From ATMs to Oil Rigs IDIS Always Delivers High Performance and Low TCO
In an exclusive interview, Dennis Choi, General Manager at IDIS Middle East & Africa, discusses how a company known for military-grade surveillance tech is now driving innovation across the region’s banking, transportation, and smart city sectors in the MENA region.
By: Mirza Dahić
a&s Middle East: Could you elaborate on IDIS’s strategy for global expansion and the role the Middle Eastern market plays in that strategy?
Choi: The Middle East is one of IDIS’s strategic markets, both in terms of value and in appetite for innovative video solutions. We see customers in the region demanding advanced surveillance technology and being willing to invest in it. It’s also a compliance-driven region that is a good fit for Korean-made high-quality and reliable products in terms of camera performance standards and extended retention periods in some cases up to a year.
Ambitious diversification programs and megaprojects in the region, and continuing investments in new greenfield projects – plus the upgrade of existing infrastructure to increase operational efficiency – are also driving demand for video surveillance.
GCC countries are rapidly expanding existing sectors and investing in new markets to ensure sustainable economic growth and jobs for local citizens. Continuing urbanization and social development in countries like the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, is resulting in yet more infrastructure projects. IDIS is confident of continued growth in 2025, with projects being boosted by regional development investment. These range from mega- and giga-projects to smaller-scale applications which include important local innovations and infrastructure upgrades.
For vendors and technology partners, this provides fertile ground because the cutting-edge solutions that we develop and deploy on behalf of Middle East customers can also help drive innovations in our global offering, and the influence goes both ways. For example, IDIS technology originally used by US police forces and American military vehicles translated into robust modular surveillance solutions for ATMs in the desert, and exposition-proof cameras in remote and hazardous environments like upstream and oil and gas and for at-risk tankers carrying highly valuable crude in the midstream sector.
In all our key markets our expansion strategy is built around a clear proposition that customers understand. We offer high-performance, end-to-end, video solutions with some of the industry’s best value lifetime costs – i.e. low total cost of ownership (TCO). We target that clear and transparent offering to those sectors where we see the highest potential in terms of both the sector size and the level of investments going in.
In the Middle East, we see many of the right conditions, with a wide variety of end-user sectors – commercial and government – and significant investment potential. Key verticals here include banking; logistics & warehousing; retail; education; hospitality; and critical infrastructure.
For example, IDIS has continued building on our track record of delivering large-scale, end-to-end, AI-powered surveillance. Major contracts include government projects in Qatar, Kuwait, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia (including Neom-related installations), and significant commercial projects in the UAE. 2024 was a year of significant growth for us, with just over 20% CAGR building on the continuous expansion we’ve seen since our brand debut at Intersec in 2014. Again, we see two-way benefits with regions beyond the Middle East, including neighboring countries. For example, three years ago we expanded our sales and tech support capability to encompass Türkiye (in 2021), and over the last year that has helped to drive further growth in the MEA region. Türkiye has many synergies, including socio-political alignments and geographical proximity, so the expansion has continued to support the growing IDIS presence and sales in the MEA region.
Looking further afield, IDIS’s acquisition of Costar in 2023 which led to a significant expansion of the IDIS Americas operation, has broadened our solutions offering for customers in the Middle East.
To give just one example, this year for the first time at Intersec we showcased our I-mobile Solution for mass transit applications, including light rail and busses. Encompassing cameras, robust, U.S. military-grade 4K recorders, accessories, and IDIS Solution Suite VMS, I-Mobile enables live monitoring and recording of vehicle interiors and exteriors, and combines robust video capture with GPS tracking and vehicle information systems data including location and speed. As well as improving safety for drivers and passengers, the solution delivers valuable insights for optimizing service levels, efficiency, and fleet management. It’s important to note that as a pioneer in vehicle surveillance systems, IDIS has been leading the way with ODM products and technologies in the United States transit applications since 2005. While our name might not be familiar to every transit operator in the Middle East, the technologies that dominate the market today are largely born from IDIS. We are the original architects behind the advancements that fueled leading ODMs and we have deep-rooted expertise and a substantial track record in the vehicle surveillance industry.
The Middle East is one of IDIS’s strategic markets, both in terms of value and in appetite for innovative video solutions.
a&s Middle East: How does IDIS tailor its products and services to meet the specific security needs and regulatory requirements of clients in the Middle East?
