It’s Integrated Systems Europe week again, and that is one of only a few events annually that draws integrators out of the states to hear and see what is going on outside of the U.S. in the global technology market.
In the integration business, it is hard enough to get away from the grind for AVIXA’s annual InfoComm show, so heading to Amsterdam is quite a commitment. For those that made it, we salute you.
Having said all of that, our economy is more global than ever, and while the US certainly has a significant economy, globalization is far more than a passing fad. The clients that the industry serves are commonly multinational organizations with offices and personnel around the world. And in other cases, local companies may not have “global” presence per se, but like many integrators they serve global companies, and therefore there is common interest at play.
In short, global travel may or may not be a requirement for most integrators, but a global perspective is no longer something that integrators can ignore.
Learning from a More Global Perspective
Best Talent Is Everywhere
I’ve been talking about this forever, but global technology has pretty much, since the onset of the internet, leaned on the best talent regardless of location. This, of course, isn’t possible for every position, but with engineers, coders, designers, marketers, and other similar roles, thinking everyone needs to drive a car to the office everyday to be productive is far from the big thinking that has catapulted the global technology market.
Location and Origin Differ
Based on the talent philosophy above, the whole onus that the customers you work with are all “located” at their office or location where the installation is happening is a bit unwise. If you serve global clients, you have to consider that those you are working with in digital collaboration and those that you meet at the office are not local or did not start that way. This means being considerate that customs and business practices may need a more global approach. Even if working with a local business.
Solutions Must Consider Globalization
When consulting, specifying or designing the solution, a more global consideration must be considered.
- Who visits these spaces?
- Who uses this technology?
- Where may the room be connected to?
- Who are the users?
[related] What is intuitive to one person may not be to another. With smartphones, we have seen how a global user interface, even between Apple and Android, has enabled the world regardless of location or language to just open the box and use the tool.
As the technology sector has continued to boom, companies have become acutely aware of a number of critical considerations for global business viability. However, the smaller the organization, sometimes the less consideration given to this. Perhaps resource driven, or maybe just not a priority, but nonetheless, as the enterprises continue to expand their reach, and as the supply chains in every industry (companies large and small) are required to support the global enterprise, the thinking of local companies must match that of their global counterparts.
This could be the talent your business hires, the understanding that your clients may be (from) anywhere in the world — even if they are operating local, and that solutions need to truly be intuitive so that anyone can use them, without constraint.
This is big global thinking, and this is how the global technology market thinks. So, while not every part of an integrator’s world needs to be absorbed by global business practices, it certainly doesn’t hurt to think a little bigger so you can serve all of your customers as well as possible; maybe even becoming a key provider in aiding a few with meeting their global ambitions.
