Randstad: Unifying Access, Video, and Intrusion Across a Growing Footprint

Overview

Randstad is a global talent and staffing leader headquartered in the Netherlands, operating across 39 markets with roughly 40,000 employees, and growing quickly. Its security needed to grow with it.

For Randstad Belgium, that meant rethinking a security estate built up piece by piece over years: a headquarters, a new office coming online in Brussels, and more than 100 branches. Most had their own access control, and at some sites the system was hosted and managed by the building owner rather than Randstad itself. On top of that, video, intrusion, and access control each ran on their own separate system, with no integration between them. What Randstad wanted was one platform they could manage themselves, end to end. What began as a conversation about access control became something larger: one platform covering access, video, and intrusion, built to expand as the business does.

Randstad Belgium brought this together with Acre, integrator G4S, and distributor SmartSD.

The Challenge: When Fragmentation Slows You Down

Randstad Belgium had grown the way many organizations do. You start an operation, you add to it over the years, and before long your security is spread across a headquarters and 100+ branches, running on ageing systems that were never designed to talk to each other.

With a new Brussels headquarters on the way, the team wanted a clean answer to that fragmentation: something flexible, unified, and ready to grow. They weren't just looking to replace what they had; they wanted room to keep adding to it.

As the integrator put it, customers in this position "wake up with issues, with problems, with outdated systems." Those are exactly the problems the platform was brought in to solve.

The Solution: One Platform, Built Open

The project started with Acre Access Control (AAC) and expanded from there, driven by what Randstad wanted next.

• Access control on Acre Access Control as the foundation
• Video connected through a cloud-to-cloud integration into the same platform
• Intrusion brought in by upgrading the existing panels to SPC and connecting them to AAC

Because each layer plugs into one cloud-native, serverless platform, Randstad manages access, video, and intrusion together instead of switching between separate systems. For the IT and operations teams, that was the turning point.

The "aha" came with the serverless model, centralizing everything and making it much easier.

Why the Partnership Worked

Behind the deployment was a way of working the partners describe as the golden triangle: three parties, each doing what it does best.

• Acre, the manufacturer, built the unified platform
• G4S, the integrator, designed the system and owned the customer relationship
• Smartest, the distributor, moved the technology from A to B — and stayed close to the customer day to day, not just delivering the products but supporting Randstad on an ongoing basis

That structure let the project move at the customer's pace and finish the way it should. It also reflects a shift in how these conversations work.

We're used to talking about hardware. That's something we need to change. You have to talk about the software, the services, and the way you go to market. Customers want to hear that too.

The Result

By building on one open platform, Randstad Belgium gained:

• Access, video, and intrusion managed from a single cloud-native platform
• Centralized oversight across the headquarters and 100+ branches, with no on-site servers to maintain
• A system that grows by addition, with no rip-and-replace required
• A foundation ready for the new Brussels headquarters and continued expansion

Looking Ahead

Randstad is scaling quickly, and the platform is built to keep pace. Because access, video, and intrusion now run on one open foundation, the next site, product, or integration is an addition, not a rebuild.

If you're working through a similar transition, the right platform and the right partners make the difference.

Speak with an Acre expert to see how Acre unifies access, video, and intrusion on one cloud-native platform.