Why Crescendo cards have replaced physical badges in hundreds of companies

HID Professional Services has orchestrated a global deployment of HID Crescendo Cards, designed to succeed obsolete physical access systems like Prox or Seos badges. According to HID Global, these cards support both technologies (Prox and Seos), offering backward compatibility while opening the door to future migration toward more secure protocols like FIDO2, standardized by the FIDO Alliance. This approach allows organizations to avoid a complete replacement of their readers while preparing their infrastructure for passwordless authentication methods.

A successful deployment relies on real-world testing and seamless coordination between technical teams, manufacturing, and logistics.

The logistical and technical challenges of large-scale deployment

The success of such a project depends on several technical and organizational pillars. First, validating identity data before card personalization: inconsistencies in the databases used can delay production and distribution, as HID Professional Services notes. Next, real-world testing is essential, particularly on industrial equipment such as forklifts, locker systems, or cafeteria terminals, where readers must operate flawlessly. Finally, coordination between technical teams, manufacturing services, logistics, and stakeholders is presented as a critical element to minimize operational disruptions.

What this means here: securing physical access in Benin and West Africa without overhauling the entire system

For businesses and government agencies in Benin or West Africa still using access badges based on technologies like Prox or Seos, this global deployment offers a locally applicable model. By adopting cards like the Crescendo Cards, they could modernize their systems gradually, without immediately investing in FIDO2 infrastructure while maintaining compatibility with existing systems. This would reduce migration costs and allow testing of more secure solutions (such as Elite Key fobs or biometric authentication) before a full transition. In the long term, this approach would also facilitate the integration of emerging regional standards aligned with international benchmarks like FIDO2.

The migration to FIDO2: preparing for passwordless authentication

One of the major strengths of Crescendo Cards lies in their ability to evolve toward protocols like FIDO2, which eliminate passwords in favor of authentication based on physical keys (such as the Elite Key) or biometrics. According to HID Professional Services, this transition should be anticipated from the design phase of deployment, as it involves changes in network infrastructure and security policies. For Beninese or West African organizations, this would mean reducing risks related to password leaks while simplifying access for employees, a critical issue in a context where cyberattacks increasingly target identification systems.