AVT Question: Please share insights on the ongoing transition to networked AV and the role the cloud and AI play.
Thought Leader: Richard Jonker, Vice President of Commercial Business Development at NETGEAR Enterprise
The promise of networked AV is compelling, but the transition doesn´t require replacing everything overnight. The biggest challenges are existing infrastructure and security, but neither is a dealbreaker. With the right network strategy, organizations can modernize at their own pace while protecting their existing investments.
Infrastructure first: AV over IP is not simply another IT application. High-bandwidth video, multicast traffic, precise QoS, and predictable latency place demands on the network that typical enterprise traffic does not. Convergence does not mean running AV on the corporate LAN. In almost all deployments, AV should operate on a dedicated network, managed using IT best practices but engineered specifically for real-time media.
Cloud platforms provide centralized visibility, remote management and lifecycle monitoring across distributed deployments, reducing operational overhead.
Richard Jonker, Vice President of Commercial Business Development at NETGEAR Enterprise
Security requires the same discipline as any managed endpoint. As AV systems become connected, they need authentication, encrypted communications, access control, continuous monitoring, and regular firmware updates. A dedicated AV network does not reduce that requirement, but it makes consistent policy enforcement more practical and operational risk easier to contain.
AI and the cloud are accelerating this transition. Cloud platforms provide centralized visibility, remote management and lifecycle monitoring across distributed deployments, reducing operational overhead. Network AI builds on that foundation by finding performance anomalies, simplifying troubleshooting, predicting failures before users notice them, and, increasingly, automating routine management tasks. Together, they allow IT and AV teams to spend less time supporting systems and more time delivering reliable user experiences.
Successful AV/IT convergence is not about merging everything onto one network; it is about applying IT discipline while designing infrastructure that meets the unique requirements of professional AV.
