Commercial Integrator + Security Sales - January/February 2025 - 23

said the question was " Not Applicable " to
them. With the lines between technical
trades, as well as IT and networking, blurring
more every day, it's worth pausing to
consider why any integrator would think
they're immune to these trends.
As LeBlanc astutely observes, " Integrators
are well positioned to be right there
in the middle of an explosion of growth
in IT and IoT devices. So, they need to
make sure that their teams are trained
and ready for what their customers need
now, and what they're going to need in
the future. "
Economic Factors at Play
Meanwhile, Wargo points to economic
factors as continuing to present possible
downside risk for integration businesses.
As discussed earlier, AVIXA data shows
a resurgent experience economy in
which integrators can provide real value;
however, such an economy is highly
consumer-dependent. " We have to have
a consumer who's out there who wants
to experience things...who's spending on
that, " he says. Any signs of retrenchment
would likely mean a slowdown in venues
and events again. It's something that, for
integrators, is worth watching closely,
especially if they're looking to dive into
" Shared Reality " and other emerging
approaches.
Although downside risks are real, so,
too, are ripe opportunities for integration
businesses. " Integrators are extremely
important right now, and that's the
opportunity, " LeBlanc declares. " To take
advantage of that opportunity, integrators
really need to position themselves to
be what their customers need them to
be. " That means seizing on IoT as a hot
technology trend in the connected technologies
and smart building sector. " The
opportunities for growth and profi tability
for integrators directly correlate to them
being trained and ready to be the IT-centric
partner that [clients] need them to
be in order for them to reimagine their
solutions, " LeBlanc explains.
Wargo, for his part, makes the case that
adjacencies are plentiful for integration
businesses to explore. In short, then, 2025
might be the year for integrators to widen
their apertures and explore emerging,
more non-traditional ways to deliver outstanding
outcomes for clients. " Broadcast
AV is well poised to weather a contraction
in consumer spending because it's all
about reaching your customer, wherever
they are, " he says, harking back once
again to abundant opportunity related to
enhancing corporate communications
and streaming media for enterprise
broadcast.
Wargo also underlines clients' nearboundless
appetite for data and
analytics for large-scale projects and
small-scale projects alike. " Businesses
want their systems [and] their experiences
to be generating data that also
helps them understand their customer
needs better, " he explains. Digital
signage is just one technology tool that
commercial environment operators
can leverage to capture data about
the customer. For example: How is the
customer navigating the store? What are
they looking for? " How do we use the
in-person experience as a collector,
aggregator and real-time analytic
engine for [the customer's] business? "
Wargo asks rhetorically. Integrators
who solve that riddle will have a leg up
on the competition.
Business Owners'
Greatest Imperative
Amid all these new, emerging opportunities
for integrators to achieve strong
profi tability, perhaps business owners'
greatest imperative in 2025 - apart from
having an intentional plan to deal with
ongoing talent-related challenges - is to
strike a careful balance between leaning
forward and readying the team to provide
the solutions customers are imagining
for the future and preserving the existing
effi ciencies of the company. " It all adds up
to an escalating need for almost continuous
training, " LeBlanc says. At the same
time, integrators cannot be cavalier about
taking their most productive people " out
of rotation " continually.
If you have feedback about this State
of the Industry report, please share your
thoughts. I encourage you to email comments
to dan.ferrisi@emeraldx.com. CI
January/February 2025 | Commercial Integrator+Security Sales & Integration
23
Not
Applicable
7%
Completely
Ready
35%
Not Suffi ciently
Trained
13%
Staff 's level of
training and
readiness to
tackle IT
installations
Still Working
on It
45%
'Businesses want
their systems and
their experiences to
be generating data
that also helps them
understand their
customer needs better.'
- Sean Wargo, vice president,
market intelligence, AVIXA
Commercial Integrator + Security Sales - January/February 2025

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