Continually rising crime and various other security concerns have seen a significant increase in the level of interest in electronic and IT–based security solutions by sections of the business community, though some business houses compromise their enterprises by relying on cheaper, less efficient options, Stabroek Business has learnt.
Earlier this week Starr Computers General Manager Rehman Majeed told Stabroek Business that increased security risks had compelled the local business community to rethink what, in some cases, used to be an indifference to IT security solutions.
“Several things have happened to generate a higher level of interest among members of the business community. They now have a better understanding of the importance of IT-based security solutions in the monitoring of premises, for example. This has occurred as crime has increased and more interest has focused on providing crime-prevention mechanisms,” Majeed said.
But head of another local service and equipment provider, Eon Caesar, told Stabroek Business that while it was true that there appeared to be a heightened level of interest in IT-based security solutions in the business sector, far too many of the smaller businesses appeared to prepared to acquire equipment at the lower end of the scale which in the final analysis turns out to be a bad investment. “Some of the reputable companies like ours and quite a few others actually seek to offer security solutions rather than simply try to sell a customer a camera,” Caesar told Stabroek Business.
This newspaper also received confirmation of an increased level of interest in IT-based solutions to security concerns from an unnamed official of Gizmos and Gadgets who said that there had been an even more significant expression of interest and investment in various pieces of equipment immediately prior to last November’s general elections.
According to Majeed, the level of interest in IT-based security solutions in Guyana had now grown to the extent where service providers were offering more than 200 pieces of equipment for sale. “The other consideration, of course, is that IT equipment has become cheaper – probably by as much as about 50 per cent cheaper than it was a few years ago. In fact, a domestic user can actually these days get a limited but reliable security system for as little as nine thousand Guyana dollars,” Majeed said.
And according to Majeed the acquisition of clusters of reliable cameras in relatively small areas actually contributes to both deterring crime and assisting with investigations. “Sometimes you find that the cameras complement each other so that a vital piece of information might actually be gotten from a nearby camera that might have had nothing to do with the business that might have been robbed,” Majeed said.
Majeed agreed with the view expressed by Caesar that the cheaper options were not necessarily the best options. “Frankly my own concern has to do with the fact that sometimes business houses that offer security solutions are not overly concerned with customer satisfaction. It is in the very nature of the security solutions business that customers with a low level of knowledge will want to be advised. At Starr computers our approach has been to sell solutions rather than to sell equipment,” Majeed said.
However, the Starr Computers general manager noted that electronic and IT-driven security solutions had become so much in demand at all levels of the business and domestic communities that some companies had found it prudent to manufacture limited and simple security kits which people can install themselves. “What needs to be understood here of course is the limited scope of the coverage such a system provides.”
Majeed told Stabroek Business that the popularization of IT-based security solutions had been accelerated in recent times by the enhancement of the broadband service. What this has meant is that there has been an increased use of Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) that allow users to connect their cameras to the internet and conduct their surveillance from another location.
