Been to a brainstorm, strategy session or touchbase recently? Gatherings like these, no matter what the name, are occurring constantly in the work world. Whether it’s for a corporation, bank, hotel, retailer or other venture, digital transformation is modernizing the way we convene for the better. It’s prompting companies across all industries to reimagine their workspaces and meeting rooms to more closely align with how their teams actually function.
Meetings are now likely to involve multiple teams—some of which might be remote or international. Personal communication preferences are shifting, too. Email can be impersonal, so teams are complementing it with cloud-based options and video conferencing.
Demographics are playing a role as well. Millennials account for 30 percent of workers, the largest generation in the labor force, and these tech-savvy folks favor on-demand exchanges in smaller, more unique spaces.
Even as these dynamics impact traditional meeting practices and places, the net result is the same—everyone still needs to collaborate, and it’s generating incredible prospects for providers of integrated experiences through audiovisual solutions.
“When you look at all of the challenges facing the modern workforce, collaboration is at the very top,” says Sandi Stambaugh, vice president, product management for SYNNEX Corp..
Office environments remain the single largest source of audiovisual solution revenues for the Pro AV market. According to AVIXA’s Industry Outlook Trends and Analysis (IOTA) (opens in new tab), this segment generated an estimated $40 billion in 2018 alone, or one-fifth of the industry’s total revenue.
Say Hello to the Huddle
Keep in mind that the concept of collaboration will translate differently depending on the company culture. Collaborative solutions can be anything from a single-user desktop experience, to innovative huddle spaces, to traditional conference rooms.
Recognize that customers may prefer certain platforms: Skype for Business, Teams, WebEx, Hangouts, Zoom or Blue Jeans. Once that’s been addressed, then integrators can build in the appropriate displays, cameras, computers and audio packages as well as the desks, tables and décor.
And don’t overlook offbeat spaces like the increasingly popular huddle. Convenient for spontaneous meet-ups, it offers teams a chance to gather quickly in what can be more creative, yet technology-driven areas. Due to their size, huddle spaces are ideal for the SMB to mid-market.
“Collaborative meeting rooms have become table stakes,” says Stambaugh. “Our goal is to provide streamlined solutions that are also immersive. We’re pleased to deliver a cohesive offering that combines the expertise of multiple SYNNEX business units as integrators look to address opportunities in this high-growth market segment.”
SYNNEX has robust solutions in various technology areas as well as financial services offerings that make it easier to move from commitment to implementation.
Here’s a quick look at what SYNNEX offers:
- Bundled AV and Digital Signage: Bundles can support small, mid-size, and large conference rooms with products from Poly, HP, Legrand AV, Logitech, Peerless, ONELAN and Kramer. Integrators can choose a display from a variety of SYNNEX’s leading manufacturer partners.
- Cloud: Organizations have more remote workers and employees using various devices. SYNNEX offers leading collaboration platforms including Microsoft Teams and Workplace by Facebook for easy adoption and execution. SYNNEX also provides its own streamlined platform for ordering and managing cloud subscriptions.
- Cisco: The SYNNEX Comstor Division and Cisco are uniquely positioned to ensure partners are capitalizing on the cloud-first approach that Cisco is taking with collaboration. They deliver training, consulting, and enablement tools through the EDGE collaboration program. The Cisco offering provides the flexibility of on-premise, hybrid cloud, and cloud calling solutions for SMB to large enterprise opportunities.
- Unified Collaboration solutions may also involve personal endpoints requiring headsets, or larger room systems requiring conference phones and larger-scale video collaboration systems.
- Services: SYNNEX provides value-add assessment, design and installation services to ensure accurate, complete and high-functioning collaboration solutions are delivered on behalf of its integrators.
- The DaaS offering has several pre-defined solutions with monthly pricing in place so customers can create their own bundle and offer it at subscription pricing. Integrators can also utilize a self-service portal that allows them to build a quote and incorporate their own services.
As workflows become even more complex, there are huge opportunities to help companies evolve with the times. It means updating meeting spaces from old-school conference rooms to pioneering collaboration points tied together with powerful networks. Collaboration is truly the key, and those companies who build around that will be primed for productivity.
To learn more, contact SYNNEX VISUALSolv at: visualsolv@synnex.com.
This article was sponsored by SYNNEX.