Where were you when you first heard the news that West Chester, Pa.-based Advanced AV was acquired by New Era Technology in 2013? If you’re like most in the industry, you were reading this very story about that deal four years ago and the next significant step in that relationship.
Late last week, Advanced AV officially rebranded as “a New Era Technology company,” a subtle nod not only to the acquisition itself but also to the fact that Advanced AV has focused on a lot more than just AV for a while now.
New York City-based New Era Technology has capabilities in managed services, cloud solutions, collaboration, data networking and security, areas where Advanced AV has dabbled in recent years but will make a more concerted effort going forward, says CEO Mike Boettcher.
He announced the… ahem, new era for Advanced AV to employees at a company picnic on Friday.
“We do not view this as a change,” says Boettcher. “The structure has been in place since the acquisition in 2013. It was not branded as such as we didn’t want to disrupt our market. As we continue to see traditional AV saturated with IT and the term ‘collaboration’ used throughout numerous industries, it was just time to start the process of removing the perception that we are just an AV company.
“We have been offering services beyond traditional AV for a while. Now, we just have a little closer relationship with these capabilities. Audio and video over the network is our new world, as we were all reminded at InfoComm recently,” he says.
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The name change, says Boettcher, “is just something that naturally evolved within the industry, so we would like to stay in front of the shift in the marketplace.”
He sees the move as beneficial to all involved.
“The opportunities for our employees specifically are quite abundant,” says Boettcher. “Every day our employees are acquiring knowledge and experience with new communication solutions. That’s just one of the reasons we are successful; they’re eager to face the challenge.
“Since we’re in growth mode, there isn’t a concern for job loss, more like job advancement. The AV space is turning a new page, and with that comes the need to look at things a little differently than you have in the past. If we don’t stay ahead of the curve, we become stagnant and run the risk of being left behind. The long-term result of that can be quite damaging to a company,” he says.
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