Hybrid Cloud and On-Prem in Banking & Credit Unions: Staying Connected Without Compromise

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An interview with industry experts Spencer Cayer, President, and Bob Cayer, Co-Founder of Cayer Security. Written by Nikki Williams, Marketing Director at ICT.

The financial security landscape is changing quickly. Branches are spread across wider territories, IT departments are moving more infrastructure to the cloud, and risk managers are being asked to maintain control of their data while relying on more connected systems.

For banks and credit unions, physical security is no longer a standalone conversation. It increasingly intersects with IT infrastructure, cybersecurity, network architecture and broader business operations.

Cayer Security, a family-owned company founded in Fairfield, Maine, in 1997 by Bob and Cindy Cayer, has spent nearly three decades helping financial institutions navigate that changing environment. We sat down with Spencer Cayer, President, and Bob Cayer, Co-Founder, to talk about what hybrid security looks like in practice, and what banks and credit unions should be asking before they modernize.

Q: When we talk about “hybrid” security, what does that actually mean for a bank or credit union?

Bob Cayer: Most risk managers that are managing these systems are all over the place, especially in the state of Maine. Our state is large. It's not like it's twenty minutes to get to your job site. Sometimes it's taking four hours to get there.

That makes remote management incredibly important. You want “the ability to have the system reside on the financial institution's server, on premise, but also the flexibility to manage it remotely, so they have kind of the best of both worlds.

Spencer Cayer: These systems are also increasingly connected to the institution's broader technology environment.

These are intelligent systems that are very much converged with a bank or credit union's IT infrastructure with their corporate network. As security integrators, we need to really be partners with not only the facility managers or security managers, but also the networking and cybersecurity team.

Q: Where should a financial institution start when considering an upgrade?

Spencer: Start with questions, not equipment.

What do you have currently for your security infrastructure? What are you using for your intrusion system, your access control? What do you have for a video surveillance system?

Understanding the existing environment first can uncover disconnected systems, gaps and opportunities to build a better long-term strategy.

Bob: You also have to understand where the institution wants to go.

Understand who you're talking to, make sure that you get all their needs and their long-term goals of what they're looking to do.

Q: What can a hybrid deployment look like in practice?

Spencer: One Cayer customer is running ICT Protege GX on its Azure cloud infrastructure while using on-premise controllers and readers.

That gives the institution remote connectivity and centralized management without making local security operations entirely dependent on network connectivity.

You've got to make sure that your system's resilient and that it will continue to operate unimpeded by any network connectivity losses.

Q: What is one issue banks and credit unions sometimes overlook?

Bob: Data ownership.

There's a lot of systems today where you don't own the data. If you miss a payment, that data goes away at their discretion.

Institutions should understand who owns their data, who can access it and what happens to it if they change providers. Those questions should be answered before an agreement is signed, not after a relationship ends.

Q: What's the biggest takeaway for institutions evaluating cloud versus on-premise?

Hybrid isn't one prescribed architecture. The right approach depends on what the institution already owns, how its teams operate and where it wants to go.

A phased strategy can also allow banks and credit unions to modernize without forcing an immediate rip and replace. Ultimately, the conversation isn't simply about choosing cloud or on-premise. It's about finding the right balance of connectivity, resilience, cybersecurity and control.

Thinking about what’s next for your security infrastructure? Contact Cayer Security at (207) 453-9177 or info@cayersecurity.com.