AVT Question: Please share insights and trends on AV/IT in the cloud, including the benefits and cautions.
Thought Leader: Steven Hoenig, Senior Director, Portfolio Expansion Program Management at Legrand | AV
The shift to cloud-managed AV isn’t just a technology upgrade; it’s a fundamental rethinking of how AV/IT teams operate. For institutions and organizations managing dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of spaces, the traditional break-fix model has a ceiling. Cloud platforms remove that ceiling.
The clearest benefit is visibility. Cloud-managed infrastructure lets you see early warning signs—unusual power draw, devices going offline, and patterns that precede failure—before anyone picks up the phone. That shift from reactive to proactive fundamentally changes what a small AV/IT team can manage effectively.
The organizations getting the most out of AV in the cloud aren’t just using new tools; they’re redefining what their teams are capable of.
Steven Hoenig, Senior Director, Portfolio Expansion Program Management at Legrand | AV
Scalability follows naturally. A team of three shouldn’t be limited to what three people can physically touch. Remote power management, automated monitoring, and developer-accessible APIs scale reach far beyond headcount. Automation handles the routine; staff focus on work that requires human judgment.
Energy management is underappreciated. Scheduled power-down routines for high-draw equipment during off-hours yield meaningful consumption reductions—relevant for any organization with sustainability commitments or operating cost pressures.
The cautions are worth noting. Network reliability becomes foundational; monitoring is only as good as your connectivity. Data security and access control require deliberate architecture, especially in sensitive environments. And cloud management without an operational framework generates a lot of data with no clear use for it.
The organizations getting the most out of AV in the cloud aren’t just using new tools; they’re redefining what their teams are capable of.
