By Alan C. Brawn, CTS, ISF-C, DSCE, DSDE, DSNE, DCME
Beyond the old joke that the only constants in life are death and taxes, the fact is that the only real constant in life is change. Changes can be slow and methodical as in the case of the evolution of a species, or changes can be rapid as noted by technological evolution. As an example of this phenomenon, just look at the ubiquitous cell phone. It has evolved in short order from a basic telecommunications device to a full-blown computer, portable videoconferencing device, and lifestyle “necessity” that everyone is seemingly addicted to! How to keep pace with change is the question of the day, and perhaps the question of our age, technologically speaking.
Slow changes can mostly go unnoticed but rapid change can be intimidating and at times, unsettling to even the most experienced of us. The big issue here is that if you’re unaware of the status of change at a given moment and where it might be heading, then errors in judgment, omission, and commission can occur. This is certainly true in the audio visual and digital signage industries, relative to the technologies we employ in our design and integration projects. Rapid change necessitates that we keep abreast of the latest and greatest, not from the perspective of a fad or “development du jour” that may or may not become significant long term, but from a true problem and solution scenario. It’s critical to know what solutions are available not only to clearly visible problems, but also for those that are not quite so obvious to the untrained eye.
In the world of display mounts, conventional wisdom claims that a mount is just a mount, and it performs a single task of connecting a display to structure such as a wall, ceiling, or even a freestanding kiosk. An example might be an outdoor sports stadium that is near the ocean, and a series of flat panel displays are to be mounted around the perimeter of the stadium. At first glance this is your typical “mount the display to the structure” situation, and you should install it and continue on to the next project. Upon further review (as they say in football), you come to realize that the sea air is corrosive in nature so the finish of the mount must stand up to the environment, or else rust away in a couple of years which would necessitate replacement. Then you think about resistance in the face of heavy storms or even hurricanes. In areas with heavy seismic activity there are also vibration and stress issues to consider. Last but not least, how about codes and government regulations like ADA? In other words, conditions of all types change, and technologies change to address those challenges.
Keeping up to speed on technology developments and problem-solving is a never-ending task that is daunting (at best), and impossible to achieve (at its worst). Becoming aware of, examining, and evaluating this barrage of information is like drinking from a fire hose, so what can you as an integrator do? The answer lies in establishing true partnerships with the vendor community. Please permit me to explain.
A vendor in a given field of endeavor should be an expert in that field. For example, a display manufacturer knows what is going on with displays, what the trends are, and what changes are in the works because that knowledge affects their business, and ultimately yours as well. In the mount industry, a company like Premier Mounts is on the leading edge of engineering, manufacturing, and applications and by design (pun intended) understands things that only a company who is dedicated to mounts 24/7 will comprehend. The secret sauce in this mix is to establish a relationship with a vendor like Premier Mounts, and take it to the next logical level of a partnership. What does this mean in reality, you ask?
As this develops both parties come to rely on one another. For the vendor, they receive loyalty all too rare in today’s world, and inclusion is an expanded number of projects. This also helps Integrators to succeed by expanding their opportunities, including ones that only the vendor may know about and can now include them, but it is the basic partner concept, which encourages vendors to proactively inform the integrator on what changes are in the works, especially changes that they understand in depth, and know will most likely affect them as their partner. The operative word here is “know”. Partners know one another, are sensitive to changes in conditions, and dedicated to informing one another. In modern terminology, partners have each other’s backs. The end result is that you do not need to spend an excessive amount of time staying up to speed with every nuance of technology or trend in the integration industry, and it is your partnership that will pay off.
Today more than ever, we must depend on others, and this dependence takes trust on both the part of the integrator and the vendor. Knowing the resources and support that partners provide facilitates the day in and day out process of doing business. Confidence and reliance on one another is built, and as we all know: knowledge is strength, time is money, and confidence sells!
The post Keeping Pace with the Perpetual Evolution of Technology through Partnerships appeared first on Blog.
