Dee Blick interviews Petri Hitches, ISM’s International Sales Manager

Dee Blick interviews Petri Hitches, ISM’s International Sales Manager Dee Blick interviews Petri Hitches, ISM’s International Sales Manager Petri has 20 years experience in the security industry; most of it spent working in the Far East. ISM had completed a PSIM and cell call project in the Middle East, a PSIM for an Oil Company and a significant VIP resident utilising our world renown PSIM – Genesys 2. Realising the many opportunities in the Middle East, ISM made a decision to employ a full-time member of staff with responsibility for overseeing all sales in the Middle East. 1) What is your role at ISM? Before I came on board, ISM worked with agents in Dubai but, with the growing demand and the overwhelmingly positive reactions to Genesys from end users and integrators, the decision was taken to create a business development role focusing on building awareness of ISM in the Middle East. I am responsible for introducing ISM and Genesys to integrators and end users responsible for projects in the custodial and petrochemical sectors plus national infrastructure projects; airports, sports stadiums, new prison build and Safe-City monitoring systems. In the last 6 months, I have been travelling on a fortnightly basis to the Middle East – Omar, Qatar, Bahrain, and Dubai. From February Kuwait will become a territory I will also target. 2) Initial reactions when introducing ISM and Genesys to end users and integrators? Every person I have spoken to without fail, whether end user or integrator has wanted to meet with me on the basis they have a project in the pipeline or, have recently completed a project but, further opportunities exist for us to work together. I am introducing ISM and Genesys at Director Level. 3)What specifically appeals to end users and integrators about Genesys? Usually I am asked within the first few seconds to explain how Genesys differs from other PSIMS. Within a few minutes I can focus on four attributes, each one drawing on the unique strength of Genesys and the entire ISM offering. One is the ROI. The majority of PSIM providers charge an annual fee of up to 30% of the initial cost of the system. This is made up of a charge for annual system upgrades, technical support and licensing. By stark contrast, with Genesys the annual fee works out typically at less than 1% of the initial cost of the system. This is opens up to a floodgate of questions. The second attribute is Genesys patent protected migrating driver technology – power can be seamlessly transferred from one PC to another with no interruption or downtime. The integrators and end users I am talking to have not heard of this. The third attribute is the ease with which Genesys can be installed plus the simplicity of the operator training. Finally, the fact that Genesys integrates with all third-party legacy systems such as CCTV, door entry and perimeter detection pretty much guarantees that within a short space of time I will be meeting face-to-face with that end-user or integrator. Again they can see that significant sums of money can be saved because there is no need to rip out and replace perfectly good systems with many years working life ahead of them. Genesys has an incredible ROI, which we can demonstrate on every project we are asked to quote for. 4) What opportunities do you see in the Middle East in the next 12 months? ISM is in the right place at the right time with a PSIM that has no comparison. What was deemed as good security just 12 months ago may now be seen as inadequate in the light of the growing global threat to security. For example, if we look at electricity substations, a manned guard and perimeter protection for each substation was probably sufficient in the past. Not so now. There is a very real need for Genesys because it will protect multiple sites from just the one location and actions can be taken to protect every single site at the same time regardless of location within seconds of an alert. The next 12 months are going to be fast-paced and I will continue to travel to the Middle East on a fortnightly basis. There is not a PSIM in the world that can compete with the features, functionality and benefits Genesys offers. With the relationships I am building, I can see at least 5 new projects spanning thousands of sites coming to fruition in the next 12 months.

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