Each year, the NSCA Board of Directors gather together to examine industry dynamics, share feedback they’ve heard throughout the past few months, and brainstorm ways that NSCA can better serve you: our members.
During this two-day, focused session, we develop strategic imperatives that guide NSCA staff and volunteers in their efforts to create the most positive business climate possible for the integrators and manufacturers that make up our membership.
Industry consolidation was a major topic of discussion in a recent board meeting; as a result, many of the action goals and items we developed were in response to this concern. Despite the shrinking industry ecosystem, we want to continue to grow our membership – not only because growth helps us, but also because our growth also helps our members.
Here, we’re sharing the strategic initiatives we’re focused on for 2018 …
Member Engagement
We have to continue to develop deeper, stronger relationships with members and help them identify an “NSCA champion” within each company who can keep us up to date on what they need and want. As part of this initiative, we aim to increase the number of members represented at our events, seek more direct input from members about the tools they value most, and share knowledge from the select business experts we align with.
NSCA offers so many valuable tools for members, whether we’re talking about hiring and recruitment resources (such as IGNITE, the Technical Assessment Tool, or the Certificate as a Systems Integration Professional [C-SIP] program) or research like our Sales Compensation Report, Financial Analysis of the Industry, or Electronic Systems Outlook reports. To make sure our members can continue to grow their own businesses, our goal is to increase the utilization of these member benefits by 25%. Along with this comes a goal to double the number of subscriptions and open rates we see from our videos, e-newsletters, and other communications.
Growth
To increase our membership, we plan to outreach to “nontraditional” systems integration firms – ones that may not have been considered eligible for membership in the past, but which now qualify due to the way the industry has changed and converged.
We also want to find additional “channel-friendly, channel-ready” manufacturers that are committed to relying on technology solutions providers and integrators as the pathway for product and service delivery.
Education
This isn’t a new mission or goal, but one we’re always focused on: Educating our members on ways to run their businesses more efficiently and more profitably. For example, we want to help members find better financing strategies, ranging from equipment purchases and contract financing to leasing and subscription-based transactions. New cash-flow strategies can become your secret weapon rather than a major challenge.
As has been the case for the past few years, we plan to continue to encourage and support our members in their quest to become managed services providers and reduce their dependency on low-margin sales.
Another important initiative: Communicate with and support members as they navigate through the changes involved with the new tax plan while helping them make good decisions about corporate structure and investments.
Because of the nature of today’s business for integrators, we’ll also focus on providing more tools and programs to help our members develop a “cyber smart” culture – not only to keep your customers’ networks and data safe, but also your own.
Talent Management
We’ll continue to help members fill new and existing positions quickly by recruiting, identifying, hiring, onboarding, and training new employees that are well versed and excited to be part of our industry. A very unique “phase two” for IGNITE is underway to help members recruit, onboard, and retain staff.
Your Voice
We’ll continue to be the voice of the systems integration channel, working diligently to prove the value that integrators bring to each and every project and client.
We’ll also encourage members to participate in our research and surveys so we can provide even better, even more useful data to support you. –Chuck Wilson, NSCA Executive Director