Commercial Integrator March 2021 - 10

#TECHTRENDING THE BUZZ ON TECHNOLOGY AFFECTING INTEGRATORS
#Collaboration
How CIs Can Succeed
as Resimercial AV
Integrators
IN THE WAKE of the 20082009
economic recession,
residential AV integrators who
suddenly found most homeowners
unwilling or unable to
spend money on technology
in their homes turned en masse
to the commercial AV world,
where there was more than
enough work to go around.
Amidst the coronavirus
pandemic, commercial AV
companies now find themselves
looking longingly at
the residential market, where
more people are upgrading
their AV to help them manage
their work-from-home lives and
the fact their kids are going to
school from their couches.
Let's call them resimercial
integrators-companies that are
adept at both residential and
commercial AV.
Giles Sutton, interim CEO
and senior VP of member
success and sales of CEDIA,
calls the transformation " a natural
evolution " and says many
CEDIA members were already
dipping their toes in commercial
AV and the reverse is true of
AVIXA members doing jobs on
the residential side.
" It's more looking at residential
as a primary focus at the
moment, " he says, highlighting
the idea of bringing videoconferencing
into the residential
space and bulking up the IT
infrastructure needed to deliver
the additional content people
need in their homes to work
and go to school these days.
" The benefit right now is
it's not the same amount of
work (as pre-pandemic), "
says Sutton. " All the reports
we see show this has been a
10
really successful year for our
channel. Business is booming
and there's enough work for everyone
in this space right now,
particularly in North America.
" There's a lot of movement
in the property market and that
we know impacts our industry.
The more people to a new
home, the more people who
are going to remodel them and
want to install more technology, "
he says.
" People are changing the
way they view their homes, "
says Sutton. " They're zoning
them they can work from home
alongside children that can
be home-schooled. With that
comes a greater technology
requirement.
" Any market is going to be
nervous of competition, but
there's definitely no concern
about a shortage of work at the
moment. The industry is pretty
robust and has weathered
the storm of the pandemic. If
anything, this focus on new
trends brings great opportunity
for commercial integrators, "
he says.
Resimercial Integrators
Are Here to Stay
Sutton sees the trend of commercial
AV companies on residential
jobs and vice versa as
one with some staying power.
" I think it's here to stay for a
while, " he says. " From what we
understand from large corporations,
there's going to be more
a hybrid approach to work, but
there's opportunity in a lot of
areas. " That includes boutique
hotels and multi-dwelling unit
(MDU) developments.
Boutique hotels represent
" an area that falls between pro
and residential, " says Sutton,
because It relies on a " more
design-orientated approach to
technology. "
Commercial Integrator MARCH 2021
" Resimercial " refers to those projects that span the line
between residential and commercial integration.
MDUs have typically
involved both residential
(apartments) and commercial
integrators (access control,
infrastructure), says Sutton.
" You have to have a very large
workforce to be able to carry
out this work, but increasingly
smaller companies are able to
get into this market through this
new model, " he says.
There are, of course, difference
in working on residential
and commercial AV projects,
says Sutton, who has experience
as a resimercial integrator
himself.
" It's very different when
client is so deeply invested because
it's their home, " he says.
" The considerations around
ensuring you're there at times
that's respectful to the people
living there and being available
on off hours.
" In normal times, people are
home at night and during the
weekend. It's a little more manageable
in a corporate setting
when they're not there at those
times. They don't always have
ducting and ceiling tiles in their
homes. A lot of that has to be
thought through at the start of
the project, " says Sutton.
" The core technical skills are
very transferrable, " he says. " It's
just related to the consideration
of the homeowner. "
Sutton expects we'll see
much more robust IT networks in
future residential AV installations
because commercial integrators
understand its importance and
are bringing that mentality with
them into people's homes.
" The pandemic has proven
homeowners need something
a little bit more robust to handle
all the demands put on their
networks, " he says. " That's a fantastic
skill to be brought over. "
" We need to recognize there
is overlap, " says Sutton. " I don't
see it as us as a group moving
into a new area. I just see it as a
refocusing or prioritizing more
on the residential side. CEDIA
members are already doing
both and the same goes for
AVIXA members as well.
" It's just about responding to
the demand right now. As long
as the work is being carried out
professionally to a high standard
and addressing the customers'
requirements, that's the most
important thing, " he says.
›› @CEDIA, @AVIXA,
#Resimercial, #Collaboration
commercialintegrator.com
http://www.commercialintegrator.com
Commercial Integrator March 2021

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