Interview with Mohammad Haroun of Security Advisory Services in Dubai

For more than thirty years Mohammad Haroun has dedicated his life to fighting crime through the organization and planning of security systems and through providing advice on conventional site and personal protection. He has been successful in this in two very different markets:  in Hamburg, northern Germany and in Dubai in the Arabian Gulf.

Successful in two worlds

Palestinian-born Haroun started his own security firm Haroun GmbH & Co. KG in Hamburg as early as 1978. The company’s market was in and around Hamburg. But its activities in the installation of tailor-made alarm and security systems now extend way beyond this region. The Haroun expert team installs solutions across Germany and internationally. The reference list is long and impressive.

With his second firm, Security Advisory Services (SAS) in Dubai Haroun established a consulting company which excels in providing customer-specific solutions. In its advice and analysis of different security fields SAS sets new standards for the quality of individual security and monitoring systems. Well known companies and organizations at the highest level in the Middle East rely on the security concepts: Private individuals, medium sized companies, multinational companies such as banks, authorities and international airports from Europe, North Africa and the Near East are long-standing customers.

Traditional company based on quality

Haroun’s team in Dubai apply international standards such as EN or VdS standards to their projects in Dubai and he is keen to introduce these standards for the implementation of the security and monitoring systems in the Gulf region generally. SAS is currently the only consulting company which is authorized by the Dubai Police Authority. The firm has been certificated to DIN EN ISO 9001 standard by the VdS (the Association of German Insurers).

Video system reveals the murder squad in Dubai

SAS offers surveillance concepts and a wide range of security solutions for international hotels. Many famous hotels in Dubai and the UAE have been equipped with SAS solutions in recent years. In reporting the mysterious murder of the Hamas official Mahmud al Mabhuh in Dubai in January 2010 the Hamburg evening paper ran a piece after the incident in a luxury hotel with the title ‘Mossad came, saw and killed”. It was thanks to the surveillance system that the suspects in this murder could be recorded and identified. The assassination was filmed. For Mohammad Haroun it was particularly important that the police could be provided with high resolution pictures for identifying the perpetrators. And the reports about this murder conspiracy now bring Haroun new contracts almost every day. Haroun, on the other hand sees the current business success as the result of his decades of work.

To mark this success, today MES/Euro Security international talks to Mohammad Haroun about the security market, the positioning of his company, as well as the future of the security industry.

 
ES/MES: Your reference list reads like a ‘Who’s who’ of industry leaders. With your 60-man team you can of course cater for the individual needs of each client. But what is special about your service and how do you evaluate the requirements of a client?

Haroun:I consider a building from two angles: from the point of view of the perpetrator and from the point of view of the security consultant who assesses the risks of the particular building to develop an individual security concept for the client. A shopping centre for instance has quite different risks from a bank.

ES/MES: Your team is excellent at integration. What role do you see the control room playing?

Haroun: The emergency call centre is an important link in the overall chain of prevention and intervention measures. Without a professionally functioning control room it is not possible to take appropriate and timely measures, you cannot organize an operation. The interaction between systems and trained technical staff as laid down by the standards is an imperative for coordinated surveillance, or intervention.

ES/MES: SAS is one of the Dubai companies which has its consultancy services certificated by the Dubai Police. Can you outline briefly what advantages there are for clients if they have you provide an effective security system for their problem?

Haroun: The decades of experience and know-how in my team enables us to offer the optimal solutions for each customer. In Dubai for example my security concept for the banks and their branches was worked out in co-operation with the police. And I cater for numerous famous clients with luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Rolex, Graf, Armani, Tiffany etc. At the end of the day, for my clients the certification by the Dubai police represents a quality seal.
 
ES/MES: Since you usually offer integrated designs you work with a range of manufacturers. Could you tell us who your system partners are? What products do you currently consider to be outstanding? How important are video analysis or IR systems at the moment? Do you focus just on video systems? What about fire alarms and other alarm systems?

Haroun: Because each client’s needs are very different I work with several manufacturers which each offer a variety of good products. It would not be appropriate to highlight particular products. IP, glass fibre, digital solutions and security management software are all very important at the moment. I specialize in the area of security, i.e. video and alarm systems.

ES/MES: The new EN 50518 produced by the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (CENELEC) as a three-part draft standard for alarm receiving centres has been largely ignored by the industry. The three parts are constructed similarly to the German VdS standard 2153. What do you think of these standards for your work – after all you like to work to VdS guidelines?

Haroun: EU-wide I don’t think much of the new EN 50518. You have to remember that countries which simply do not have the financial means available are still obliged to meet the requirements of the new standards.

ES/MES: What standards are important for your work? What do you think of platforms like ONVIF who at least create a common level for system interchangeability?
Haroun: I welcome platforms like this because of the interchange of experiences between users and experts and because of their ability to generate new ideas.
 
ES/MES: How do you see the future of security systems in Dubai? What markets do you think are growing disproportionately and how will the players in this market develop? What is your opinion of Asian products? Where do we need them and where would it be better if the market did not use them?

Haroun: I see the three main pillars of security technology as being in the areas of video systems, alarm systems and access control systems. Their future development is naturally dependent on the development of the current overall economic situation. I only focus on high quality products which are installed by qualified technicians. My name and my experience is built on that. In the long run cheap products will not be accepted by clients with real security needs because at the end of the day the break-down and failure rates lead to greater costs than investing in reliable systems and know-how. [www.sas.hn]