There was a significant amount of negativity toward 2016. Yes, some great stars passed from our existence, and it lasted up to the last day of the year.
The AV industry even got in on the “2016 is the worst year ever” with a New Year’s Eve performance by Mariah Carey that went up in flames as she blamed the AV crew.
I for one would like to start out this year with a positive frame of mind. Here are my wishes for 2017.
Better Network Training
The IT/AV convergence is done. It has happened. Now is the time to get you and your team on board and get them trained.
There are several different classes and certifications for which you can strive. The most common are the CCNA.
However, did you know Cisco has a certification that specializes on video conferencing? It’s called the Cisco TelePresence Solution certification. They also have ones that focus on IoT, wireless, and other specialties.
Getting Cisco certified as an AV company gives your clients the security of knowing you have the knowledge base to be in and around their network, and you will be in and around their network for the foreseeable future.
It also gives you the background to make sound choices for securing your system and theirs.
System Security
We started out the year talking about AV security. I do hope we never stop talking about it.
Network administrators will continually test their systems for vulnerabilities. Let’s strive to make AV not one of them. This is done with proper design and deployment.
The design part comes in choosing the right equipment. This can be the video switcher, DSP, or transmitters and receivers.
Anything that is on the network needs to have significant security built in. The deployment part of security comes in changing default logins and passwords.
Yes, that seems elementary, but you may be surprised as to how many systems still have those after the installers leave.
Increased Trade Show Attendance
Whether it is Integrated Systems Europe, the InfoComm Show, or regional shows throughout the year, go. Go to a trade show. Take your people. These are great ways to see new products and network with the people at the manufacturer who you will need on the job site at midnight on a Friday.
This is going to be a pretty great year to be in AV. Get your team up to speed on the networking front. Help them become the AV and network professional they can be.
Continue to pour into them, and that will pay dividends the year through. It has the potential to be a great year, but you have to make it so.
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Good list Tim!
Let me add one thing: Take some time to have a pet project. Be it a new product family or a new programming language or new business processes.
We must find time to work our curiosity and stay agile. For sure its not enough to simply rest assured that the new “stuff” is more or less only cheaper and better.
Behind all the buzzwords like cloud and IoT there are significant changes ahead so we need to budget at least a little time for getting used to new things before the markets demand it from us.