AVT Question: Please share insights and trends on AV/IT in the cloud, including the benefits and cautions.
Thought Leader: Adam Sowers, Senior Manager, Business Development at Sony Electronics
Like most areas of modern business and everyday life, AV has shifted to the cloud. As organizations move away from on-prem hardware, AV-as-a-Service (AVaaS) has become a practical, forward-looking model—one that delivers value today while remaining flexible for what’s next.
The benefits are clear. Cloud-based AV improves efficiency, accessibility, and consistency while centralizing visibility and control. Teams gain real-time insight into device health and usage, issues can be identified before they become outages, and the need for on-site maintenance is reduced. Additionally, collaboration becomes more reliable and repeatable across locations.
As with any cloud strategy, success starts with a reliable network, well-defined security and compliance requirements, and alignment with vendors that prioritize interoperability over lock-in.
Adam Sowers, Senior Manager, Business Development at Sony Electronics
At the platform level, different solutions serve different roles. Sony’s Device Management Platform (DMP) is purpose-built to manage Sony’s displays, offering device-specific monitoring, control, analytics, and software management that are tightly aligned with Sony hardware. In parallel, Xyte provides an open, hardware-agnostic cloud platform designed to manage devices from multiple manufacturers through a single pane of glass. That openness is especially valuable for organizations and integrators supporting mixed AV environments.
Together, these cloud platforms integrate with content providers to enable seamless digital signage, while cloud collaboration tools support consistent meeting experiences that promote meeting equity. Subscription-based models further simplify budgeting and improve cost predictability.
As with any cloud strategy, success starts with a reliable network, well-defined security and compliance requirements, and alignment with vendors that prioritize interoperability over lock-in.
This is why Sony, Xyte, and other AV manufacturers and technology providers support OpenAV Cloud—an industry initiative focused on driving collaboration, standards, and interoperability for the long-term benefit of integrators and end users.
