| Security Case Studies |
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Client: Large Property Management Company The Challenge Tangible’s client managed a 40-story office building in the center of a metropolitan city. A security access control system with approximately 50 card readers throughout the complex – including the parking garage – was in use. More than 30 tenants occupied the building, each requiring various level of access to the building and garage. The management company had not enforced procedures to return system access cards and as a result, the database contained employees who were no longer with the tenant companies. The security systems software was located in the basement of the building and the System Administrator managed enrollment, activation and deactivation of access control cards and reports from this location. Because of its remote location, the System Administrator was not able to access the system regularly and updates were tedious. Finally the database was inaccurate and had not been updated in more than five years. Frequent administrator changes, lost passwords, inconsistent record updates and lack of policy enforcement resulted in more than one third of the records being invalid, inactive or duplicate. Reporting also was lacking as the standard and custom reports did not accurately capture the garage revenue. The Solution Tangible broke the project down into straightforward components: Reboot the system and create new password; clean the database; restore standard reports; create new reports; and train the system administrator to operate the system in these new conditions. Once the system was reset, Tangible focused on cleaning the database which had accumulated more than 3,000 records, more than a third of which were inactive, invalid or duplicates. The remaining two-thirds of accounts were sorted by the tenant for manual verification. Once the database was restored, the standard reports provided an improved perspective of the situation and allowed Tangible to focus on creating new reports more in line with specific business requirements. It became clear that tracking vehicles utilizing the garage was a priority since unauthorized tenants were able to access the garage using their standard badge. In going back to the database and reconfiguring the settings that had been incorrectly set, the company was able to restrict vehicles without appropriate access. Finally, a training program was established and a simplified Users Manual was produced and circulated to the management team and System Administrator. The Results These actions resulted in the restoration of a fully functioning security access control system under the supervision and control of a well-trained system administrator. During the project period, the lost revenue from the parking garage was estimated to be $400,000. However, with the enforcement of the new enrollment procedures, the revenue was restored immediately and the management company is now generating approximately $15,000 per month in garage parking fees. |