SwiftConnect acquires HID SAFE platform for automated hybrid access control

Access control provider SwiftConnect has announced the acquisition of HID’s Workforce Business Unit, including identity lifecycle management automation platform HID SAFE.

A press release says the combination of the two firms’ capabilities addresses a particular problem large organizations face in managing a shifting workforce. “When someone joins a company, changes roles, or leaves, their physical access permissions should update automatically, everywhere, in real time.”

The inconvenient reality is that many organizations remain mired in fragmented legacy systems, with physical and digital access control still split between different teams, hampering communication – and leaving a security gap that creates friction, audit exposure, and access that persists after it should have been revoked.

SwiftConnect and HID SAFE bring complementary products to the deal, with the former’s AccessCloud platform connecting biometric identity providers, mobile credentials and access control systems across the location network, and HID SAFE managing the governance layer by  automating access requests, approvals, policy enforcement, and revocation based on changes in HR, IT, and security systems. The companies call this “governance that covers the full arc: who someone is, what they are authorized to access, how they access it, and what happens when their role changes.”

Nothing’s gonna stop us now

Matt Kopel and Chip Kruger, Co-CEOs of SwiftConnect, believe that access should be invisible for users. “They are easily credentialed, they walk in, and nothing gets in their way.”

The addition of HID SAFE to their product makes this possible, in that “policies, approvals, and compliance requirements will now all live in the same platform as the experience. Every person will get exactly the access they are entitled to, and just tapping to access buildings, doors, floors, and resources will be effortless.”

Björn Lidefelt, EVP and Head of HID, says “HID SAFE has earned the trust of the world’s most security-driven organizations for more than two decades. Great technology deserves the space to reach its full potential, and SwiftConnect is the right partner to take it there.”

New SwiftConnect exec will manage SAFE file

SwiftConnect recently brought on board Shane Butler to serve as EVP of identity, lead the SAFE business and drive the evolution in physical access governance. Butler says the acquisition “accelerates the modernization of SAFE by delivering it via our connected access network so organizations can manage physical and digital access through the same governance, risk, and compliance lens.”

“This is the moment when these two worlds will finally speak the same language.”

Existing SwiftConnect customers will have access to enterprise-grade physical access control governance capabilities natively integrated with AccessCloud; existing HID SAFE customers can know their governance platform is now backed by SwiftConnect’s cloud-first, connected access infrastructure.

Per the release, the transaction builds on HID’s prior participation in SwiftConnect’s Series B funding round. HID will hold a minority, non-controlling interest in SwiftConnect following close. SwiftConnect is an independent company, controlled and managed by its existing leadership team.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Article Topics

access control  |  acquisitions  |  enterprise  |  HID  |  SwiftConnect