Along with the SCN Top 50 Systems Integrators 2023 list, we polled a selection of leading firms on industry hot topics.
What is the biggest Pro AV buzzword heading into 2024, and how are you addressing it?
Jeffrey Mele, CTO, Metinteractive
Licensing. More and more manufacturers are competing on the concept of licensing rather than perpetual purchase. The understanding of total cost of ownership is harder to calculate, and many end users don’t want to be encumbered with year-over-year operating costs. It’s hard to say whether there is any equity in buying a widget last year outright and buying the widget shell this year and needing to include, say, three years of licensing. As this grows, it’ll only take a few players to disrupt the model.
[Top Integrators 2023: The Talent Pool]
Paul Wells, Sales Manager, CCS Southwest
Hybrid work and meeting equity seem to be the big things moving into next year. Some businesses are still struggling with a portion of their staff working remotely. Now they need to provide the far side with the same quality experience that those in the office receive. Intelligent video systems are playing a large role in offering that equitable solution.
Kevin Lyons, VP, Sales and Marketing, Inter Technologies Corporation
AV-over-IP is gaining acceptance quickly, allowing audio and video to be distributed over a standard IP network. This provides scalability and remote support capabilities. Conceptually, this will be a cost savings, however, networks are often overworked and adding services that demand a lot of bandwidth may require added investments into the network infrastructure.
Mary Landis, VP of Enterprise Sales, Avidex
IoT, Internet of Things. Many companies have adopted a hybrid work model resulting in less onsite IT/AV staff to assist with maintenance and technical issues in meeting spaces. Remote management of AV equipment and meeting spaces, with the help of AI and AV technology developments, has grown in large strides recently to make integrators like Avidex able to provide proactive remote maintenance and comprehensive break-fix support. Our remote monitoring and management platform, Avidex Assure, was designed to bridge the IoT virtual gap and provide proactive support for customers, many times before they even know there was a potential problem in their AV space. This approach to AV service looks beyond 2024 to help our customers protect their AV investments and improve their employee experience.
Vero Tabares, Marketing Director, WPS | Washington Professional Systems
Immersive experiences, frictionless collaboration, and artificial intelligence (AI) are the phrases we're hearing most often. To address these needs and provide guidance to our customers, we're constantly working with product managers from a variety of manufacturers to communicate pain points and use-case scenarios. This feedback model allows our team to recommend the newest, most innovative solutions at the earliest stages of a system design.
[Top Integrators 2023: Top Growth Markets]
Eric Hutto, CEO, Diversified
AI, hybrid, and even as-a-service can all be considered buzzwords, but what’s at the heart of all of these is the experience behind them. Creating experiences that are unforgettable is what drives our teams to deliver today’s most cutting-edge solutions for our clients. How can we leverage AI to streamline cumbersome tasks for a more efficient workflow experience? What technology is needed to make the hybrid work environment a more inclusive experience? How can AVaaS maximize technology ROI to deliver the best possible user experience every time? We ask—and our solutions answer—these types of questions every day.
