Its been awhile since I have posted anything (on my blog) but I really felt that reporting on this year’s Total Tech Summit in Orlando was noteworthy. This years event(formally known as the CI Summit) got my attention from the start with the keynote address focusing on G5 technology and its impact on not only the smartphone/wireless world but the overall business marketplace. Hard to comprehend the rapid pace of change in the technology world and what it means to AV integrators like ISI. Another presentation that I got a lot of value out of was the discussion surrounding AV and IT convergence from a customers viewpoint. Its one thing to have vendors and integrators discuss AV/IT convergence but listening to a real customer talk about what it means to their company, future expectations etc. was absolutely priceless!
Another presentation that I thought was particularly impactful concerned “Defining the Benefits of AV Investments” All too often today AV integrators(in my opinion) tend to focus too much on the latest cool technology, hardware features etc. with total disregard as to how a prospective company/organization is going to use the equipment and achieve a reasonable return on their investment. In my opinion technology is wonderful but in today’s AV marketplace an integrator must understand and apply solid financial metrics to achieve future sales success. As for the rest of the Summit. I did enjoy the vendor boardroom presentations as well as the one on one sessions with selected manufacturers but have to admit the number of meetings/pace that was set up was EXHAUSTING!
Lastly, one manufacturer that caught my eye was the Meeting Owl product from Owl Labs which touts itself as being one of the first IoT devices for a company’s conference room. I was really impressed with the panoramic camera and the smart tracking technology. Could be a game changer in the VTC world! A final thought on this year’s Tech Summit… It is very apparent that the folks at CI magazine really believe that the next level of industry convergence is not only with AV and IT but also AV and Security. I noticed when I first got to the Summit Exhibit Hall that AV and Security vendors were located side by side(by design) which tells me that AV integrators need to be thinking of how they can embrace security systems to stay competitive in the future. All in all another good year for the Tech Summit and looking forward to next years event!