Engagement Options

Unified Access: Physical/Logical Access Control Convergence Assessment

Physical and logical access control (PACS/LACS) mechanisms are converging, and the time is approaching for your organization to consider “unified access”, where a single smart badge can be used by employees and contractors to access facilities and IT systems. is a component of a much larger a set of related identity management (IdM) issues. Burton Group's Unified Access Assessment commits to deliver a focused vendor independent analysis of your IdM strategy, security infrastructure and overall preparedness to effectively support unified access.

The outcome of this short-term engagement provides you with a thorough understanding of your organization's strengths and weaknesses by assessing how your existing identity management infrastructure and strategy can best support your unified access requirements. This assessment examines your user identity lifecycle infrastructure, credential assignment, management and revocation, user identity data mapping and propagation to systems that are to be integrated, such as HR, network directories, key application directories, card management systems(s) and physical access control systems. Your organization’s identity audit and reporting requirements and capabilities are also analyzed.

We accomplish this assessment by electronically surveying up to 10 key 'stakeholders' drawn from cross-functional groups including IT, Security, Architecture, Human Resources, Application Development, Networking, and other 'line of business' executives concerned with identity management integration with a unified access-supporting infrastructure. We'll even help you identify the right people to contribute to the survey. We also review the relevant IdM design and architecture documents maintained by your agency in order to get a focused and thorough understanding of your unified access supporting infrastructure and strategy. Specific topics investigated include:

• User lifecycle management
• Automated and manual account and entitlement provisioning
• Identity repository (database/directory) schema
• Identity repository topology
• Card management system integration
• Physical access control system integration
• Identity content and data integration
• Federated authentication
• Identity audit and reporting

After receiving the completed surveys and reviewing your documentation, Burton Group senior level consultants will spend two full days on-site with your team to review the survey responses and correlate this information with your documented infrastructure and strategy.

Following this on-site meeting, Burton Group will provide you with a 15 to 20 page written Unified Access Readiness Assessment. The assessment will include a series of tactical and strategic recommendations in those areas identified above, in order to move your IdM infrastructure forward based on industry best practices, technological capabilities, your organization's unique requirements and other specific findings of the assessment.

To start this engagement:

If you work in the Eastern US or Europe, call Homan Farahmand at 905.952.0966

If you work in the Western US or Asia Pacific, call Doug Simmons at 831.429.4001