With so much talk on integration and IP, the Middle East is probably one of the few places in the world that brings out the best qualities of the two in real-life installations. Aside from Dubai, the rest of the United Arab Emirates is booming with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman in infrastructural development and greenfield commercial projects. While market potential is tremendous, challenges surrounding market access and talent management remain. a&s talks to some of the most active players in the region to find out what's ticking in the region after the 2009 financial crisis and economic slowdown.
With so much talk on integration and IP, the Middle East is probably one of the few places in the world that brings out the best qualities of the two in real-life installations. Aside from Dubai, the rest of the United Arab Emirates is booming with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman in infrastructural development and greenfield commercial projects. While market potential is tremendous, challenges surrounding market access and talent management remain. a&s talks to some of the most active players in the region to find out what's ticking in the region after the 2009 financial crisis and economic slowdown.
Schneider Electric
Customers in this region are increasingly looking for turnkey solutions that fulfill their total security, bui lding and ene rg y management needs, not just video or low-end, product-centered setup. This is an enterprise-class, project-based market, and we see aggressive growth in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE.
As a majority of the projects are greenfield, IP is almost always the de facto standard — even for the more conservative verticals such as oil and gas. Strong system integrators, with domain knowledge in network planning and software programming that we train and test our partners on, are thus in demand, especially when customers expect and demand one comprehensive solution and interface. Local presence and connections are also a must, as a lot of hand-holding is required during the analog-to-IP migration and software integration with analytics and other systems.
In infrastructural projects, brand preferences are easily palpable; there is usually a list of prequalified vendors before requests for proposals come out. Competition is extremely fierce, but it keeps us on our toes and pushes us forward. A number of government-related sectors continue to thrive, despite a more cautious approach in implementing investment decisions. With continuing uptake and adoption, IP is not without its faults as it introduces more dynamic scenarios that require training and retraining to meet end users' high-tech expectations. Therefore, the more everyone knows about technical capabilities and limitations, the better and easier it is to implement, integrate and configure.