During the last International E&O Security Fair 2010 in Bogotá, Colombia, some of the exhibiting companies argued their presence at the event due to the good economic climate that the industry is currently experiencing in that nation.
By: Duván Chaverra Agudelo
Colombia has become a place where large manufacturers of electronic security systems continue to bet with more credibility in the search for a better positioning within the region.
This was demonstrated at the Tenth International E&S Security Fair 2010, held last October in Bogotá, where hundreds of companies in the sector met to publicize their latest technological solutions and take advantage of the opportunity to generate new business and contacts.
VENTAS DE SEGURIDAD was present at the venue where the event was held and talked with some of the main exhibiting companies, to know the reasons why they were present at a fair that takes place every two years in this Colombian city and that in 2011 will be held in Medellín between September 6 and 9.
We sought to talk to companies specialized in structured cabling, IP video solutions, monitoring software, perimeter security, among others, so that their representatives were the ones who explained the reasons why Colombia has become an important country within their agendas.
Initially, Antonio Pérez, sales manager of Network Video Technologies (NVT), explained that "within the different security fairs in Latin America this is one of the most important and Colombia is for us one of the countries where there are more business possibilities and where we can adapt our technology in the best way. This year has been very good for us as here we achieved some of the largest business for the company, for example, we renewed security in more than 13 prisons in the country, and modernized CityBank branches."
For Antonio Pérez, the present of the Colombian market is positive for his company: "I see Colombia with a lot of optimism, it is a market that is good in the present, there are many business possibilities, the situation is politically stable and economically the crisis did not affect it so much, and if it did, it recovered in a very good way".
On the side of IP solutions, several companies have installed offices in Colombia in order to serve from there the businesses of the entire region and take advantage of the good moment that the national economy registers for the interests of these firms.
Martín Kryss, representative of Netcámara, explained that due to the increase in the acquisition of video surveillance systems in Colombia, his business sees better possibilities for growth. "Colombia has room to propose IP video surveillance solutions. During the fair we had important visits in the sample of detection of license plates and analytics. All of Latin America is exploding at the surveillance level, for example, in Argentina we see more and more cameras in the premises and that has meant a potential growth that is also evident throughout the region."
For Marcelo Ponte, marketing manager of Axis Comunications, "the Colombian market has a lot of potential, and I think it is time for this region to begin to know more about the advantages of IP solutions. In this country we are making large investments, we have an office and several distributors, since our business model has always been indirect sales and in 2011 we will continue to bet on investment and support from all business channels".
Bolide is another of the companies that reached the Colombian market through its own office in which they will attend all the requests that are presented within the region: "We exhibit our products at the security fair because we are committed to the Colombian market. In 2011 we opened our new office in Bogotá in order to launch new technologies to meet the needs of the market, because just as technology evolves, crime does and we have to continue working to improve security in Colombia," explained Alexandro Salinas, marketing manager of Bolide.
For his part, Hans Klein, president of Senstar Latin America, a company specialized in perimeter security solutions, believes that Colombia is a country where companies must invest.
"Senstar is an international company and naturally we are located in markets in which we believe and for us Colombia is, that is why we have an office from where we are covering the entire Andean region and that is another very important argument with which we show that we want to improve the presence in the country, we have several years of experience in the Colombian market and this is also due to the support of our customers", the businessman commented.
On the technological and economic prospects that this company has for 2011, Klein added that "we are currently developing technology, the market where there will be more novelties will be in the software that is behind all the equipment we make. Indeed we pursue certain projects, we are interested in being present in the business of prisons, oil and power generation companies."
We also approached the mobile unit of AGM Business, a Colombian systems distribution company, which for several years has known the movement of the local industry and has the experience to talk about Colombia as a region with potential for the industry. Carlos Guzman, general manager, said the following:
"Our participation in the fair is important because customers and potential buyers meet in one place. We have always invested in the marketing area to make known who we are in the market, which has grown towards the mass sector; 10 years ago we began to manage different solutions and focused on the banking or industrial sector, but at this moment the massive, commercial and small industries (SMEs) sector is very oriented to the issue of security and there are already accessible solutions for these companies, in addition to the technology is still more complete and with lower prices".
Finally, Virginia D'Errico, sales manager of SoftGuard, a firm specialized in monitoring software, believes that in South America, and especially Colombia, the security industry continues to progress in its different sectors. "It is a market with a lot of growth, both in the area of monitoring and in integrations with CCTV, access control, perimeter security, among others, and with the evolution that the Softguard system has had, we have integrated all these technologies. At the fair we present them as an integral solution for Colombian companies. The corporate sector has also grown, which consumes comprehensive monitoring systems for branches, condominiums and has found in us a good ally to provide their own monitoring software."
