Cisco and Identiv Team Up to Build Physical Access for M2M

Cisco and Identiv on April 15 announced that they will join forces to create M2M solutions across the IoT. In a statement, the two companies said they plan to work together to build an “Internet of Everything” (IoE).

The IoE, they said, is “…the intelligent connection of people, processes, data and things to the Internet, bringing unprecedented economic opportunities to both the private and public sectors.” In the partnership’s first venture, Identiv will deliver a next-generation, networked physical access control system (PACS) that will be designed to work with Cisco virtual supervisor module (VSM) cameras and VoIP telephony products.

“Everything is connecting, and physical access is no different,” said Jason Hart, CEO, Identiv. “Identiv is allowing customers to view physical access control as another element of the Internet of Everything. Our focus on identity as the new security perimeter allows us to build connected systems linking buildings, mobile devices, cloud services, and information systems that are easy to use, standards based, cost effective, and most importantly, secure.”

Identiv will offer a completely network based access control system, including credentials, advanced networked uTrust TS door sensors, Power-over-Ethernet door controllers and access control software.

This partnership is huge for Identiv, but not insignificant for Cisco, either. The tech giant is putting its tentacles into as many IoT pies as it can, pushing its vision of the IoE while producing the soft and hardware solutions that its many partners will use to take over the IoT. It’s a model that’s worked for Cisco before, and I expect it’ll be very successful again.