Yawn, another year of InfoComm has come and went. With the impending birth of my third child I missed it for the first time in a decade. But thanks to technology I was able to follow along in the stream.
At least I intended to, but after scrolling through Twitter, following the columns and checking out the manufacturer announcements across the web, I found myself distracted because there were so many other interesting developments going on around the web that the show just couldn’t keep my attention.
Also See: Is AV Ready for the Internet of Things Takeover?
First, before anyone misconstrues this as some dig at Infocomm, it isn’t. Infocomm has nothing to do with what products and services our manufacturers are developing and showing at the annual trade event. Really, this isn’t a dig at all. The event was status quo, as were the announcements, products and services. But here is the problem…
In a world full of fractured attention and rapid disruption, status quo is boring and no one wants to talk about micro innovation. Which begs the question…
What is your disruption?
The seismic forces that are shifting our behavior on a day in day out basis are more apparent than ever before. With this shift begs the question about new solutions being marketed and then the systems that integrators are putting together. Are the solutions responsive to the trends? Perhaps before figuring out what are disruption is, we first need to fully understand the trends. There are the established shifts and the emerging ones. Let’s take a quick look.
Established:
- Mobile: Do whatever it is from anywhere on any device.
- Data: Better decisions with data, analytics and business intelligence.
- Cloud: Accessibility and affordability, not to mention scale.
- Social: People want to share, everything
Emerging
- IoT: Everything will attach to the internet AND provide data.
- Virtualization (AR/VR): Modified and Virtual experiences from anywhere.
- Cognitive/AI: Machines and deep learning, no human necessary.
Thinking about disruption and your customer.
We know that the impact of consumerization is greater than ever. From Cardboard to Oculus Rift, people are experiencing virtual reality in the comfort of their home. Apple is growing their home automation platform and Echo is showing that the entire world is at your disposal just by talking to a little black box (No programming required).
For our industry, the wake up call is going to come down to a couple of things.
- 1. Not one of the above technologies in itself is truly disruptive. It almost always takes a combination of them to make something that truly changes or transforms a business or an industry. (For Example: The Disney Magic Band has disrupted how we consume services at Disney Parks. It combined Data, Analytics, Mobility, IoT, Sensors and Cloud.)
- 2. For an industry like commercial integration, our disruption will need to elevate our offerings beyond that of products and services into the realm of experiences. In the digital age, experiences carry a higher economic value than a product or service. This is why we pay more for Starbucks and Apple and so many other solutions.
Yes, I know trying to figure out your disruption isn’t easy. In fact, it’s really hard to figure out what your business can offer that one else does. Perhaps first we need to think about how prepared we are to disrupt by looking at how ready our businesses are to transform. Next month I will get to that, I promise. For now, I just want to disrupt your thinking a little bit. Start asking yourself “why” you may want to shift, then the what and how will make a whole lot more sense.
One thing I can tell you for sure, the rapid emergence of future technology isn’t slowing down any time soon. So the pressure for us to utilize technology to transform, disrupt and create meaningful experiences is on. So I ask again…What is your disruption?