Choi: IDIS has developed a strong line-up of industrial-grade products tailored to the unique demands of the Middle East market, including explosion-proof and mobile solutions. Our strong presence in the region and our close collaboration with customers has helped us to understand and address the particular challenges here. We have a track record of customizing solutions for specific projects, including the most demanding sites where harsh conditions can occur, and working with systems integrators to develop integrated solutions specific to a particular customer. We then apply the lessons from these projects more widely, driving innovation that benefits more customers.
IDIS technology is well aligned to market demand in any case. This means that for systems integrators in the region, an out-of-the-box IDIS solution typically better supports pricing, design, and workflow to make projects faster and more efficient, leading to recurring revenue and upgrades. There’s also the assurance of forward-and-backward compatibility, making it easy to upgrade with the certainty that when customers want to add a new camera.
Customers are increasingly looking to work with single manufacturers that offer one-stop solutions that encompass surveillance equipment, video management software, storage, AI-powered analytics, and network accessories. Working with one manufacturer, not several, saves time, reduces maintenance burdens, and ensures lower labor costs. This is especially true when it comes to the large deployments often seen in the Middle East.
An equally important development – significant because it plays into improved usability and user value – is the trend towards more effortless, seamless systems integration. The old silos between systems have long been breaking down, and recently, we have been removing more of the technical barriers to rapid integration. For users, there are significant efficiency and operational gains from linking systems such as video, access control, fire, and wider management systems. As a result, this is an area where we expect significant demand and market growth. It is essential to offer comprehensive yet affordable, modular, scalable, and enterprise-level VMS that doesn’t strain operating expenditure.
Our specialty cameras address the growing trend towards higher resolution, and support the adoption of our expanded AI analytics functions. Our new lineup includes rugged IP66/IK10-rated cameras ideal for the challenging conditions found in the oil & gas, and petrochemicals sector. Our increased technology baseline has helped to further build out our offering at a time of ongoing capital investment in the region and is opening significant opportunities. For example, our Omni-directional Multi-Sensor 20MP Cameras, including IR models, are built to provide outstanding high-resolution video coverage in applications, including critical national infrastructure settings and border security. Rugged construction with IP66 and IK10 ratings makes them ideal even for the region’s most challenging environments. Providing assured high-resolution multi-directional surveillance, these cameras are also an ideal choice for walkways, corridors, communal areas, and all locations where it’s vital to have an all-round view. Reducing the number of stand-alone cameras needed to achieve 360° visibility results in a lower TCO burden (total cost of ownership) and reduces clutter for more streamlined site configurations. Crucially, delivering high-resolution image capture even in challenging lighting conditions – or, with the IR models, in total darkness – these cameras support all of the most powerful analytics functions including IDIS’s most advanced, emerging AI video tools.
GCC countries are rapidly expanding existing sectors and investing in new markets to ensure sustainable economic growth and jobs for local citizens.
a&s Middle East: How does IDIS ensure the cybersecurity of its products, particularly in regions with heightened concerns about data privacy and protection?
Choi: Cybersecurity is a growing concern for many users in the Middle East, including small and medium businesses as much as critical infrastructure, so security systems integrators and solutions providers need to understand and address any weaknesses in their systems. For example, cameras and related devices can be attractive targets for bad actors and can allow easy infiltration into wider networks. So, any video technology used should have the assurance of multi-layered protection that covers the capture, transmission, and storage of video data, and manufacturers need to demonstrate that their software and equipment have strong defenses against multiple attack types, and are kept up-to-date.
Keeping surveillance systems on a separate VLAN is sensible, yet we understand that customers today are looking for increased convenience and flexibility, so hybrid solutions are an attractive option for retaining critical video using private cloud combined with on-premise NVRs.
IDIS was among the first manufacturers in the sector to prioritize these issues and we keep them continuously under review.
Cybersecurity is also one of the areas addressed by NDAA compliance, which is now a globally recognized standard, especially for firms that want to do business with the U.S. We are seeing customers increasingly aware of the risks of using non-compliant video equipment with the potential for “back doors” and where there are good alternatives, end-users are voting with their purchasing choices. NDAA-compliant equipment such as IDIS’s gives the assurance of ethical manufacturing origins and eliminates a number of potential risks.
