This 2023 association agenda will be shared and discussed at the Annual Member Meeting during NSCA’s 25th annual Business & Leadership Conference (BLC), Feb. 28-March 2, 2023, in Irving, TX.
It’s a remarkable yet paradoxical time to be an integrator. There is much optimism among NSCA members—and for good reason: many entered 2023 with impressive backlogs.
What integrators bring to their customers is more valuable than ever, with every vertical market leaning on our industry to get people back to work and school, improve communication, and optimize safe and healthy environments.
However, while the tremendous demand for integrated solutions brings opportunity, it also represents risk. Market uncertainty related to escalating labor costs, inflation, and lingering supply chain issues makes profitability difficult. Those backlogged projects can be double-edged swords if they’re not de-risked and managed properly.
The stakes are high for integrators—and NSCA—in 2023. As your trade association, we’re committed to helping member companies rise to the demand and remain profitable while protecting the industry from internal and external risks. Our resources, events, consultation, and strategic planning are all designed to help integration companies thrive.
We expect 2023 to have great opportunities and obstacles for integrators. Our industry is up to the challenge. NSCA—its staff, board members, volunteers, and trusted partners—stands ready to address the most pressing issues you face. We want to make you aware of the valuable work going on at NSCA and, more importantly, how it will impact you.
First, however, we want to thank the valued members who regularly leverage NSCA for business resources, advice, data, news, analytics, and workflow tools. We’re honored to help you manage issues that affect your organization and are proud to be your voice in matters that impact our industry.
NSCA is privileged to be the association you rely on for direction and guidance. We are your voice, your business resource, and your trusted advisor. In 2023, we’re committed to enhancing and developing the best business climate possible for your company.
For this reason, NSCA’s 2023 agenda focuses on these key areas:
Prioritizing Business Agility and Improvement
Each day, NSCA members win on the front lines with their innovative solutions. To truly be successful, they also need to win in the back office. They need to target and weed out profit killers and improve processes.
NSCA has always emphasized how vital back-office operations are to the success of an integration company, but they’re even more important in 2023 as market challenges chip away at margins and profitability.
Through breakout sessions at the Business & Leadership Conference (BLC) and Pivot to Profit (P2P), webinars, roundtables, workshops, and exclusive research, NSCA wants to help members prioritize back-of-house operations just as much as end-user solutions.
Finding Leadership Focus Amid Chaos & Turmoil
Let’s face it. Running an integration company over the past couple of years has been immensely challenging. NSCA members are contending with pandemic recovery, escalating labor costs, inflation, supply chain, and so much more. Each day brings chaos and turmoil, making it difficult to find clarity as a leader. NSCA aims to elevate its support for integration company leaders, starting with leadership-focused sessions at BLC and extending throughout 2023. After all, leadership focus is required to seize the great opportunities that this market presents for integrators.
Empowering Financial Leadership
In order for profitability to be achieved, integration companies’ financial leaders have never been more important. They need to take hard stances and set standards to make sure projects have a chance to be profitable. They need to de-risk proposals.
Many integrators entered 2023 with strong backlogs. That opportunity elevates the need for an integration company’s financial leadership to be empowered to make sure these opportunities are indeed opportunities and not double-edged, profit-killing swords. NSCA will continually provide guidance on this topic through BLC, skills training, roundtable discussions, and P2P.
Nurturing Next-Gen Talent & Leadership
Year in and year out, integrators recognize the need for new talent—both technical and back office—as well as the development of future company leaders.
NSCA is extremely focused on talent development, talent retention, and nurturing of existing A-level performers. Our Ignite career awareness and internship programs will be highly prioritized in 2023. Meanwhile, employee retention and talent development are targeted through career lattice (vs. a vertical career ladder) education and the evolution of our Next-Gen Academy for developing future integration leaders.
Vigilance About Codes, Regulations, and Compliance
The snowball effect of proposed laws and regulations that limit an integrator’s right to provide low-voltage (Power over Ethernet) solutions for customers shows no signs of slowing down in 2023.
NSCA won’t let up in leading members through these challenges and working with the Connected Technologies Industry Consortium to advocate on behalf of the industry. In addition to low-voltage regulations, NSCA tracks bills related to cybersecurity, school safety (in conjunction with the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools, or PASS K-12), sustainability to help integrators play a bigger role in creating healthy buildings, and more. Use NSCA’s portal to track legislation that may impact your business.
Continuing to Evolve with Customers’ Needs
The value that integrators offer their customers has never been greater, but this also requires them to evolve as customers’ needs rapidly change.
NSCA—through training at BLC; monthly webinars and roundtables; our quarterly trade journal, Integrate; articles by our Emerging Technologies Committee; and sessions at P2P—continues to challenge its members to position themselves to solve their customers’ evolving business needs.
None of the items in our NSCA 2023 agenda can happen without you. We sincerely thank each one of you for placing your confidence in NSCA. We look forward to helping you with your continued success.