Middle East security market continues to stride toward growth

The past years were a turbulent period for the Middle East. Marked by ongoing wars and political coups, the region also suffered a major blow when oil prices fell significantly, even dipping to its lowest in over a decade at one point. Remnants of the crisis lingered in 2017, affecting countries that are more dependent on oil and gas more than others.

Nonetheless, companies have seen a pick up in the economy and in the security sphere as well over the past year, boosted in part by an increased focus on security and stringent implementation of new security regulations. Infrastructure development in preparation for upcoming events such as Expo 2020, the FIFA World Cup 2022 as well as the Vision 2030 program, has also increased demand for surveillance system and access control installations to enhance overall security and safety.

“In 2017, the Middle East security market continued to grow and for us, it was an exciting time as we matured further and entered new industry segments such as retail, critical infrastructure and smart cities,” said Philippe Kubbinga, Regional Director for Middle East and Africa at Axis Communications. “If you considered other sectors such as banking and transportation, we have seen those grow very well. So, all in all, I can say it has been a balanced year in the Middle East security market region. Some markets performed better than others but there are definitely new opportunities in all the sectors and we are very happy with how 2017 ended. The team is geared and looking forward to 2018.” (Watch asmag.com's video interview with Philippe Kubbinga at Intersec Dubai here).

Solutions and Integration Lead the Way

The Middle East market continued to face challenges like the slower uptake of new technology in the region (which can take longer as these would need to be approved or certified by local authorities first) and product commoditization. Many companies have responded by differentiating themselves from the rest of the market through offering solutions, rather than products,and adding more value into their services.

“We’re pushing solutions rather than products. That’s why we want to change our image for the market. Unlike some other companies, we offer them a complete solution that can bring them more benefits. Such as in projects involving building automation, CCTV is just a small part, but we can bring them the complete solution and not just CCTV,” said Gabriel Yang, Operation Director for VIVOTEK Middle East.

Many have also started framing their products as a component of a big integrated picture that can offer customers more security or business intelligence.

“For the large segment, integration is definitely the hot word. We see a growing demand for integrated security solutions. We have our own software solution that integrates all of our systems under one umbrella, called Building Integration System (BIS). This platform also allows integration with third party applications, like building management systems, elevators or air conditioning in the building. No doubt this is on the rise. Such integrated solutions also come with the request to their manufacturers like ourselves not only to supply the solution, but also services,” said Erika Görge, Corporate Communications for Bosch Security Systems.

“Over the past 10 years, we saw end users and consultants in the Middle East caring much about integration and having different security systems communicating to each other and providing one single user interface or one single platform that is integrated to multiple systems,” said Firas Jadalla, Regional Director of Middle East and Africa for Genetec. “What we have been offering to the market, besides integration, is unification. Our platform, Security Center, has an open architecture infrastructure, enabling us to support user’s hardware of choice as well as provide built-in video management, access control, LPR, intercom SIP protocol, intrusion alarm system and advanced mapping built-in on a single platform with one user interface.”

Genetec has also been developing and improving its Mission Control which is a decision support system that supports dynamic SOPs. “It supports the end user or the owner to make the right decision or action based on an input that could be from a human or automated. Everything is documented. We are able to measure the performance, how long it took for the operator to respond. This can be used for evaluation and to improve the process of training the operator to address and handle different scenarios,” Jadalla added.