A State of the Industry 2021 webinar is presented by Commercial Integrator and NSCA on Jan. 20, 2021, featuring NSCA’s Chuck Wilson and IVCi’s Tim Hennen. Here’s a preview of what you’ll see.
Each year, NSCA teams up with Commercial Integrator (CI) to conduct a State of the Industry survey of NSCA members and CI’s audience. The data unveils trends that can be extremely valuable for benchmarking against the industry and creating strategic plans.
Perhaps even more valuable than the data is the analysis of it. Each year, NSCA and CI conduct a joint webinar to crunch the numbers and decode the findings for integrators. The State of the Industry 2021 webinar features NSCA’s Chuck Wilson, IVCi’s Tim Hennen, and CI’s Jonathan Blackwood.
Here are some sneak peeks at the prerecorded webinar presentation.
Trends Among Integration Companies that Did Well in 2020
Successful companies had one thing in common: recurring revenue. They also had an ability to shift gears and adapt to customers’ new needs. In other words, the value an integrator offers clients changed when COVID-19 hit. The good news? Research shows that companies and organizations are very focused on investing in new types of communication and security. It’s fair to say that the value of an integrator may at its highest; however, that statement may only be true for integration companies that have the agility to adapt.
“The ones that did well are the ones that really moved quickly to address the needs of their clients,” Wilson says in the prerecorded webinar.
It’s Important to be Aggressive in 2021
There’s a tendency for integrators to be complacent when it comes to their roles in the project ecosystem. Architects certainly have a seat at the table during the planning stage. Do integrators? They should, Hennen says during the prerecorded webinar, but he suggests that they often don’t step up to take it.
Integrators need to appreciate their own value. Not only do integrators provide technology expertise but also aesthetics as well. “We need to push past just building a room,” he says. “We need to get to the root of why they’re using those systems, and we need to make sure we’re contributing to the purpose of the technology investment.”
Audio Adoption a High-Ceiling Trend in 2021
During some recent State of the Industry webinars, there was much discussion about the explosion of video demand. It was showing up in places it had never been before. Very often, video doesn’t live up to customer expectations because they hadn’t realized the importance of the audio part of the equation. Demand has shifted; integrators that offer audio are in a position to improve the customer experience in many of these spaces.
“That’s what we’re really, really good at,” Wilson says. “We have this opportunity to go in and help with acoustics, with audio … something tells me we have a tremendous opportunity to write this narrative.”