Our Biggest Differentiator is Longevity

MainChannel Post speaks with Khwaja Saifuddin, Senior Sales Director of Components Division at WD, South Asia, Middle East and Africa on security in surveillance industry.

Channel Post (CP): How is the security landscape in the Middle East?
Khwaja Saifuddin (KS): Today in an increasingly interconnected world, an unthinkable amount of data is created and shared, so security concerns are inevitable. However, people are beginning to understand the importance of security in their businesses and everyday life as well. This can be attributed to increase in the number of incidences like security breaches, data thefts, etc or may be in part because most governments are now stringent about security regulations. Whatever might be the reason, we see two adoption scenarios emerging. The first being the first-time adopters, who had been functioning without any surveillance systems in place but are now looking at secure adoption, like the Dubai and Abu Dhabi taxis that have been regulated by the government to have in-built surveillance systems. The other would be those who are now shifting from analog to IP, and now need drives with higher capacities for storing high resolution 4k surveillance footage.

Dubai is one of the safest cities in the region mostly because at the very early stage they realised the importance of adoption of secure surveillance practices, like the Dubai metro which since its inception has a fully equipped secure surveillance set-up.

(CP): What products do you have in the security and surveillance segment?
(KS): We were the first ones to come up with a specific drive for this sector and on a global level a vast number of security and surveillance needs are being fulfilled by our company. In this segment comes our exclusive WD Purple range of hard drives which has been designed specifically for harsh environments like that of the Middle East. This drive is capable of withstanding extreme temperatures and with its always-on capabilities it is best suited getting the right surveillance video when needed.

(CP): How was your experience at this year’s Intersec?
(KS): The surveillance and security market in the Middle East has seen rapid expansion and Intersec provides us with the opportunity to stay in close quarters with this industry. This is a valuable platform for showcasing our products, meeting partners from different corners and expanding our business relations through new partnerships. Hence, we have been an integral part of the show for 5 years now. Last year we were present at our partner booth only, however, this year we had our own individual presence at the event.

(CP): What separates you from your competitors?
(KS): Being the first ones in the industry to recognise the importance of security in surveillance, I would say our biggest differentiator is longevity. Another aspect would be scalability since we do not restrict our customers but allow them to build on our product. In addition to these, our always-on surveillance environment, product compatibility, reliable storage capability, increased write-performance are among the many reasons that make us stand out from our competitors.

(CP): Where do you see growth coming from?
(KS): We have received a tremendous response from our participation at Intersec and have been able to meet with members of the community from different parts of the region. Until now the security and surveillance industry was in its infancy but now that most countries are putting forth security standards that need to be adhered, we see great potential for growth in the Middle East, especially in places where we do not have a direct presence at the moment.

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