Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 3

EDITOR'S NOTE
We Have No Idea What
2021 Will Bring - and
That's a Good Thing
LIKE MOST OTHER YEARS, I lined up interviews
this year with some of the most well-respected
people across the AV and IT integration
landscapes and picked their brains on
what they see ahead for the industry. The truth
is, though, no one really has any idea what's
coming in the next 12 months.
I'm not a business owner but to me, that's
kind of exciting. The way I look at it, if just
about anything can happen in 2021, there's no
reason for anyone to follow the
same formula they already have,
especially coming off a year in
which the entire world was in a
state of disruption.
You probably won't be
surprised to learn that none of
the people I interviewed for last
year's State of the Industry coverage
predicted there would be a
pandemic that would shut down
much of their work lives for most
of the rest of the year. There was
optimism about another great
year ahead.
That doesn't mean their predictions,
transition the quickest are likely the ones that
had the most success in retaining their existing
customers and fi nding new ones during the
COVID-19 aſt ermath. No one expected what
we experienced in 2020 but many companies
proved they could navigate it.
I've heard many people much smarter than I
am say we've seen fi ve to ten years of innovation
fl ood the market in the past nine months
and that means there are even more possibilities
to succeed than anyone
thought possible as recently as a
year ago.
We saw plenty
of companies
start to
transform
the way they
work in 2020,
largely out of
necessity.
forecasts and outlooks are invalid. No one saw
the pandemic coming and certainly no one
expected it to still be lingering into the new
year, but it's the reality of our world and those
who didn't sit by idly when it happened have
benefi tted most.
For what it's worth, there was a bit more
caution in the words of those same people this
year, maybe because they've seen the eff ect
the coronavirus outbreak has had on their
employees, their members and their industry.
There are fl ickers of optimism, but it's more
long-term than in the immediate future.
You can see on this month's cover that
we chose " Transition " as the word that best
captures the state of the AV and IT industries
for 2021. We saw plenty of companies start to
transform the way they work in 2020, largely
out of necessity, but now they know they can
try new things and actually succeed at them.
In fact, the companies that learned to
commercialintegrator.com
That doesn't mean it will be
easy and you won't be able to
follow the same well-worn path
that you always have or that your
grandfather did when he started
your family business, but it's even
more possible for you to fi nd a
way to meet your ever-evolving
customers' needs and make a
few bucks.
Make sure you check out some
of the predictions from NSCA
executive director Chuck Wilson, AVIXA CEO
David Labuskes, 2019 CI Integrator of the Year
Solutionz CEO Bill Warnick (PAGE 16) and ASCII
Group president Jerry Koutavas (PAGE 27) and
the accompanying survey results.
Be ready to follow their advice in the next
12 months, but remember to be fl exible and
nimble enough to be able to shiſt in a diff erent
direction should events warrant. You proved in
2020 that you can and that your customers will
embrace your new direction if they see you're
committed to it.
None of us truly know what 2021 will bring,
but I for one can't wait to fi nd out. Based on the
way the AV and IT industries have advanced in
the past decade since Commercial Integrator
launched, I can only imagine the great stuff
we'll be seeing in 2021 and beyond.
Craig MacCormack, Executive Editor
craig.maccormack@emeraldx.com
@CraigMacCormack
Emerald X, LLC.
100 Broadway, 14th Floor
New York, New York 10005
800-440-2139
commercialintegrator.com | @commintegrator
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Commercial Integrator January 2021

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

Commercial Integrator January 2021 - Cover1
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - Cover2
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 1
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 2
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 3
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 4
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 5
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 6
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 7
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 8
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 9
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 10
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 11
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 12
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 13
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 14
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 15
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 16
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 17
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 18
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 19
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 20
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 21
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 22
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 23
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 24
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 25
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 26
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 27
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 28
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 29
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 30
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 31
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 32
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 33
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 34
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 35
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 36
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 37
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 38
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 39
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - 40
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - Cover3
Commercial Integrator January 2021 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/august_2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/july_2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/june_2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/may_2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/april_2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/march_2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/february_2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/january_2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/december_2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/november_2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/october_2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/september_2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/august_2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/july_2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/june_2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/may_2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/april_2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/march_2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/february_2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/january_2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/december_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/november_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/october_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/september_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/august_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/july_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/june_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/may_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/apr_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/march_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/february_2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/emerald/commercialintegrator/january_2021
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