SCN: How long have you been with this company, and what are your current responsibilities?
Jeff Davis: I have been with Avidex a little over seven years. As CEO, my responsibilities are to provide the overall vision and direction for Avidex.
SCN: Avidex made a couple of acquisitions last year. What was the strategy behind the Visual Commands move?
JD: Visual Commands was a strategic move with an organization we had done business with for well over 10 years. They had historically provided programming support as well as being the architect of our managed service platform, Assure. The acquisition provides continued high-end networking support as well as ownership of the managed services platform that we are using across the entirety of our customer platform.
SCN: How important is Avidex Assure and managed services in general to Avidex’s business model?
JD: Avidex Assure is critically important to the Avidex business model. It furthers our goal of providing best-in-class service to our customers as well as backend support to our technical teams. In today’s environment, customers are looking to use data insights provided by our systems to help drive many of their business initiatives, and the Assure platform helps to provide them with that data. From an Avidex business perspective, the Assure platforms provides a recurring revenue stream while also helping to reduce truck rolls, reducing the expense of servicing our customers while improving overall customer satisfaction.
SCN: More recently, you acquired CCS New England. Why was that an important get for Avidex?
JD: The acquisition of CCS New England was extremely important to Avidex. It helped to enhance our geographical presence in the Northeast, while also building on our abilities to self-perform for our customers in New England. Reputationally, CCS New England is well known for having high-quality standards and performing at a very high level for their marquee accounts. Their culture and values along with their reputation made them an ideal fit for the Avidex family.
SCN: Considering these acquisitions, what are the short and long-term goals for your company?
JD: Short term, our goals are to continue to enhance the customer experience and provide a premium level of service to our customers. We lead with a “customer first” mentality and continue to find new and better ways to improve on that experience and make it easier for customers to do business with us. Long-term, our goals are continued expansion to fill out our U.S. coverage map. We have a five-year road map that more than doubles the size of our organization, which will benefit not only our customers but our employees as well.
SCN: Your EasyRooms have been around for a few years. What’s the reaction to this AV-as-a-Service business model been from your customers?
JD: Frankly, despite some interest in the market, the adoption of AV-as-a-Service has been low. This seems to be consistent across the systems integrator community. Because Avidex is part of ITOCHU Corporation’s global portfolio, we’re able to extend flexible, competitive IT equipment leasing options through our sister company, Missouri-based CSI Leasing, to help clients maximize their technology investments.
SCN: You are active in several vertical markets, but which ones have been the most successful recently?
JD: All of our verticals have seen significant growth recently, but the public sector—more specifically education—as well as enterprise have outpaced the others.
SCN: Are you seeing increased interest in AV projects designed to immerse or “wow” visitors?
Frankly, despite some interest in the market, the adoption of AV-as-a-Service has been low.
JD: Very much so. Stadiums, arenas, and enterprise customers are keenly aware of the need for immersive experiences or “wow” factors to enhance the experience of their customers. They are well educated on technology and have visions of what they want to accomplish and look to us to help bring their visions to life.
SCN: What are some of the biggest challenges facing systems integrators today?
JD: Finding and recruiting the right talent as well as actively cultivating the next generation of AV professionals continues to be a big challenge, not just for Avidex but across the Pro AV industry.
SCN: What’s next for the Pro AV industry?
JD: I think as technology continues to evolve, you will see continued innovation around how technology is used to enhance the way people work, learn, and live. In healthcare, interactive technology is being used in physician training, surgery, and long-term patient care. In education, it is used to help facilitate distance learning as well as enhance the in-classroom experience.
