Digital Transformation in the Enterprise: The Roundup

The enterprise sector has been a key growth area for the biometrics industry in recent years, and this dynamic is only expected to intensify in the wake of a global pandemic that has pushed many businesses into remote setups and digital channels. That’s why FindBiometrics has been putting the spotlight on Digital Transformation in the Enterprise over the past month. Now, it’s time to take stock with a look back at this month-long special event.

COVID-19’s Impact

Looking at the enterprise sector in the latter half of 2020, where could we start but with the novel coronavirus? The pandemic has had a dramatic effect on various aspects of the business world, but one of the consistent takeaways is that it has accelerated trends that were already underway.

In our first in-depth feature for the Digital Transformation in the Enterprise Special Event, we looked at how COVID-19 has sped up the shift toward biometric access control, and especially contactless solutions such as iris or facial recognition, since reducing the need for employees and others to touch shared surfaces can help to mitigate transmission of the virus. Likewise, the shift away from password-based security systems and toward more sophisticated mechanisms has also become more pronounced as various organizations have begun to recognize the cyberthreats they’re facing as they move into digital channels.

We also looked at the contact tracing and fever scanning technologies that have emerged to specifically address the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace.

The Evolution of Access Control

From there, we took a deeper dive into access control, tracing its evolution over the past couple of decades. Initially, some organizations embraced biometric access control as a means of enhancing security, recognizing that fingerprint scans, for example, could address the security gaps of traditional PIN or swipe card-based access systems. But in recent decades, more organizations have come to recognize the benefits that biometrics offer not only in terms of security but also administrative efficiency – eliminating the issue of buddy punching, for example, and reducing calls to the help desk about things like lost credentials.

Contactless solutions have been picking up speed in recent years thanks to the convenience and speed of modalities like facial recognition and even contactless fingerprint scanning, and of course they’re now seeing even higher demand amid COVID-19. Meanwhile, vendors are adapting their solutions to work better with face masks, and integrating temperature scanning capabilities to let employers watch for potential signs of fever among staff members. Access control technologies are adapting as part of an ongoing evolutionary process.

Securing Enterprise IT

Our third feature for the Digital Transformation in the Enterprise Special Event delved into the issue of digital security. The first phases of enterprise digitization happened relatively quickly, with organizations around the world going online in the years around the turn of the millennium. Passwords were adopted quickly to secure files and other assets as they moved into the online space, and for a while, that was good enough.

Then the big data breaches came. As our feature details, breach incidents and a general growing awareness of cyberthreats have prompted a growing number of organizations to embrace post-password security mechanisms over the years, with biometric authentication playing an increasingly important role. Now, the pandemic has pushed many more organizations into digital channels before they were ready, and fraudsters are racing to find their vulnerabilities. Fortunately, a range of solutions providers are here to help.

The Conversation Continues…

Now that September has come to an end, that’s a wrap for our in-depth features – but there’s still more to be said about Digital Transformation in the Enterprise. That’s why this Special Event will culminate in an expert panel discussion in partnership with ISC West.

Entitled “Enabling Digital Transformation with Biometrics and Mobile ID“, the discussion will feature high-level executives from three of the biggest names in biometrics: BIO-key CEO Mike DePasquale, BioConnect CTO Courtney Gibson, and Iris ID Business Development Manager Tom DeWinter. The panel will be moderated by Susan Stover, FindBiometrics’ VP of Digital Content, and is slated to begin at 1:45 p.m. on October 5th, with registration open now.

Beyond that, the digital transformation conversation will continue on the ID Talk podcast, which is slated to deliver more thoughtful conversations with industry leaders in the weeks to come.

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The Digital Transformation in the Enterprise FindBiometrics Special Event is made possible by our sponsors: BioConnect, Iris ID, and IDEMIA.

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October 1, 2020 – by Alex Perala