Since its first appearance at Intersec in Dubai in 2013, there has been no looking back for Canon Middle East, as the region’s leading international annual safety, security and fire protection exhibition, has only helped it grow and cater to bigger markets.
“Intersec is a major milestone event in the Middle East security calendar and one that Canon Middle East eagerly anticipates. We cemented our commitment to the IP camera market with our participation this year,” said Hendrik Verbrugghe, Marketing Director, Canon Middle East. “We used the event to showcase integration, especially on the software side. Three Video Management System (VMS) partners, along with Milestone Systems, joined us and we were very well received at the event. Our exposure this year was greatly increased and we generated some great leads, especially in the retail and banking sectors,” said Verbrugghe.
It’s clear that Canon’s acquisition of Milestone Systems has gone a long way to cementing the company’s position in the security industry, especially in the Middle East where Milestone leads the market. Verbrugghe explained that Canon Middle East has already started attending events jointly with the VMS giant, such as Intersec.
Canon is making a significant step towards becoming a leader in the fast growing video surveillance market and this is evident by its recent acquisition of Milestone, one of the world’s leading VMS providers and its partnerships with other such providers such as Netavis and Digiever.
“The network surveillance market in the Middle East continues to show great potential and Canon is incessantly investing in the development of new Canon products to expand its range and meet market demands. The great response during Intersec indicates that Canon and its technology is being well received by partners, system integrators and end-customers,” added Verbrugghe.
Educating the market is of prime importance to Canon in the region and it is events such as Intersec that gives it a platform to interact and see how its technology is being consumed by the market, says Verbrugghe.
“One to one discussions and face-to-face knowledge sharing is vital We are making time to educate new and potential customers, not just about the Canon offering, but about the range of options available to them.”
Verbrugghe adds that the region is still a very cost sensitive marketplace. Although it is widely acknowledged that quality is highly valued, most organisations are still working with tight budgets. However, he explained that this is where Canon’s reputation and strong brand name gives the company an edge, as people know they can trust the technology produced by Canon.
As well as partnering with VMS providers, Canon has been investing time and effort into developing partnerships with systems integrators in the region, recently developing relationships in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Verbrugghe knows that these partnerships are key to ongoing growth and success in the Middle East, as these companies are experts in both video surveillance and the needs of organisations in the region.
However, Verbrugghe is keen to highlight the fact that this has not detracted Canon from what it is known for – trusted products. To this end, Canon has recently launched a series of ultra-compact products that are ideally suited to the needs of the retail, hospitality and banking sectors, along with a new 1.3MP resolution network cameras that offer high-quality monitoring with detailed images, even in low light condition and six intelligent analytic functions such as detection of movement, abandoned objects, camera tampering, and passing and volume detection. In addition, Canon is enhancing its existing range of products so that customers get the best from the analytics features built into all Canon cameras.
The time Canon has taken to get to know the security industry and understand how it can meet the needs of the market is clearly starting to pay off. In the Middle East alone, Verbrugghe said that the company is incredibly busy with a wide variety of retail, hospitality, banking and government projects and he is very excited about the future.
“Our central goal has been to ensure our cameras integrate with as many VMS systems as possible to make life easier for our customers,” he said. “To support this you’ll see more products introduced to the market later on this year as well as seeing our line-up be completely enhanced. Our aim is to work closely with customers and partners to be able to provide the best solutions.
“We’re no longer just a camera manufacturer. We’re a full service provider, and we’re going to continue developing our services to support all of our customers’ video surveillance needs,” said a confident Verbrugghe.
