COVER STORY | MVP TECH — CONVERGINT
MENA expansion for global leader Founded in 2003, MVP Tech - Convergint is enjoying rapid expansion in the Middle East and Africa. Security Middle East magazine spoke with Said Charles Kiwan, the company’s original founder and Managing Director, and the visionary leader who supported the team to deliver incredible growth for the company Starting with just two colleagues in 2003, MVP Tech rapidly expanded into a major force in the Middle East and Africa, establishing strongholds in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Basra, South Africa and recently Riyadh. In 2022, this growth culminated in its acquisition by Convergint, establishing MVP Tech and its 250 plus colleagues as Convergint’s regional division for the Middle East and Africa. Now part of Convergint’s global network of over 10,000 professionals, MVP Tech significantly enhances the company’s footprint and service capabilities in these key strategic regions. Backed by global market knowledge and expertise, the acquisition further positioned MVP Tech as a truly ‘global’ partner of choice. Today, MVP Tech — Convergint is a leading system integrator offering customised turnkey solutions ranging from security and IT infrastructure to audio-visual, data centres and AI software development, serving hundreds of clients in the Middle East and Africa. Thanks to more global support, MVP Tech — Convergint now plans to aggressively push into Saudi Arabia, where it aims to contribute to the
Kingdom’s technological evolution, providing tailored solutions that not only meet the demands of today but also pave the way for a connected, intelligent future.
Commitment to the Kingdom
As the demand for electronic security, cybersecurity, fire and life safety, building automation, and immersive audiovisual experiences surges, MVP Tech – Convergint’s global system integrator seeks to play a pivotal role. The company is opening a local entity in Saudi Arabia and will establish a local presence as a technology expert with a history of operating in the MENA region since 2003. The company’s entry into the Saudi market signifies more than just expansion; it marks a commitment to fostering connectivity and leveraging global expertise to build robust, transformative solutions that align seamlessly with Saudi Arabia’s vision for a tech-driven future.
What can we expect the security industry to look like in 10 years?
The speed at which certain technologies are changing the landscape in a matter
16 | SECURITY MIDDLE EAST | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023
of months begs the question, how does a traditional industry like ours evolve and enhance its products and services? The acceleration of computing power will allow us to do so much more centrally with the video, voice and text data coming in from sensors in the field. Equally important, if not more so, will be the increase in our ability to autonomously run very heavy applications on the edge, feeding systems centrally with meta data. Artificial Intelligence will be divided between tracking and anticipating system user behaviour and providing real-time decision support in different circumstances. It will also predict best practice user actions on these systems. Think of these systems as real-time GPT agents sitting virtually beside you and accelerating your work whilst understanding what constitutes best practice Standard Operating Procedure. AI will also enable us to ingest large volumes of historical and real-time sensor data allowing us to predict what’s next in various scenarios. The more inputs we connect, the richer the data, the more valuable the outputs become when analysed correctly.