ASIS 2008 in Atlanta: Where Physical/Logical Convergence Happens

I just came back from the ASIS 2008 Show in Atlanta and boy, do my feet hurt. Over 15,000 attendees, participation in 6 booths including our own, 3 days of constant conversation will do that to a person. This security show is the top venue for those wanting to be educated on the latest in security...from state of the art manhole covers to new IP video and access control systems. Imprivata participates to support our partners and promote the capabilities of our OneSign platform as a key component of physical/logical convergence. The subject of security convergence has been discussed for years and some pundits are skeptical that it may never happen in their lifetime. Well, based on prospect meetings, sessions, and interactions with attendees at ASIS, convergence is going strong. ...and more importantly, technologies to deliver the capability are being budgeted for 2009. A key factor to expediting the adoption of converged physical and logical security systems is the understanding among the facility security and IT security decision makers that they must engage with each other in order to drive the advancement of their company's security capabilties. To reinforce this, the security integrators and manufacturers, those charged with delivering a converged solution, must understand this as well. And our partners do! I was very happy to hear our partners instructing their customers and prospects (facility security managers and executives) that as they embark on upgrading and/or installing new security systems, their IT counterparts must be involved. If not, their projects will likely not happen. I must say, this was quite refreshing to hear as conversations like that were not quite so prevalent at ASIS 2007. Convergence is happening. Chip