Security vs. Uptime: Designing Access Systems that Keep Buildings Running

When locks, readers, and lockdown protocols rely on power, networks, and single points of control, security measures meant to protect a building can instead interrupt tenant operations and emergency response. In this 10-minute interview Alex Morgan talks with Michael Harrington about practical ways to balance physical security with operational continuity. We’ll unpack common causes—power and communications dependencies, poorly coordinated procedures, and unclear ownership—and walk through tradeoffs operators face when prioritizing safety, access, and uptime. Michael shares real-world examples where simple design and process changes prevented needless outages and simplified incident response. Listeners will come away with a short decision framework for evaluating security-linked single points of failure, questions to ask vendors and trades, and four immediate steps property leaders can take to make security systems more resilient without weakening safety.