Counting on growth

Motorola Solutions continues to do well in the Middle East given the track record of success it has enjoyed. Trusted to deploy and manage some of the most secure and sensitive communications networks in the world, Motorola Solutions believes much more potential remains in the region to be accessed

Motaz Hourani says the specific MEA region makes up a large chunk of he overall EMEA’s business contribution to Motorola Solutions’ annual revenues

Motorola Solutions’ mission remains to offer critical communications for enterprises and governments. Revenue in 2010 amounted to US$7.9 billion with the government sector accounting for 65 per cent of that figure and enterprise the remainder. The Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) geography contributed 21 per cent towards the revenue in 2010, and Motaz Hourani, Motorola Solutions’ vice president, Middle East and North Africa says this specific region makes up a large chunk of the overall EMEA’s business contribution.

“We have a leadership or extremely strong position across a number of sectors including government; manufacturing and field mobility; transportation and logistics; retail and hospitality; energy and utilities; and education and healthcare,” Hourani says. “In the first quarter of 2011 the business experienced eight per cent growth year-on-year, with the government sector growing by five per cent and the enterprise sector by 14 per cent,” he adds.

With over 25,000 channel partners worldwide, Motorola Solutions is keen to foster the best relationships possible with its customers, while also placing significant emphasis on its component suppliers and supply chain in general. While a number of handset manufacturers and infrastructure vendors reported a disruption to their component deliveries in Q410, Hourani says Motorola Solutions did not suffer any setbacks, by and large.

“There were no issues related specifically to Motorola Solutions with respect to component availability,” Hourani confirms.

Given the relatively mature state of the North American market, from where Motorola Solutions derived 58 per cent of its revenues last year, the company is looking to international markets such as the Middle East, to help spur growth. Hourani says Motorola Solutions is also looking to expand its enterprise solutions portfolio in order to benefit from the higher growth rates as compared to the government sector.

“North America is going to remain our dominant market, but we also have a strategy to diversify geographically and in the enterprise sector,” Hourani confirms. “With respect to the product portfolio on the enterprise side – mobility is a very big deal, with Eastern Europe and the Middle East and Africa being key growth regions.”

An area that is not as clear is with respect to the radio technology known as TETRA, a favourite technology for public safety networks, where the trend is for the deployment of nationwide networks shared by all public safety organisations. Motorola Solutions has utilised TETRA in the deployment of many a public access mobile radio network, though given the evolution of other mobile radio technologies such as LTE and WiMAX, TETRA’s future is an unknown quantity at this stage.

“The industry is asking what is next for TETRA. We are at the evolution to TETRA Release 3, though a decision has not been taken,” Hourani says. “As Motorola Solutions we prefer to push the TETRA issue through the standards body. We want it to be an open standard and are prepared to move whichever way the technology evolves. We are not going to push things on our own.”

Going forward, Hourani remains confident of Motorola Solutions’ ability to make the right strategic moves and further ingrain itself in the region. Innovation remains a central ingredient in the company’s proposition given its products and services are often utilised in an environment that is more demanding than a consumer one given the security, reliability, and scalability factors as they relate to enterprises.

“Our products are tested in real-life situations, and in many cases it is necessary for the technology to be used as second nature,” Hourani explains. “The margin of error in this business is zero, and so the relationships that we have established over time are based on trust and cooperation.”

Hourani says Motorola Solutions is constantly talking to customers and tailoring its solutions to their requirements. In this respect TETRA has been strong in the region and the enterprise business is following a strong trend, with a special focus on broadband and mobility.

Motorola Solutions has an arrangement with a leading wireless and mobile network manufacturer, providing LTE for public safety, with countries including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar amongst those for which the solution is mapped out.

“Saudi Arabia and the Gulf in general are important markets for us, though across the MENA region there is a lot of opportunity for success,” Hourani says. “We have solutions that enterprises need and our commitment to the region means we intend to continue to grow with it.”