RavePro — Volume 17, Issue 34 — September 11, 2019

September 11, 2019 | Volume: 17 | Issue: 34

Today Barco announced it was acquiring a 5% stake in LED manufacturer Unilumin, as well as a “strategic partnership” between the two companies. Gary speculates today on whether a full acquisiton is in the future — he believes it’s only a matter a time. Scott Tiner also talks about change management processes used in the IT industry and how AV companies, manufacturers and integrators alike, can learn something from them.

I’m also writing this from Denver, where CEDIA Expo starts tomorrow. We’ll be shooting product videos and interviews, posting stories and doing all of our usual show coverage. Be sure to follow us on social and check back on our MicroSite for updates. I missed last year’s show, and I’m interested to see the mix of actual CI products, consumer products and light commercial that end up being exhibited, which is an immediate indicator of how residential is faring. Stay tuned for more. If you see anything super interesting, hit us up @rAVePubs or me directly on Twitter — @saraabrons or LinkedIn and I’ll wander over to take a look.

-Sara Abrons

COLUMNS

+ Is Barco Buying Unilumin? I Believe It’s Just a Matter of Time [Gary Kayye]

Barco just announced a strategic collaboration with Unilumin, a listed Chinese company that’s an LED manufacturer. Barco says it's engaged in a wide-ranging partnership with Unilumin to secure a supply of LED display components, which allows broader penetration in its core markets with differentiated Barco LED visualization hardware and software solutions. But, isn’t it logical they will just buy them, eventually?

+ Change Management [Scott Tiner]

AV systems today are completely interconnected. They can connect people from meeting rooms to boardrooms to offices and even to their homes. We also know that many of our AV systems are software-intensive and networked. When you make a change in one place, are you thinking about and aware of what is being affected in another? Change management processes help you with this. These are processes that allow you to meetneeds that are changing, while also creating stability in those services and the others that may be dependent on it. As organizations begin to employ support contracts with integrators, basic change management practices can help the firm and the client set expectations

+ Why AI Will Make Collaboration Experts of Us All [Kelly Bousman]

We see a future where AI is the most valuable player on a team. When AI eliminates the most common operational pain points — meeting scheduling, technology availability, knowledge access and project management — people can truly collaborate. Teamwork will flourish when people focus on creative problem solving and innovation. Projects will have stronger business outcomes with AI working in the background to facilitate productive meetings and provide contextually relevant information that speeds decision making and improves results.