You're Officially Out of Excuses: Time to Prepare for IT Convergence

The BICSI training resources can be attained through their conferences, or they will even show up at your doorstep to train your team in the company offices with one of their “suitcase courses.”
They also offer a wide variety of online training courses on AV/IT convergence, AV, safety, even electrical grounding.

Offering a range of certifications including the RTPM, a project management certification specifically for the technology industry, BICSI’s focus on standards and best practices helps for those times when a project opportunity arises that requires in-depth knowledge and your firm is the one that can handle complex solutions.

At the same time, BICSI stresses that integrators never forget that “training is a continuous and lifelong process,” perhaps underscoring the issues tackled in the CI Summit panel on employee hiring and retention.

Alliance Fosters Better Fundamentals

…But that’s more on the employee retention front. So far we’ve talked about two organizations that have made wonderful contributions and efforts to work with existing professionals in the industry to make sure that they are educated and prepared as changes occur, but what about preparing those looking to join the AV community?

The idea that we’re becoming an industry in need of IT skilled individuals is something that many at the CI Summit discussed and agreed was required. This still doesn’t resolve the issue of making sure that these new hires have the requisite skills in AV.

NSCA executive director Chuck Wilson has been tracking these kinds of transitions in business practices in the AV industry, forcing the methods used for training to be “retooled towards teaching digital to analog folks and teaching the digital folks the methodology of connectivity.”

As more IT pros have been moving into the AV ranks there’s been a concerted effort “trying to get those that know IT to focus on the science and physics of quality audio and video.”

The result of that effort has been a joint partnership between NSCA, CompTIA, CEDIA and CEA to form the Electronic Systems Professional Alliance (ESPA) to teach the fundamentals required across the board in the electronics industries and give the certified individuals that complete the coursework a leg up in having a successful career.

Having a centralized source for the fundamental knowledge that can be spread across multiple verticals in the electronics industry gives the students an early advantage because they can then pursue the vertical that most appeals to them. Perhaps they want to be an IT technician, or work in the consumer electronics world, or join us in the commercial AV realm; all of these then become reachable possibilities.

This Is Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It

As AV has an ever-expanding reach in terms of the kinds of technology and solutions we get to work with on a daily basis (IT, life safety, mass notification emergency communications, health care, etc.), a quote from NSCA’s Wilson will continue to carry greater weight: “AV is going from being ‘nice to have’ to mission critical.”

With the responsibility of ensuring accurate, functional, user-friendly, and technologically forward systems, the pro AV industry is always going to be looking uphill and trying to keep up with all the other partnering industries that we work with, side by side.

That means there will always be a duty to those of us in AV to keep grounded in the present with an eye on the future.

That also means that time, energy and money must go into the development of all professionals in this industry. As a member of the AV community, sharing your knowledge with others and mentoring those just starting out is the beginning of the education that you can provide.

Following the mentorship experience with training development from organizations like InfoComm, BICSI, NSCA, or others like SynAudCon, CompTIA, and CEDIA is the foundation for a successful and long career in AV. Further development will come from the refined manufacturer training courses. With all of these options available to those making their way in the industry each individual that participates will be have the ability to go as far as they wish to.

You are now out of excuses for not being prepared to deal with the changes that the AV industry is facing. The resources are made readily available for you and your staff. It’s time to take advantage of them, if not for your company’s success, then for your own.

Article originally published on Commercial Integrator.