By: Alejandra García Vélez
When it was just beginning to recover from the impacts of the global economic crisis, Mexico suffered another severe blow due to the outbreak of influenza A(H1N1), which was detected at the end of April, just a few days after Expo Seguridad México 2009 ended.
In fact, faced with this situation, Augusto de la Torre, the World Bank's chief economist for Latin America, told Mexican media that "in our opinion, the contraction in the Mexican economy is temporary. The situation has been complicated by a number of external factors, such as falling commodity prices, the impact of the U.S. auto crisis, and the A(H1N1) virus."
Despite the above, forecasts point to an improvement in the economy and also the security segment continues to strengthen, as could be seen in Expo Seguridad; from 21 to 23 April 2009, the main manufacturers, distributors and security integrators met there.
Precisely Samuel Ordaz, spokesman for Expo Seguridad, shared with our publication the balance that this edition of the event threw up. "We definitely exceeded expectations," said the official, who complemented by saying that the influx of public had been almost 10,000 people for an increase of 25% compared to 2008. In the case of exhibiting companies, it reported that in 2008 they had the presence of 220 companies, while this year there was an increase of 10% in number and 27% in the exhibition area.
Among other data revealed by the organizers of the fair, it is important to highlight that: 90% of attendees decide, recommend or approve the purchase of security products, 69% of attendees would make purchase decisions during the event or in less than 6 months after it, likewise 69% of participants had budgets of up to US $ 50 thousand for the acquisition of security systems and 31% had budgets of more than US $ 50 thousand and more for the purchase of security systems.
The above figures show an increase compared to 2008, for example, in that year, 53% of attendees would make purchasing decisions during the event or in less than 6 months after it and 74% of participants had budgets of up to US $ 50 thousand for the acquisition of security systems.
The market is maturing
If the manufacturers, distributors and integrators interviewed during the fair agreed on something, it was to affirm that the Mexican market is increasingly mature and consolidated. As they indicated, the knowledge of the industry and especially of the solutions is increasing. This was shown by the businessmen consulted by VENTAS DE SEGURIDAD.
In this regard, Eduardo Ferraro, manager of application engineering at Tyco, said that although the crisis has greatly affected the region, precisely because of the recession in the rest of the world, Latin America is considered part of the emerging markets which is attracting investors and companies.
In the same sense, Darío Bellido, president of DB Electronics, commented that although the market is still in crisis, it is also in the process of evolution and change; That is why "as the economy improves, our sales prospects will improve," in addition, he did not hesitate to affirm that "the Mexican market is one of the strongest in Latin America."
For his part, José Miguel Orozco, director of Q Digital, stressed that the culture of security in Mexico is increasing more and more. "From the very conception and construction of the projects, safety is taken into account; generally the customer starts by installing cameras, but little by little it has been growing in the integration part".
Like Orozco, the general perception is that the client is much better trained; for example, Guillermo Palma, director of GP International, indicated that "I have noticed that those who have attended this show already have more knowledge, the market in Mexico has matured, and companies know the equipment and know what they need" and added that "before the attendees came to see not to look for equipment or concrete solutions, now people have questions, they know what they're looking for and where to go."
In the same sense, Manuel Zamudio, of Axis Communications, expressed that the visitors were very high-level integrators who "bring the business in hand", in addition, in front of the prospects of the Mexican market, he said that "the market is much more trained and familiar with Internet technologies and is looking for an integration with a greater number of applications".
Marcos Green, commercial director of Unisol, also contributed his grain of sand to this discussion, on the subject of the economy he pointed out that "although we felt a strong blow in the last quarter of last year and the first of this year, the fact that the dollar is already starting to fall gives confidence", and complemented by saying that "the projects still have to be done. While it is true that some clients had projects of a certain number of dollars and reduced them, the projects are going to be done either with less equipment or with teams of cheaper brands. "
As for the maturity of the market, Green indicated that today the client asks for total solutions, that is, that the integrator goes hand in hand with the user throughout the design, set-up and after-sales process, "the client wants someone to do everything".
New solutions
As always, the fairs are the ideal setting for companies to publicize their latest advances and technological launches, this time only some of them will be mentioned, despite the fact that the offer in this area during the fair was outstanding.
First it is important to collect the opinions of the interviewees in the face of current trends in the industry; Ferraro, for example, stressed that the most prominent developments in technology are based on IP recording systems and intelligent video analysis solutions.
Palma, for his part, said that "technology does not stop evolving, it has gone from analog to IP and now to megapixel cameras. I think that is the technology that will be strengthened in the future, although it is still missing because it is still more expensive. But as soon as companies grow and develop, I think they're going to adapt to this technology themselves."
Among the new products presented, the HID solution stands out, which uses its classic access control systems to monitor and control the entry to computers, as stated by Humberto De la Vega, vice president of sales for Latin America and the Caribbean "the solution is aimed at professionals in electronic security who wish to have a simple and efficient solution to give security to the computer with the same system they use in a door."
Faced with the possibility that a laptop is lost, or stolen, with data and important information for a company, solutions such as HID allow you to control access to these equipment. By means of a card and a password, as well as a software installed on the device, it is ensured that only those who have said card and also correctly enter the password, can access the information stored on the device.
On the other hand, Noel González, sales manager for Latin America of Winsted, spoke about the Sight-Line console, of which he highlighted its ergonomics and affirmed that its main strength is to be modular, which allows easy assembly and adaptability to the requirements of the different control rooms.
Box
The academy
It is worth highlighting some of the lectures given during Expo Seguridad Mexico 2009. Among them are the presentation entitled "The current challenges of the security company", presented by Luis González Nogales, president of ALAS; "Analog CCTV vs. Digital CCTV," presented by Steve Hunt and Charlie Pierce; and the "Paradigm shift in the monitoring of alarms worldwide" that was in charge of Eng. Modesto Miguez.
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