Requirements

  1. Availability of biometrics
  2. Multi-factor authentication
  3. A fully integrated solution

Challenge

Netwise Hosting delivers enterprise-level hosted environments to a wide and varied customer-base, working closely with clients all around the world. Speed, security and stability are the fundamental values and primary focus, which filter through not only customer-facing technologies, but also the company’s general approach to doing business. Operating with total transparency, Netwise Hosting connects with its clients on a more personable level, developing long lasting professional relationships that add true value to services in a distinctly rewarding manner.

As Netwise Hosting looked to expand their company through building an additional 11,000 square foot data center in London, part of their data centre security requirement was to identify a more fully featured access control system that checked all the boxes. Netwise compared their previous vendor installations and decided on the following requirements; the availability of biometrics, multi-factor authentication, and a fully integrated solution.

Netwise Hosting acknowledged they would be using the system for access control and identity management. They preferred Paxton Net2 for access as it allowed them to manage complex access control lists and multi-user/level staff logins; However, they needed a solution that would allow them to incorporate a clearer view of identity with a multi-authentication biometric solution that would seamlessly integrate into Paxton Net2. The main driver, in addition to finding the correct physical product, was to avoid having duplicate systems and information for access control.

Solution

“The almost immediate availability of the product – coupled with their excellent support – meant they really did stand out from the competition.”

Alongside other senior management, Matthew Butt, Managing Director at Netwise Hosting Ltd. led the research and investigation of the various supplier offerings on the market and worked out the ideal solution for the project; primarily from a technical perspective, and secondly from a financial perspective. Netwise Hosting looked to BioConnect to meet their need for both biometric devices and for an easily integrated system.

“We chose BioConnect for several reasons, primarily the ability to integrate their system seamlessly with Paxton Net2, but closely followed up by their feature set and quality of the readers themselves,” said Matthew Butt, Managing Director at Netwise Hosting Ltd., “The almost immediate availability of the product – coupled with their excellent support – meant they really did stand out from the competition.”

Due to extensive in-house mechanical and electrical expertise, Netwise Hosting undertook the installation end-to-end themselves, with a total physical installation time of approximately 2 weeks, including all associated hardware such as maglocks, exit switches and sensors.

Result

Suprema biometric devices from BioConnect now cover all high-security ingress and egress locations throughout the data center facility, with a mix of BioEntry Plus and BioEntry W readers covering both internal and external locations.

Also deployed was the BioConnect Enterprise which has an advanced plugin architecture to connect directly into the Net2 access control software. Therefore, in addition to finding the correct physical product, Netwise was able to avoid having duplicate systems and information for access control between their biometric and non-biometric devices running on Paxton Net2.

The addition of BioConnect Enterprise meant that Netwise didn’t have to make a tradeoff between software and hardware that would meet their needs – they now have their preferred access control system and multi-authentication biometrics in one single interface for the creation, removal and administration of all users and access zones.

The system has been running for a full year now, with very little time needed in terms of maintenance during this time. For their customers – now 24/7 biometric access is available and the BioConnect integration makes it simple to manage the administration of access and users. Thus, further proving the progressive and organic flexibility that Netwise prides themselves on.

About Netwise Hosting

The Netwise Hosting team take great pride in their ability to offer truly high-end services, without the excessive and restrictive barriers that regularly force businesses out to countryside data centers – many miles from the nearest major business and trading hubs. Access to London data center space is no longer reserved for firms with enormous IT budgets. SME’s can at last rub shoulders with much larger businesses, deploying their online services from a facility they can really boast about – all managed by a company with core values in line with their own. For more information, visit www.netwisehosting.co.uk/.