AVT Question: With some trade shows having been canceled or scaled back and limited in-person meetings, it has been a challenge for technology managers to learn about a company's philosophy, vision, and product roadmap for the coming year. Would you share what you can about your 2022 company roadmap? [January 2022]
Thought Leader: Darryl Kuder, President, Red Dot Digital Media
Looking back on the past couple of years, the pandemic forced the AV industry through incredibly transformative times. In 2022, I expect this will be a year of rebirth and strong growth. To be clear, we won’t be returning to normal; instead, we’ll be taking what we learned throughout the pandemic and applying those best practices to the beginning of the post-pandemic era.
A well-documented trend over the past several years has been the expanding role of integrators throughout the AV space. Now more than ever, businesses need the expertise of integrators to manage the expanding scope and complexity of AV installations—especially those involving digital signage.
"Now more than ever, businesses need the expertise of integrators to manage the expanding scope and complexity of AV installations—especially those involving digital signage." — Darryl Kuder, President, Red Dot Digital Media
At a more granular level, I expect 2022 will mark the emergence of what I refer to as specialty integrators. In many cases, smaller projects don’t typically require a traditional SI, because either the project scope or the available budget is too small. But today, smaller projects often involve a level of technical complexity that most businesses or systems integrators can’t manage on their own. And in many instances, even large-scale projects include niche elements that fall outside the wheelhouse of traditional integrators. Specialty integrators are emerging to fill this unmet need.
A growing number of integrators are turning to Red Dot to function as the specialty integrator to support them on projects that require expertise that doesn’t fall within their core offering. We develop the content, put our know-how on the latest hardware and software to work, and provide post-deployment support. Integrators often partner with us to resell our services as well, and I expect this practice to become mimicked across the industry as customers, systems integrators, and end users begin to see the value of specialty integrators that offer a comprehensive package of hardware, software, and integration services.
AV/IT Company Roadmaps 2022
>> Hall Technologies Roadmap 2022
>> Yamaha Unified Communications Roadmap 2022
More 2022 Roadmaps to come!
More Thought Leaders Series Articles
>> 22Miles Product Roadmap – Re: Pandemic
>> BlueJeans by Verizon Product Roadmap – Re: Pandemic
>> ClearOne on Conferencing Audio
>> Legrand|AV on Conferencing Audio
>> Listen Technologies Product Roadmap – Re: Pandemic
>> Poly Product Roadmap – Re: Pandemic
>> SurgeX Product Roadmap – Re: Pandemic
>> VuWall Product Roadmap – Re: Pandemic
>> Yamaha UC on Conferencing Audio
