Welcome back to our blog series about how Kisi has grown up to be a scalable, enterprise-ready access control solution. In Part 1, we explored how we’ve migrated from our legacy solution to Kisi 2.0, the next generation of our software. In this post, we’ll take a step back, and look at the major enterprise differentiating functionalities that make Kisi stand out from the competition.
What makes an access control solution ‘enterprise-ready’? #
In our definition, an access control solution becomes ‘enterprise-ready’ once it meets an enterprise IT department’s stringent requirements regarding:
- Secure authentication
- Role-based access control
- Certified information security
- The ability to audit and provide a detailed trail of account activity
- Integrability with the existing enterprise application ecosystem
- Integrability with existing legacy hardware
- High-quality customer service and up-to-date documentation
Kisi: An enterprise-grade access control system built to scale #
Over the last 18 months, we’ve built some major enterprise differentiating functionalities into and around the Kisi platform. Let’s have a look at them one-by-one, and see why they matter for large organizations.
1. Secure authentication based on SAML SSO and SCIM 2.0 #
Enterprises are literally not allowed to sign deals with vendors that use plain email and password for authentication. Secure authentication based on SAML Single-Sign-On (SSO) is a no-brainer in enterprise environments.
With Kisi 2.0, we introduced support for SAML SSO with identity providers (IdPs) that implement the SAML 2.0 standard. With SSO enabled, users can access their Kisi accounts based on their existing identity provider credentials.
At the same time, we’ve introduced support for the System for Cross-domain Identity Management (SCIM) v2.0 standard. This allows organizations to keep the identities in their IdP in sync with the identities in Kisi, including automatic provisioning, deprovisioning, and group membership updates.
2. Granular access privileges depending on user role #
As organizations grow larger with tens of places and hundreds of groups, limiting users’ access rights to the minimum of what they need becomes key to protecting both admins and users from malicious or unintended privilege escalations.
Following the ‘Principle of least privilege’, we’ve redesigned roles in Kisi to allow organizations to assign users just the access rights they need, thus improving security and compliance with security regulations for our customers.
3. ISO 27001 certified for information security #
We're taking every measure to ensure our customers have peace of mind when it comes to the information security of their access control solution. Validated by an independent auditor, Kisi got the internationally recognized ISO 27001 certification last year. The certification ensures that we have an information security management system in place to protect corporate information and data, and manage data security threats.
4. The ability to audit and provide a detailed trail of account activity #
Part of the compliance program of any large enterprise is designed to control and monitor the access of information within the organization.
Kisi has been built from the ground up with security in mind, allowing you to leverage the audit logging feature out-of-the-box. With this, you can see every Kisi-specific event that occurs at your organization, the user responsible for that event, and the time when the event happened. Audit logs are fully exportable to a CSV format, searchable, filterable, and accessible via API. For example, you can use event webhooks to send Kisi events into an organization-wide SIEM logging system like Splunk.
5. Easy integration with existing enterprise solutions #
In an enterprise ecosystem, all applications and technologies must work together as a functioning, well-oiled machine.
With Kisi 2.0, we’ve introduced several new integration possibilities. Also, our open API allows developers to build their own innovative solutions on top of Kisi, while enjoying all functionalities from our platform. Some partners have already launched white-label integrations with Kisi, meaning their users don't need to install or sign in to Kisi separately. This elevates the experience for coworking, gym, and workplace software users and saves administrators time, as they don’t need to manage different tools.
6. Easy integration with legacy enterprise hardware #
Legacy hardware is hindering enterprises from moving fully towards a modern, cloud-based access control system. Razing the old technology and starting over discourages organizations and keeps them captive in outdated systems.
Recently, we’ve launched the Kisi Controller Pro 2 to help such organizations easily and cost-efficiently modernize their access control system, while re-using their legacy readers, wiring, and credentials – no need to pull cables. Due to the low upfront costs, customers can secure even more doors for the same price.
7. High-quality customer service and up-to-date documentation #
With a growing product, new features every other week, and an ever-expanding user base, we at Kisi are laser-focused on providing the highest quality technical support, as we see this attribute as our clear competitive differentiator.
A team of full-time product support specialists from a breadth of professional backgrounds and with a CSAT score constantly around 92% is delivering a speedy resolution of technical issues during core and extended support hours.
We also know that good technical information leads to increased customer satisfaction and optimal use of product. Therefore, we relaunched the Kisi Docs earlier this year, with a more clear and meaningful structure and content.
Wrapping it up #
To run their business smoothly, efficiently, and with peace of mind, large organizations need robust, enterprise-ready functionalities. This means secure authentication, end-to-end security, scalability, role-based access control, easy integrability with other software and hardware, and high-quality technical support.
Over the last 18 months, we’ve built major enterprise differentiating functionalities into and around Kisi, making it an access control platform truly tailored for large organizations and multi-site enterprises.
Enterprise-grade security starts with a conversation #
Want to see what a modern, scalable, enterprise-grade access control system can do for you?
Contact our team now and we’ll be happy to have a chat about your use case and needs.
Katalin Haverinen-Varga
Product documentation writer with a passion to translate technical features into customer value.