Customers are increasingly looking to work with single manufacturers that offer one-stop solutions that encompass surveillance equipment, video management software, storage, AI-powered analytics, and network accessories.
a&s Middle East: Can you discuss any notable projects or case studies involving IDIS products in the Middle East, highlighting their performance and client feedback?
Choi: A number of new projects for IDIS in 2024, can now be referenced. These include an IDIS end-to-end solution that was used for a major video upgrade across 69 wells and processing facilities for ENTP, part of Algeria’s state-owned oil company Sonatrach Group. To ensure efficient response to incidents, improve preventative maintenance, and achieve the safest working conditions with near-incident detection, ENTP embarked on this project to move away from the outdated analog video, taking advantage of advanced and emerging IP video functionalities – including AI analytics and more powerful VMS. The new IDIS solution is designed to ensure long-lasting, optimum camera performance and image quality even in harsh operating environments. As part of the upgrade, ENTP also wanted to significantly expand coverage, removing surveillance blind spots and improving resilience with failover protection against system failures. With extra coverage and higher image quality, ENTP also knew it needed to increase and optimize video data storage capacity, but wanted to do this without adding significantly to operating costs. To address these and other priorities – including demanding project timelines and the need for minimal disruption and system downtime during implementation – the IDIS solution was delivered by integration partner EPE RETELEM SPA.
IDIS Middle East’s relationship with Almajal G4S continues to go from strength-to-strength extending beyond GCC nations. This long-term strategic alliance resulted in one of IDIS’s most significant successes in the Middle East banking sector starting in 2018, which is the biggest IDIS project in the region to date: the large-scale implementation for the Saudi National Bank (SNB), which subsequently acquired the Samba Financial Group in 2021, making it the largest financial institution in the Middle East. The project has now expanded to an impressive 4,300 ATMs, 600 branches, and six commercial office buildings, encompassing over 34,000 cameras with failover SD cards, 500 NVRs connected to 19,000 hard drives providing a year of storage, as well as network accessories, all managed with the entire solution managed using IDIS Solution Suite VMS. This landmark project opened the way for IDIS solutions to be adopted more widely in the region’s banking sector, including in Jordan and Morocco.
Overall, IDIS will focus on all those areas where we are already strong – retail, leisure, and hospitality; banking; education; critical infrastructure including oil and gas; public safety; manufacturing; and transportation. We’ll also look to leverage our experience as new opportunities emerge, for example in the casino market following the announcement the UAE’s first casino will open in 2027. IDIS is in a strong position in this sector, having established partnerships with expert systems integrators with a proven track record. Major upgrades and new rollouts of IDIS AI surveillance have been completed at casino resort hotels in the Adriatic, Southeast Europe, and Northern Cyprus. It’s worth noting that many of these are owned by large casino operators looking to expand into new geographical regions, including the Middle East.
We should also mention Kortek, IDIS’s sister company, which is one of the world’s leaders in specialist monitors for gaming machines. A significant portion of the global casino industry utilizes Kortek technology for their slot machines, poker terminals, and table game systems, particularly in the high-end segment, due to their reputation for quality and reliability in demanding gaming environments.
IDIS will focus on all those areas where we are already strong – retail, leisure, and hospitality; banking; education; critical infrastructure including oil and gas; public safety; manufacturing; and transportation.
a&s Middle East: How has IDIS incorporated AI features such as facial recognition and behavior analysis into its product lineup, and what industries benefit most from these capabilities?
Choi: IDIS customers are increasingly focused on leveraging AI video analytics for new applications beyond security—tapping into enhanced business intelligence tools. For example, one of the most common uses of IDIS facial recognition is to reduce false alarms and deliver highly accurate business intelligence data such as people counting. IDIS Deep Learning Analytics, whether for security purposes or business intelligence, ensures accurate identification of humans and objects.
Where one customer leads in using this tech, others will follow. We’ve seen this in the retail sector, where a successful multi-branch AI-powered surveillance solution adopted by one customer to improve efficiency and profitability becomes an attractive model for others to follow.
The IDIS DV-1304 Box for Retail provides highly accurate analytics for people counting, directional footfall, heatmaps, occupancy monitoring, etc. Proven in-branch retail applications across Europe and Asia, this technology is now being adopted by well-known sports brands in the Middle East.
