ST PROFILE
T
year is special to Dedicated
HIS
Micros. DM completes 25 glorious
years of operations within the global
CCTV industry.
Founded in 1982 by Mike Newton, a graduate in
Computer Science from the Manchester University, with
the primary objective to create and bring to market leading
edge CCTV solutions. DM today ranks No.1 globally for
multi channel digital video recorders. DM’s success is rooted
in the invention of the world’s first video multiplexer - a
monitoring product which records continuous images from
a number of cameras onto a single video cassette tape - the
basis for today’s sophisticated CCTV security surveillance
equipment.
In 1997 Mike Newton established the AD Group as its
principal shareholder. The AD Group, in 2001 acquired
Dedicated Micros.Laying a strong emphasis on R&D has
contributed well to AD’s success story. During 2001 major
investment took place in state of the art production lines at the
award-winning Malta production plant to cater for increased
productivity.
DM’s products are used in security systems in a broad
range of commercial and community applications across the
globe. These include New York’s 911 building, Heathrow
Airport in London, the Oman Bank, BP petrol stations across
the UK, Manchester United’s Old Trafford Football Ground,
the French Postal Service (the PPT) and the US Government
Agency.
In India, DM’s products have been used for many years
by system integrators where project applications demanded
a high quality CCTV solution. The year 2007 has really
56 SECURITY TODAY DECEMBER 2007
been special for DM. Apart from celebrating 25 years of its
existence, DM also established an Indian office in Mumbai
and exhibited at the IFSEC India exhibition.
SECURITY TODAY met up with Mr Salim Idris the Head of
Sales and Marketing, Asia Pacific of Dedicated Micros during
the IFSEC 2007, in New Delhi.
SECURITY TODAY: Mr Idris it’s a pleasure to meet you here
at IFSEC India. Tell us something about yourself. How long
have you been in the CCTV industry?
Salim Idris: I was in USA for 30 years. Before this I was
with Honeywell for 15 years then with Johnson Controls for
14 years and now with Dedicated Micros. I have always been
a consultant on CCTV design, having handled major projects
such as the CIA facility in Langley, USA. In India too I was
associated with the design of probably the first IP based
CCTV system for HPCL, way back in 1995, when nobody
had heard of IP based CCTV systems here. At that time I was
working with Ademco, a division of Honeywell.
SECURITY TODAY: What has made you finally come to
India?
Salim Idris: I have been selling India to my management
for sometime now but to take a call, they needed reliable
information. There however was no authentic market research
report that gave information on the Indian market, such as its
size, the number of players, what they are doing and what is the
payback on the investment that they have made in India. Who
are the right players that we should partner with? Are they
distributors, system integrators, installers or IT companies?
The core information that my management needed to make
the decision was not readily available. Therefore we thought
IFSEC was good for us to learn more about the Indian Market
and strategize for our Indian operations.
SECURITY TODAY: What do you see as the main objective
of your Indian office?
Salim Idris: On my radar I see DM not only as a supplier
of equipments, we could develop software here and do other
things to add value to our presence. In fact we have already
appointed a country manager who is an experienced chap and
comes to us from Honeywell. His name is Anwar J Hashmi.
We shall initially offer marketing and service support to
customers in India from our Mumbai office.
SECURITY TODAY: What type of applications are DM
products suited for?
Salim Idris: Wherever high quality video is desired, DM
products form a perfect fit. Currently I see low quality PC
based stuff flowing into the Indian market from manufacturers
located in China and some other eastern countries. DM does
nothing like this. We make high end embedded systems that
capture and reproduce evidential quality video.