international outlook “Video surveillance will not only be used for security” Detektor met up with Keen Yao, International Marketing Director at Hikvision for an interview about the future of the video surveillance industry in general and Hikvision in particular. By Henrik Söderlund Keen Yao, International Marketing Director of Hikvision: In China, the quantity of IP is much bigger than analogue, says Keen Yao to Detektor. However, about 60 per cent of Hikvision’s revenue comes from IP products and 40 per cent from analogue, which leads Detektor to ask the first question. How long will it take until Hikvision is totally IP? “We have not thought about that. There are different needs in different areas and the knowledge of IP varies. Hikvision do business only according to the market needs.“ possible. Our relationship with our partners in different areas is much stronger now and that gives us a great potential. “ What is your view on the Chinese video surveillance market? “Hikvision can do many things in the overseas market because we have a strong base in the Chinese market. Because of safety problems, the Chinese government and companies invest greatly into the security sector and surveillance is the most important branch together with alarms and integrated systems. There are a lot of opportunities in the Chinese market.“ There are signs of the Chinese economy slowing down. Do you think the government will decrease its spending? “During 2015, the investment from the government has not decreased, but neither is it growing so fast. We think that the Chinese market will continue grow, not only for video but for the whole security business and not least when it comes to daily management applications.” Which is the biggest tech trend on the market today? “It is intelligent functions. In the future, and already today, video surveillance will not only be used for security but will work as a management platform for the end user’s daily business.” What is your view on the Internet of Things? “Smart home and smart cities… they will all be connected to the Internet. I think they have a huge potential for the future.” What is your biggest challenge? “It is internal management. We have more than 14,000 employees and it is much more difficult to coach the different departments compared to when the company was young. This is why we do empower the middle management team to make them take many more decisions by themselves.” You hired more than 2,500 people in 2015, are you planning to hire as many in 2016? “I hope so. We will continue to invest and there is a big potential in video as a sensor. A huge number of students graduate every year and in 2015, we had more than 800 students who graduated and then directly started to work for Hikvision. In 2016 there might be even more.” Smart home and smart cities… they will all be connected to the Internet. I think they have a huge potential for the future. You say glocalisation is your core strategy for the international business. Explain what you mean by glocalisation? “We are much closer to the market today and we are empowering our mid-level management teams, as a result, they will make more decisions and in turn local people will make more decisions. Thus, the decision making will come down closer to the market and the local teams have all the power to take the decisions they want to in order to achieve the goals that have been set by the company.” How much do you expect to grow in the coming years? Will it continue to be 40–50 per cent? “We hope we can continue to grow like that and we think it is “In China, the quantity of IP is much bigger than analogue”, says Keen Yao. The Hikvision headquarters is located in two towers in Hangzhou. The company moved in two years ago, accommodating up to 4,000 employees. Security News Every Day – www. securityworldhotel.com dete kto r in te r nat i o n al • 35