It’s hard to predict exactly how the AI video market will develop, but we know that when new technologies emerge, new applications quickly follow. The region has a high proportion of early adopters among end-users, which usually leads to above-typical sales growth in new sectors; that’s precisely what we are seeing.
Learning lessons from beyond the region, Asia’s largest rail network, Indian Railways, has begun using an IDIS video solution integrated with facial recognition as part of an ambitious, multi-phase technology upgrade targeting significant growth. The video system, which included 4K cameras, AI-powered video analytics, and facial recognition, was installed across hundreds of platforms. Monitoring staff are supported by IDIS Deep Learning Analytics (IDLA) – with functions including motion, loitering, and abandoned object detection and line crossing, continually refined to ensure industry-best performance – which make it easy to configure and automate alerts to a range of potential risk events.
Facial recognition is also a key feature of the upgrade, and this is an area that IDIS is investing in. For example, we are looking to offer it with our video intercoms to strengthen security and increase user convenience through frictionless entry for enrolled users.
Meanwhile, unveiled at Intersec, the IDIS Edge AI Camera Plus range features a host of tools that will add efficiency to both real-time surveillance operations and footage search & review. For example, powerful real-time image cropping functions, IDIS A-Cut Monitoring, along with new IDLA Pro event functions, now make video surveillance more effective than ever. The new advanced functions with IDLA Pro now include crowd detection, abandoned object, removed object, fall detection, and violence detection. The IDIS Edge AI Camera Plus range offers all the advantages of an intuitive, easy-to-use interface, with functions designed for convenient operation such as automatic image cropping and intuitive attribute search.
Customers also have the assurance of seamless integration of all new IDIS technology with IDIS end-to-end solutions and full compatibility with other products.
For example, IDIS has launched a patented privacy masking technology called Smart Veil that protects individuals’ identities while allowing more accurate, reliable, and responsive real-time video surveillance operations. This is particularly important for Middle East applications that need compliance with GDPR standards, such as international hotels, schools, and retail developments.
Retail is a particular growth area for IDIS, and our integration partners have had some major recent successes supporting retail chains with ambitious expansion strategies.
a&s Middle East: Could you share insights into IDIS’s strategic partnerships or collaborations with local companies in the Middle East?
Choi: IDIS is focusing on building new commercial partnerships with Middle Eastern systems integrators and third-party solutions providers. As part of this, we are looking to make inroads in sectors where we haven’t previously had significant sales. We are also working with partners to develop video applications beyond traditional security and risk management functions. For example, one significant growth driver is AI.
Our partnership with IronYun benefits particularly our large-scale and enterprise users and helps to further increase the accuracy and reliability of our AI video solutions in many verticals, as well as integrated applications IDIS Deep Learning Analytics (IDLA) and IDIS Edge AI cameras already offer users essential AI video analytics, and these capabilities can be further enhanced by specialist solutions from IronYun, which deliver high reliability, real-time situational information, and search times, and valuable operational data enabling faster responses. IronYun solutions help IDIS enhance IDLA and analytics onboard our Edge AI cameras by adding new functions including facial recognition, anomaly detection, sensor integration, weapon detection, license plate recognition, vehicle make/model, speed detection, and more emerging video analysis.
This year, we have formalized our Middle East partnership with Secure Logiq, building on the important synergies between our companies: our complementary technology offerings, our shared presence in the region, and our track record delivering customer-specific specialist video storage solutions which are ideal for demanding applications including those with above 90-days storage requirements. Secure Logiq allows IDIS video solutions to be designed with hardware stacks reduced by up to 40%, reducing operating costs and maintenance. It means we can meet the increasing demand for hybrid surveillance solutions, supporting the growing number of users who want to store critical video footage in the cloud while keeping the majority of video stored on-premise.
We are seeing customers increasingly aware of the risks of using non-compliant video equipment with the potential for ‘back doors’ and where there are good alternatives, end-users are voting with their purchasing choices.
a&s Middle East: How do IDIS’s solutions cater to specific sectors in the Middle East, such as retail, healthcare, government, and oil and gas?
Choi: Retail is a particular growth area for IDIS, and our integration partners have had some major recent successes supporting retail chains with ambitious expansion strategies. These fast-growing businesses value video solutions that are easy to replicate and scale and can be integrated with other systems crucial to profitability, most obviously POS and wider ERP systems. Efficient federated architectures have become increasingly attractive to allow centralized monitoring, control, and data analysis from the head office to be combined with local branch-level functionality.
