This trend has implications for system integrators serving small and mid-sized customers. Even modest access control projects may now require integration with cloud identity platforms, changing both system design and commissioning processes.

Supporting hybrid and multi-platform environments

As identity ecosystems grow more complex, access control platforms are being designed to connect with multiple identity sources simultaneously. This is particularly relevant in environments such as campuses, hospitals, and large enterprises, where staff, students, contractors, and visitors may be managed in separate systems.
 
“The access control platform needs to be able to simultaneously connect to multiple identity platforms,” said Steve Bell, Strategic Technology Advisor at Gallagher Security. “For example, staff, students, or contractors often may include the bidirectional exchange of data to ensure that all systems reflect the true status of people and other entities.”
 
Bidirectional data exchange helps maintain accuracy when changes occur in either system. However, it also introduces new design considerations for resilience and consistency.

Designing for scale and resilience

Large and distributed access control deployments face additional challenges when integrating with identity systems. Communication outages, latency, and synchronization errors can all affect access decisions if not properly managed.
 
“Some large systems will employ multiple server instances, and the vendor must design very carefully to ensure that the system maintains the true status of all entities following communication outages,” Bell said.
 
For integrators, this highlights the importance of understanding how access control platforms handle synchronization, failover, and reconciliation. Identity-driven access control must be reliable even when network connectivity is disrupted.

Self-service and approval workflows 

Another trend reshaping access control is the adoption of self-service portals and approval workflows. Instead of relying on security administrators to manually update access rights, organizations are increasingly empowering users and managers to request changes through structured processes.
“Most very large systems will have a PIAM that will provide a self-service portal to allow all staff and contractors to request changes and also provide an approver process that ensures that people only get access privileges they absolutely require,” Bell said.
 
This model aligns physical access control with the principle of least privilege, while reducing administrative workload. For consultants, it also introduces new conversations around governance, auditability, and policy enforcement

HR systems become authoritative sources

Beyond identity platforms, HR systems are playing a growing role in access control workflows. Employment status, job role, and organizational changes are often first recorded in HR systems, making them a natural source of truth.
 
According to Gaoping Xiao, Director of Sales APAC at AMAG Technology, access control platforms are evolving by synchronizing directly with enterprise identity and HR systems.
 
“Instead of relying on manual configuration of access groups, schedules, and credentials, identity data is now synchronized automatically from authoritative sources such as HR systems,” he said.
 
This integration allows access control systems to respond automatically to onboarding, role changes, and offboarding events, reducing lag between employment changes and access updates.

Centralized identity frameworks 

By consolidating identity data from multiple sources, access control platforms can manage employees, contractors, and visitors within a single framework.
 
“This approach enables centralized management of employees, contractors, and visitors within a single identity framework,” Xiao said. Automated workflows handle “onboarding, access modifications, offboarding, auditing, and reporting,” helping organizations maintain compliance while reducing administrative effort.
 
For integrators, centralized identity frameworks can simplify system architecture, but they also require careful planning around data ownership, integration points, and customer responsibilities.

Implications for integrators and consultants

For physical security professionals, identity-driven access control changes the scope of projects. Successful deployments increasingly depend on collaboration with IT and HR stakeholders, as well as a clear understanding of customer identity architecture.
 
Integrators must be prepared to design systems that align with enterprise identity standards, support group-based access models, and handle hybrid environments.
 
Consultants, meanwhile, are being asked to advise on governance models, lifecycle management, and risk reduction.
 
As access control continues to converge with enterprise identity, the distinction between physical and logical access management is becoming less pronounced. For the industry, this convergence represents both an opportunity and a responsibility to deliver systems that are secure, scalable, and aligned with how organizations actually operate.