There was big news at the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta on Oct. 22. Zones, a longtime global provider of end-to-end IT solutions and managed services that's known for its work in the retail and QSR verticals, officially announced its expansion into the Pro AV industry at its Zones Customer Connect Tech Expo. There, industry experts and attendees got a firsthand look at what Zones has to offer the commercial side of AV.
The line between AV and IT continues to blur, and the Zones IT solutions portfolio makes it an ideal fit for the Pro AV side of the industry. While the company will focus on the retail and QSR sectors, the overarching goal will be to help all Pro AV installations in the not-so-distant future. As Doug Eckrote, EVP/COO, explained, the timing was right to invest in the opportunity and drive it home.
"I think integrators are looking for scale," Jeff Cobb, newly appointed SVP, Integrated Solutions, told SCN. "[Integrators will] have pieces of a project of things that we've been doing for a very long time. So, it makes sense to include us in those types of conversations."
"In Pro AV, we don't compete with integrators, we want to collaborate with them."
Ashley Flaska, Zones
Zones' business practices are broken down into four main pillars, and each was showcased on the Customer Connect exhibition floor. Ivan Tetyushev, director of technology solutions, began the tour, discussing its IT lifecycle services. From procurement to end-of-life, Zones can provide IT management all in-house, with no need for third parties, as the company aims to be an all-in-one source for integrations worldwide. Other areas of expertise attendees saw on the exhibition floor included simplifying collaboration in the digital workplace, customized cloud and data center, and networking and security.
"We're global, so we have resources all over the world," Ashley Flaska, VP of marketing, offered as yet another benefit Zones brings to the industry. "If a customer wants to do a global deployment, then we're able to facilitate that, whether it's through Zones or our partners that we work with throughout the world."
Cobb, who started with Zones roughly a month ago, came to the company with 30 years of expertise in integrated solutions, working very closely with cybersecurity and managed services. With AWS and Microsoft having sweeping effects on the industry this week alone, security is more important than ever—and Zones is equipped with the solutions and knowledge to prepare its customers.
"Security has come a long way in my 30 years of being in IT," Cobb said. "But there is still so much more that organizations need to do. It's always a contention of where a dollar is going to go, where resources are going to go. That's why managed services are so important. It's that age old saying that we have to be right 100% of the time, where the bad guys, they just have to be right once."
As Zones prepares to enter the Pro AV world, do they have plans to work alongside integrators, or are they the new kids on the block, a competitor looking to make its mark? "That's a very good question," said Flaska. "In Pro AV, we don't compete with integrators, we want to collaborate with them. By combining AV specialization with our IT deployment scale, we deliver better outcomes for customers together."
Whether it is updating outdated digital signage—a struggle many are facing as signage shifts from simple menus and messaging to an enhancement to the customer experience—or modernizing their IT infrastructure, Zones aims to be an all-in-one partner to limit the complications and stress installations may bring.
Off to the Races
Zones wasn't the only one generating a buzz. Attendees were invited to the VIP Porsche Experience Event, and were allowed to take an extended ride around the test track in a brand-new Porsche. And you can be sure I didn't miss the opportunity.
Each guest was invited to get behind the wheel for nearly 90 minutes of thrilling, high-speed adventure. With your coach sitting shotgun, you start the experience by taking a jaunt around the test track. Each coach teaches you how to take turns at high-speed without pumping the brakes (even though I did... numerous times). My coach was Charles Geer, who is somewhat of an Atlanta icon, so he had plenty of stories to tell to keep your mind off the fact that we were racing $218,000 vehicles.
From the test track, drivers were taken to a slick course, where you had 10 tries to learn how to race around slippery conditions. With the coach ready to grab the wheel, the goal was to let you spin out sans panic... which admittedly took a couple turns around the course to eliminate. Then it was onto the drag strip, where you revved it up to 60 mph for about 30 yards before you had to slam on the brakes and come to a full stop. After you mastered the cone course, where you had to wiggle and waggle through the cones, it was off to the water course.
There were fishtails and 360s galore, but it was all part of the fun. You could do nothing but laugh (and thankfully, Geer was as well) as you lost control, and learned how to quickly regain control through two different course doused with water. From there, you "graduate" and return to the main course, now going at higher speeds. After a few laps, your coach gets out, and you switch seats. Once in shotgun, I asked what we do next, to which Geer simply responded, "You? You hold on."
It was three laps of high-speed and little breaking as Geer sped through and past other attendees. Geer, a former racecar driver himself, was chatting as if nothing were happening, making the experience fun... and helping me forget I was on what felt like a spaceship.