We see similar growth in the closely related leisure and hospitality sectors. We’ve seen notable demand for casino video solutions in some adjacent territories – the eastern Mediterranean, south-eastern Europe, and Türkiye – and the UAE is expected to issue its first casino licenses shortly, so we’re already well positioned to realize new demand in a whole new sector in the Middle East. We expect tourism and leisure will remain key drivers more generally, and video surveillance has a vital role in security and, increasingly, in supporting more efficient operations and better customer and guest services and experiences in an exceptionally competitive market.
Banking and finance, driven by regulatory compliance around surveillance, has been a strong sector for IDIS MEA for several years. With our systems integration partners, including Almajal G4S, we continue to roll out a large-scale IDIS surveillance project across Saudi National Bank’s (SNB) diverse and dispersed estate. We’ve seen further success with the Central Bank of Jordan and the Tokyo-Mitsubishi Bank.
a&s Middle East: How does IDIS incorporate sustainability and energy efficiency into its product design, particularly for markets with extreme environmental conditions like the Middle East?
Choi: IDIS, Korean-made technology is renowned for being highly reliable and robust which is backed up by industry-leading warranties. We have designed hardware that can withstand extremely high and low temperatures; our patented DirectIP protocol speeds up and simplifies installation for engineers, meaning cameras and recorders can be securely connected and mutually authenticated in just minutes; we’ve also developed cameras that minimize dust ingress (a particular issue with the region’s sandstorms), for the banking sector we’ve designed specialist modular cameras and NVRs with extended cables to ensure easy and rapid installation ideal for ATMs located in remote desert locations, all our NVRs come with built-in PoE ports, while our latest range of PoE extender domes and bullets allow cameras to transmit data and power simultaneously, eliminating the need for complex wiring work and additional power sources, and the hard drives used in our NVRs have the lowest failure rate in the market.
“We expect strong demand in the construction sector and associated sectors, from transportation and logistics to services, that benefit from significant developments with government funding,” says Dennis Choi.
a&s Middle East: How does IDIS view the future of security technology, and what role do you see the company playing in shaping that future, particularly in emerging markets like the Middle East?
Choi: There is continuing demand in the MENA region for reliable, robust security solutions, and IDIS is focused on meeting demand with a pipeline of technology advancements. Increasing concerns about safety, cyber-attacks, and geopolitical uncertainty also drive the focus on enhanced security. Organizations are looking to improve the protection of sometimes vast sites while also ensuring the safety of people working in often hazardous environments.
For the video surveillance sector, we see the likelihood of strong demand across the board, from public space and authority-managed surveillance solutions to private sector applications protecting individual businesses, such as retail and hospitality, within larger developments. IDIS is involved in surveillance projects at all these levels. Since we offer end-to-end solutions, the ability to easily and affordably scale systems up and to incorporate additional sites and more cameras and devices within existing infrastructure has proved to be a critical factor in our success.
We expect strong demand in the construction sector and associated sectors, from transportation and logistics to services, that benefit from significant developments with government funding.
The construction industry in the Middle East is experiencing significant growth. The market was valued at USD 298 billion in 2023 and is predicted to reach USD 401.17 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.9% from 2024 to 2030. This growth is driven by substantial investment in infrastructure projects, sustainable practices, and urban development. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Kuwait are leading this expansion with numerous large-scale projects – for example, Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure sector saw investments of USD 18 billion in 2023, with significant contributions from the energy and road transport sectors – but we also see developments across all the GCC nations. Many of these projects reflect the region’s continuing ambitions to innovate and create more sustainable, modern, and higher-quality living spaces.
Major construction projects are typically multi-year developments, so adapting and scaling up systems stage by stage is crucial. That doesn’t just mean being able to extend the number of cameras or storage requirements; it also means, knowing that as time passes and priorities change, it will be easy and affordable to enhance systems with emerging capabilities, such as our existing and new AI analytics capabilities, or through third-party integration to eliminate siloed systems and, in turn, further streamline security operations, driving operational efficiency.
Cutting-edge solutions that we develop and deploy on behalf of Middle East customers can also help drive innovations in our global offering, and the influence goes both ways.
