Internap faced the unenviable task of quickly relocating 200 employees from downtown Atlanta to its new suburban headquarters – and it had exactly four months from the start of renovations to do it. That meant upgrading the new facility, designing the access control system, updating credentials for all employees, and physically moving everyone into the new building.
The Situation
Internap faced the unenviable task of quickly relocating 200 employees from downtown Atlanta to its new suburban headquarters – and it had exactly four months from the start of renovations to do it. That meant upgrading the new facility, designing the access control system, updating credentials for all employees, and physically moving everyone into the new building.
It was a daunting task for Internap's Atlanta IT team, which is comprised of four employees who had to scramble to configure the facility's IT and electronic access control system. Internap determined the best option was to find a security integrator that could play a vital and engaged role in the planning process, and recommend the most-appropriate technological solution. Remote Protection Systems, an Atlanta-based security company, recommended a managed access control system from Honeywell.
"This was the first time we had been approached with a managed access control solution," said Laura Miller, Director of IT Services and Infrastructure at Internap. "As an IT hosted services firm, we understood the managed model, but it was not something we had thought about for our access control system."
The solution turned out to be a perfect example of how security can also serve as a business tool that makes operations easier.
The Solution
Managed services such as remote-managed access control simplify operations for both security companies and end users. The software allows dealers and integrators to: respond to requests for adding and deleting access cards; create customized reports on an hourly, daily, weekly or monthly basis; and receive detailed reports via email and Web-enabled devices. The server can be managed at the security company's or integrator's facility via a secured encrypted network line, which means no onsite server is needed at the customer location.
This technology was a sensible way to reduce the system's footprint at Internap's new facility, cut down on installation times, and also reduce training time for employees charged with managing the system.
"With a non-hosted system, we have to configure the access control server at the company's facility, install the door readers, and train employees on how to maintain the system," said Scott Hightower, President of Remote Protection Systems. “With managed access control, we only have to install the door readers and add employees' credentials in to the system. The access control server is preconfigured and ready to go at our facility.”
The Benefits
Remote Protection Systems handles all access card adds and removals, opens and locks doors, pulls access reports, maintains the system, and hosts the access control server and software.
"By outsourcing the configuration and management of our access control system, we were able to stay focused on our core responsibilities," Miller said.
It took Remote Protection Systems three weeks to install and configure the managed access control system. The installation included access control to approximately 20 doors, and the reproduction of access cards for 200 employees. Remote Protection Systems also installed the structured data network cable throughout Internap's new facility, installing 150,000 feet of Honeywell's Genesis lowvoltage cable to 1,000 connection points.
The whole project, completed on-time, took Remote Protection Systems three months to finish. By sticking to the timeline, Remote Protection Systems was able to ensure Internap's corporate employees made a quick transition from the old office to the new facility. Then there's also the time efficiencies gained by Internap's IT staff. By having Remote Protection Systems install, configure and manage the system, Miller estimates the process saved her team weeks of work. This meant the IT team could focus its efforts on other parts of the move, as well as their day-to-day tasks.