Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 15

AV AS A BUSINESS
We Are 'Integrators'
In 2021, let's end the debate about which term to use to refer to what we do. Here's why " integrator "
is the right choice. by Chuck Wilson
MANY YEARS AGO, NSCA led an industry-wide
eff ort to determine how many
systems contractors/integrators are in
North America.
Directed by our industry advisory board
and the late John Stiernberg of Stiernberg
Consulting, we set out to discover how
many companies work with communications,
life safety, security, network infrastructure,
AV, and other low-voltage technologies
as defi ned by the Construction
Specifi cations Institute (CSI) MasterFormat
standards, Divisions 27 and 28.
We didn't go to this eff ort just because
we were curious. The driving force behind
this eff ort was the U.S. Department of Labor:
This data is important for the occupation
classifi cations that serve as the foundation
for prevailing wage and workers' compensation
rates.
Why " Integrator " ?
Over the past few years, there has been
much industry debate about what we call
ourselves. There are strong reasons why we
should use the term " integrator. "
Plenty of companies defi ne themselves
as " systems integrators " or a company
that performs the work of an " integrator. "
The term " integrator " was recently chosen
integration fi rms. Sound about right?
Manufacturer reps were involved, and
we did deep dives into 18 cities to prove
our theory and determine accuracy. It came
out surprisingly close. But that was several
years ago ...
Better defi ning the integration market
in 2021 is a key goal for NSCA.
" Integrator " would then replace the EST
designation.
How Many Were There?
At one point, we determined that there
were over 12,000 technology contracting
companies (5,500 referred to themselves
as systems integrators in North America).
Those that didn't identify as integrators
worked as a single-system provider, with
fi re alarm and structured cabling being the
largest groups identifi ed.
On average, these 12,000 companies
had an employment level of 28 staff members.
Our (somewhat) scientifi c method of
determination was to profi le the 50 largest
" The term 'integrator' was recently chosen by the
Connected Technologies Industry Consortium as the
preferred descriptor for the company and individual
performing work. " - Chuck Wilson, NSCA
by the Connected Technologies Industry
Consortium as the preferred descriptor for
the company and individual performing this
type of work, so " integrator " was used as
the basis of our SOC fi ling.
Companies can choose to use a descriptor
before the word " integrator " to further
describe what they do:
› Security integrator
› AV integrator
› Life safety integrator
commercialintegrator.com
North American cities and discover how
many companies performed the scope of
work identifi ed by the two MasterFormat
divisions we most commonly provide (Divisions
27 and 28).
Then we determined that, on average,
one systems integrator is required for
every incremental increase in population of
50,000. A city of 50,000 has one integrator,
a 100,000-population city has two, and
a city of 2 million would have 40
How Many Are There Now?
Once again, we have a need to determine
how many people work in our industry. A
major driver today is the fact that business
opportunities are under attack by emerging
legislation aimed at limiting " low-voltage "
integrators' right to work on Power over
Ethernet (PoE) systems. Many of these proposed
laws are infl uenced by electricians.
We assume there are fewer companies
with larger employment levels (the average
is now over 40) due to the dramatic merger
and acquisition activity over the last few
years. But does that mean there more players
than we think?
We also have a more diverse product and
technology mix, with companies crossing
over into multiple disciplines. IT companies
are doing huge numbers in AV and security.
Fire alarm companies are doing paging
and emergency communications. Should
alarm monitoring companies, cable TV, and
internet service providers be considered
integrators? They certainly carry the same
licenses or exemptions.
We still have more questions than
answers. In 2021, NSCA - along with the
Connected Technologies Industry Consortium
- is working to change that.
Chuck Wilson is executive
director of National Systems
Contractors Association (NSCA).
What Is NSCA?
NSCA is a trade association solely
focused on helping integration
companies improve their businesses.
To become part of the NSCA
community, visit nsca.org.
JANUARY 2021 Commercial Integrator
15

http://www.nsca.org http://www.commercialintegrator.com

Commercial Integrator January 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Commercial Integrator January 2021