Commercial Integrator December 2022 - 27

comes. " This includes, but is not limited to,
support and maintenance, virtual event and
broadcast management, UC&C consulting/professional
services and a full suite
of managed services, " she recounts. Berg
also notes AVI-SPL 24/7 Global Service Operations
Centers all around the globe that
proactively watch for and resolve customers'
technology issues as they arise.
Berg highlights AVI-SPL Symphony, a
businesses can leverage software as client
offerings.
Loucks makes clear that a large-scale
transition is afoot at L3AV, saying, " We have
begun to shift our entire business model
to a software-first mindset. " Although the
transition remains in progress, Loucks
underscores that L3AV is already seeing
some of the value. " For the moment, " he
explains, " our primary software offering is
hosted Zabbix, an open-source monitoring
software. We handle all hosting and
edge-computing needs. Monitoring is step
one for AV system lifecycle management, so
we've started there. " Another L3AV offering,
Loucks notes, is managed Crestron VC-4,
both on-prem and in the cloud. He then
underlines his expectation that the firm will
offer much more software in the months and
years ahead.
Returning to our other interviewees,
CI finds that ASD does not currently offer
software to its clients. But Castiglione
makes clear that his company isn't blind to
the profit potential, saying, " I think there
is incredible opportunity to offer solutions
around inventory/asset tracking and
security. And, as more systems converge
onto the IT network, it will be key to offer
monitoring and support. " Right now, he
says, ASD is strategizing on how best to
seize the opportunity. " We are spending
a good deal of time thinking through this
now, [deciding] how we will offer future
solutions, " he adds.
At Spinitar, Wahid references its
Success Services, the brand name for its
software-driven offerings which includes
a video helpdesk and remote-monitoring
solutions. Wahid's enthusiasm for
commercialintegrator.com
Success Services emerges from the fact
that, ultimately, they help clients be more
successful. " By helping our clients be
successful, " he declares, " it creates the
ultimate 'stickiness.' "
Laurie Berg, VP, AVI-SPL Symphony Product
Operations, jumps in, explaining how
the digital-enablement-services provider
leverages a broad range of software-driven
services to deliver excellent client outuser-experience-management
platform that
the integration leader developed. " When
the 'who,' 'what,' 'where,' 'when,' 'why'
and 'how' of technology and space are not
understood or working, end users suffer, "
she declares. " AVI-SPL Symphony brings all
these answers together, providing a single
platform to monitor and manage the entire
collaboration estate, providing faster issue
resolution, less end-user impact and greater
peace of mind. "
'We use Spectrum
construction
management
software for job-cost
accounting. Other
systems we use are
monday.com, HubSpot,
Bluebeam and Google
Workspace.'
- Mike Castiglione,
COO, Automated
Systems Design
Off the Shelf vs. Custom Proprietary
When CI asks our panelists their relative
preference among cloud-based, off-theshelf
software; local-based, off-the-shelf
software; and custom-built, proprietary
software, the integrators offer impassioned
answers. Mechdyne's Quasebarth adds, " If,
by local, you mean heavy apps that run on
terrestrial client-server infrastructure, those
are becoming dinosaurs. [They're] difficult
to support, difficult to administrate and
difficult to integrate into a cloud infrastructure
(e.g., Office 365 and Azure, AWS). "
he acknowledges, custom-built software,
as long as it's web-services-based, can be
fast and cost effective to develop, and then
adds, " but...but...you will pay the price
in the long run supporting it. " Quasebarth
urges integrators to be cautious in what
they sign up for, declaring, " The cost to
develop what appears to be a great idea
and get to beta release pales in comparison
to the cost to get it to 3.0! "
L3AV's Loucks centers his answer on
two words: open source. " Our focus is on
open-source software with thriving communities, "
he opines. " Open source is the way
modern software is developed. It allows
for vastly improved transparency in the development
process and [enables] business
continuity in the event that a vendor folds or
decides to change direction. " Circling back
DECEMBER 2022 Commercial Integrator 27
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Commercial Integrator December 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Commercial Integrator December 2022
