The access control market is loud. There's a new cloud-only platform every quarter promising to replace your panels and your existing reader fleet at the same time. Most don't survive a real building's edge cases.
Here's the framework we use when we sit down with a property owner who's choosing a platform.
Start with the credential, not the panel
Mobile credentials are great for office tenants. Physical fobs are still better for cleaning crews, vendors and fire department access. Pick a platform that does both well — Kantech, Brivo and Genetec all clear that bar. Avoid platforms that quietly require you to migrate every reader to their proprietary stack.
Cloud or on-prem? Both, honestly.
Cloud is simpler to manage but has a recurring cost and depends on your internet uptime for management (not for door function — local controllers always cache). For a four-door medical office, cloud is the right answer. For a forty-door manufacturing facility, on-prem usually still wins on total cost.
The audit trail is the product
When something goes wrong — a missing laptop, a workplace incident, an insurance claim — the only thing that matters is whether you can pull a clean, time-stamped audit trail in under five minutes. Test that on day one of a new platform, not when you actually need it.