Biometric access control for data centers

Based in Omaha, Nebraska, Scott Data is a nationally recognized data center facility and one of only 17 multi-tenant organizations in the nation to receive Tier III Certification in both design and facility from the Uptime Institute. The site boasts a three-story office building and a 160,000-square-foot data center building with a 20 MW onsite energy facility. In an area traditionally free of natural disasters, Scott Data rates against 200-mile-per-hour winds in case of tornados. The Suzanne and Walter Scott, Jr. Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides scholarships for STEM students at multiple universities and community college across the Midwest, operates Scott Data as a revenue-generating business, and all profits benefit the Foundation’s mission. Scott Data had an aging access control system and recognized that it could no longer procure the access badges needed during COVID-19 due to backorders. Their team began a search for alternatives and was introduced to Alcatraz by the security integrator.

Alcatraz replaces legacy biometrics

Because the Alcatraz solution works without a dedicated integration with the access system, “We were able to avoid significant licensing costs for an integration, which was what first caught our attention,” said Michael Romeo, Senior Systems Engineer, “What really blew us away was the ease of integration and the frictionless experience. The product demonstration took only 20 minutes, and an employee and I enrolled in less than a minute. I’ve never seen a facial biometric or any biometric system work that quickly.”

Alcatraz replaced legacy fingerprint readers that previously performed two-factor authentication due to the inability to secure the necessary badges. “The Rock, from Alcatraz, gave us the added benefit of a touchless solution, which during COVID was a huge advantage,” Mr. Romeo continued, “We have about 800 people that have access to the data center, and we looked at using another biometric, but were dreading the time it would take to re-enroll all of those people, many of whom are customers or contractors that do not work directly for Scott Data. Biometric readers are a requirement to enter the data center.”

Implementation of the Alcatraz system went smoothly, and Scott Data had a comprehensive communication and enrollment plan in place to help make authorized users aware of and comfortable with the new solution. “We had hundreds of users enroll over eight weeks, and we anticipated a fairly high error rate but were pleasantly surprised with how few people had an issue. In almost every case, the issue was user error during enrollment, and a brief explanation from Alcatraz resolved the problem,” Mr. Romeo explained.

Scott Data established a security vestibule staffed by a security guard where new authorized users can easily enroll at a dedicated enrollment station. “New users enroll in a few seconds, after validating with an existing credential and PIN; then they can immediately turn around and enter the data center because the Alcatraz software works that quickly.”

Eliminating tailgating

“Friction from using the fingerprint readers encouraged tailgating,” Mr. Romeo said, “but now, with the Rock in place, we can track tailgating alerts without a guard watching a screen for those events. We have six entry points into the building, so you can imagine that it is not easy for guards to watch each door 24/7. The Alcatraz Admin Portal software now allows us to track these incidents and see a thumbnail image or go to the video feed from the Rock’s onboard camera.”

Service after the sale

“When we had an issue, the Alcatraz Customer Success Team jumped all over it right away and even pushed out firmware updates to fix some issues quickly, which is not something you normally see for products in production. Alcatraz helped us adjust the parameters of the Rocks at certain doors to maximize detection and gave advanced training to one of our technicians, who is now our on-site subject matter expert.”

“The Alcatraz solution has taken our security to the next level, but we still feel there is work on our side to better take advantage of all of the features that the Rock offers. Today, we deployed the solution on-premise, but we are taking a look at the new features offered in the Alcatraz Cloud solution, like Mobile Enrollment. We are considering this as we plan to expand into the main office building.”