Xyte hosted the inaugural AV Cloud Summit, featuring a panel of industry leaders spanning the entire value chain, including Pam Hoppel, president of Legrand AV; Scott Walker, president of Waveguide; Eric Snider, CTO of CTI; and Ron Sklaver, global lead for in-office meeting experiences at EY. Additionally, top AV companies such as AtlasIED, Planar, Legrand AV, Symetrix, and IMSTS presented their cloud implementations. Discussions emphasized the importance of a unified, interoperable cloud platform to address the complexities of AV system management and monitoring while meeting growing end-user demands for simplicity and efficiency.

The Summit highlighted that cloud integration in AV goes beyond device connectivity. It’s about enabling centralized, seamless, and efficient management. However, a key challenge remains: fragmentation in cloud management systems. AV devices are often monitored in a decentralized manner, creating significant overhead for IT/AV managers tasked with ensuring continuous operation and a seamless user experience.

Legrand AV President Pam Hoppel discussed adopting cloud solutions, highlighting how cloud technology improves device management and aligns with industry requirements such as enhanced security. Addressing why Legrand chose Xyte, an external platform, instead of developing its own cloud solution, Hoppel said: “That’s not my core capability. I want to focus on the manufacturing space where I can excel and leverage partners. As technology evolves, partnerships will inevitably need to expand.”

Eric Snider of CTI underscored the industry’s need for a platform that integrates data from various systems into a unified, customizable interface.

Scott Walker of Waveguide and Ron Sklaver of EY shared perspectives on design and end-user needs. Walker emphasized simplicity and security, envisioning AV systems that proactively communicate status changes, such as a room-booking system adjusting availability if AV equipment fails. Sklaver noted that AV is increasingly viewed as an IT function, requiring alignment with IT standards and security.

Sklaver also highlighted the value of a unified cloud platform for monitoring system health and uptime: “What I really want to know is heartbeat monitoring. It’s that simple when you’re talking about this kind of scale—just tell me if it’s down. If I can reboot it remotely, great. If not, let me know.” He emphasized the need for a management layer that ties multiple platforms together: “If I have no choice but to use multiple platforms, I want one layer across the top to tie them together. Don’t make me train everyone to use six, seven, or eight different platforms. Give me one that simplifies it all.”

Industry-leading companies like AtlasIED, Planar, Symetrix, and WyreStorm demonstrated advanced cloud features during the Summit. AtlasIED showcased its Atmosphere Cloud, which uses secure tunneling to enable real-time remote system adjustments, reducing operational costs and improving response times. Symetrix highlighted its cloud licensing system, allowing customers to activate new features instantly via software licenses instead of physical upgrades.

Andrew Gross drew a comparison between Xyte’s impact on the ProAV industry and Tesla’s disruption of the automotive industry. “When we talk about dashboarding and a legacy hardware space, the automobile industry comes up immediately. Tesla turned a legacy industry on its head through a software-defined experience, leading to less turnover, higher customer retention, and some of the greatest sustainability metrics. Tesla’s customer retention rate is 90%, compared to Toyota’s 50%.”

The AV Cloud Summit concluded with a call for collaboration among manufacturers, integrators, and stakeholders to establish open standards. These standards are essential for accelerating cloud integration in AV and improving the user experience through increased efficiency and simplicity.

Xyte plans to host another industry event on May 7 to explore additional cloud trends and use cases.

To watch the inaugural AV Cloud Summit on demand, visit: AV Cloud Summit on Demand.