There was an interesting exchange during the “Integrator of the Future” session at 2014 NSCA Business & Leadership Conference.
Panelist David Danto of Dimension Data , speaking to a mostly integrator audience of 300, argued that integrators and specifying consultants often deliver system solutions that go beyond what clients actually need.
Integrators “need to stop building rooms for us,” he said. “The problem with those big rooms is they never get used. They’re for executives who aren’t there during training. They’re perceived as senior management rooms. Then senior management uses them without using the AV. We recommend smaller rooms that people can use.”
A question from the audience challenged his philosophy. Does Danto suggest designing simple, plug-and-play solutions “because that’s all you can do,” asked Westbury National systems division sales manager Brock McGinnis.
“We are custom AV integrators, and we’re proud of what our systems are able to do for our clients’ business processes,” McGinnis continued. “You seem to want to lower the ability to communicate or present or collaborate to the lowest common denominator so it’s fast and easy and cheap to install right out of the box.”
Danto responded that there are some clients for with a right-out-of-the-box solution is appropriate, some that are not and it’s the integrator’s job to recognize the difference. “What I’m suggesting to everybody in this room is that your professional expertise is also needed for you to walk in and tell them [when a non-custom solution is appropriate].”
Watch Danto’s response: