NSCA Director of Business Resources Mike Abernathy talks about the future of systems integration.
We love sharing our industry insights and expertise when we can! Recently, NSCA Director of Business Resources Mike Abernathy talked to Banyan Hills Technologies about his industry experiences and what he believes the future holds for integrators.
We pulled a few excerpts from that discussion below, but you can read the entire conversation here!
Q: What are the biggest industry changes you’ve seen for integrators over the last decade?
A: When I started, the industry was very segmented. Today, systems integrators work with multiple systems simultaneously and work much more closely with IT departments. Learning that IT side of business has been a big change: learning networks and programming and being able to share with their customers how technology will affect their networks.
The industry is also continuing its move away from project-based systems. Today, we are seeing monthly payment models come from integrators alongside hardware solutions and installation.
Q: What were the biggest takeaways from NSCA’s 2023 Business & Leadership Conference (BLC?
A: One of the primary focus topics at BLC was on financial leadership. Changing the approach to financial leadership means monetizing support. This includes things like engineering and design time, post-installation calls, and project management time.
We also talked about what I like to call “selling what’s between your ears.” Systems integrators offer so much added value to their customers, and many of them have given that knowledge and expertise away in the past. They can’t do that moving forward. Not all projects are good projects. Some can hurt profitability. Decide which projects are good for business.
Q: What advice do you have for system integrators that want to offer more recurring revenue services?
A: Deploying a different pricing model involves a host of factors, including making sure that your sales team has the right compensation package. Having the right tech framework is also key, along with having a great finance partner and accounting team.
Q: What will the systems integration industry will look like five years from now?
A: I think the industry will be even more focused on collaboration and workflow and more involved in healthcare and safety technology, especially school safety. I see our industry becoming more software focused, and I see integrators starting to hire full-stack developers.
Read the entire Q&A here!