Lee Copland, Managing Director, Maxxess EMEA

The number and scale of the integration projects that we are now involved in the Middle East reflects economies that are in a go-ahead mood, despite the prospect of a global recession in 2023.

Increased oil revenues are insulating GCC countries in particular from many of the pressures challenging the United States and Europe.  The IMF expects inflation in the Gulf to peak at just 3.1% this year, and the region could gain up to US$3.5trn over the next five years from ongoing turmoil in global energy markets.

There certainly needs to be caution in some Middle East countries more exposed to inflation and high commodity prices but there’s significant growth in the Gulf in a range of sectors.  Much of that is being driven by the GCC’s policies and initiatives to diversify away from hydrocarbons, such as Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030.

To sustain that ambitious diversification and megaprojects, while better supporting world demand for oil, we’re seeing investments to upgrade existing infrastructure and the implementation of new technology to increase operational efficiency. At the same time, broader investment across the GCC in education, healthcare, hospitality, and transportation continues at pace, which is driving new security projects and upgrades.

An example of more opportunities to come was the announcement of plans by the Abu Dhabi Executive Office to double the size of its manufacturing sector to increase non-oil exports and create 13,600 jobs, maintaining the momentum of its Economic Vision 2030 plans, which has already seen the emirate significantly expand its hotel and hospitality sector.

Tourist and business travellers have returned in their droves to Dubai post-pandemic, while the emirate continues to reap the rewards of inward investment from Expo 2020. The launch of megaprojects in the UAE such green energy production and the development of the Palm Jebel Ali are also starting to present new opportunities for security systems providers.

As the region pushes forward with both new build and upgrade projects, the top priority for many of the organisations we are working with is how to manage people in a way that’s more secure but frictionless.

They are looking for opportunities to control access efficiently, in a more user-focused way. And that includes access to both physical premises and IT networks.

Benefits clearly seen

The trend is towards unified solutions that work equally well for staff, contractors, visitors, and guests as well as those who manage them. And because of the pace at which solutions have developed, achieving this is no longer the complex and costly challenge that it once would have been.

These days, the outcome is more predictable too, with the benefits being clearly seen in a growing number of applications.

From hotels and mixed-use developments to heavy industrial settings and refineries, a new generation of access control solutions allows a range of systems to be easily and quickly integrated. Visitor management for example, is now a simple upgrade rather than a completely new system or rip and replace. It can be delivered quickly and with minimal disruption, allowing organisations to easily manage different categories of facility or site user, and to add an impressive level of customisation to the individual user’s experience.

Access control can seamlessly synchronise with core business software such as Microsoft’s Active Directory as well as other popular databases and bring together all the other systems that security and operation teams need to use, from building management and site-specific controls to surveillance, fire, and safety.

This approach to bolting on visitor management is delivering significant efficiency benefits, and enabling increased visibility over operations: who is on site at any given point – staff, contractors, external visitors – do they have appropriate permits? And, in safety-critical settings, the right training and approvals?

When employees and contractors are bussed-in, automated alerts can be triggered at the point of departure if expected personnel are absent, allowing pre-emptive action to address staffing shortfalls. Earlier intervention in these cases prevents potentially costly disruption to critical operations.

Unified and customisable security and safety solutions

And a range of other security and safety and systems are improving operations through easier integration into a single unified platform, eliminating the inefficiencies of the siloed systems of the past that cause control room alarm overload. Instead, operators can manage access control together with surveillance, ever more capable AI-powered video analytics such as virtual line-cross and object detection, anti-drone systems, PIDS, fire, and other specialist detection technologies.

Taking an integrated approach closes gaps in security and the likelihood of human error by removing the need for operators to switch between systems, a requirement that often brings with it the temptation to shut down alerts due to alarm fatigue. Instead, operators are accurately alerted to detections of suspicious or unusual events, using visual verification from the nearest camera views. Operators are presented with standard operating procedure guidance as part of a pre-determined workflow on a site-by-site basis, instructing them to dispatch guards, alert the emergency services, and relay information to the right people at the right time to ensure the best possible outcomes.

These gains are not just about efficiency, and improved security, but increased user satisfaction and good impressions. In the case of hotels, for example, smoother arrivals don’t just save time but also relieve unnecessary frustration and stress. And integrating front- and back-of-house operations technology is allowing a more responsive service while taking pressure off reception teams.

For facilities and security managers it’s now easy to integrate and extend security and building management technologies, and add new value to existing infrastructure by extending legacy systems. They can also drill down into their systems to better understand the way premises are being used, for example seeing – real-time or post-event – who is on site, and when.

In many cases they are getting sight of this kind of granular data for the first time, and it’s allowing them to build more resilient operations, with security and safety provision that better reflects the way their premises are actually used.

Across the Middle East, these are exciting times for the growing number of organisations with a vision for seamless, all-embracing systems integration.