We spoke to Anna-Marie Constantinou, Director of Maverick AV Solutions about how the specialist business unit is moving forward and working to expose more IT resellers to the potential opportunities with audiovisual solutions.
Q: It’s been 18 months since you stepped into the leadership role at Maverick AV Solutions – how have things changed in that time? And how are they changing right now?
A: It’s been interesting. Before taking up this role I worked for nine years in Datech – our specialist Autodesk business unit. While there are definite synergies between Datech and Maverick, the way the audiovisual market works is entirely different to the CAD sector. Although AV remains a distinct and specialist area, we are now starting to see this massive convergence happening between AV and IT. When you look at the meeting room space, for example. That’s an area in which Maverick is recognised as being really strong, and with most of the technologies involved you don’t need to be an audiovisual specialist. Interactive panels and solutions like Microsoft Surface Hub and Barco Clickshare are completely in the domain of the IT reseller. Now that meeting room and collaboration solutions have become more platform-led, it is really easy for IT resellers to offer them.
It feels like there has been some kind of reset in the way we communicate and manage work-life balance
Q: The importance of collaboration has been quite apparent over the last few months, of course. How has that changed the market?
A: One of our vendors described it recently as having been a ‘global proof of concept’ for smart meeting rooms and collaboration. Over the last few months, we’ve seen an accelerated acceptance and adoption of remote working and home working and I think that’s going to make a lot of organisations think about putting video conferencing in every meeting room. Users will demand that now. They expect to be able to walk into a room and set up a call and go from Zoom to Teams and Teams to Zoom, for instance, in a heartbeat.
Q: Do you see uptake of collaboration accelerating in particular verticals or will it be across the board?
A: It feels like there has been some kind of reset in the way we communicate and manage work-life balance. In education, I certainly see there is going to be a real shift. There is more of a platform approach and every educational establishment now needs to be able to shift to virtual and home learning instantly, especially if they want to attract foreign students. They really have to up their game in that respect. From a wider perspective, we don’t yet know what the appetite is going to be for international travel from now on, so every industry is potentially going to be impacted and re-thinking how they do things.
These are changing needs for offices and retail right now, and there are some simple yet effective solutions that could easily meet their needs
Q: How can Maverick help resellers take advantage of the rising interest in collaboration and smart meeting rooms? Do you need to support AV specialists and IT resellers in a different way?
A: In the AV market, customers want really good service, they want us to be reliable, they want good pricing and help with technical issues when they need it. But a lot of them have their own expertise and they are quite self-sufficient. We have to earn their trust and make it easier for them to do business and understand new areas, such as security and how they can use next generation technologies such as IoT and analytics in AV, as well as platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Google and Zoom. With IT resellers who are offering AV solutions, it’s a little more straightforward. They will have the technology expertise, and what we can offer to them is the specialism in smart meeting rooms and collaboration. We can hand-hold them as they are working through opportunities and support them with our services – if they need us to do that. It’s all about removing the barriers and enabling them to offer a complete service to support their end user customer. I see us being able to offer value and expertise to all partners in relation to platform-led solutions, through the reach and resources of Maverick and the wider TD SYNNEX business we are uniquely positioned to support.
Q: Where will Maverick be focussing its efforts over the next few months? Where do you see the best opportunities?
A: There are three key markets for us – education, smart meetings, and smart signage. While we’re quite well established in those first two areas, signage is a really live conversation for us right now. It sounds quite specialised, but it does not have to be complicated. These are changing needs for offices and retail right now, and there are some simple yet effective solutions that could easily meet their needs. For example, being able to give people clear instructions when they enter a particular space or remind them of how to move around a building or campus. These solutions do not have to be that complex – IT resellers will be able to sell them.
Q: What do you believe it is that makes Maverick different or sets it apart?
A: Whatever the solution or the market, what we are all about is removing complexity – that’s not to say that selling a massive LED wall is not complicated. But our job is to make it as easy as possible for anyone who has those opportunities. That’s where we can make the biggest difference. It is about bridging that gap between AV and IT and now that we are seeing more of a platform approach in the meeting room, that is becoming easier.
As people return to the office there are going to be a lot of questions about how we work and direct people around
Q: Does being a part of TD SYNNEX make a difference?
A: Yes, absolutely. When you look at initiatives like Tech-as-a Service, that has a huge role to play and has already become quite prevalent. It’s allowed people to invest in technology in a year where things have not panned out as expected. We can tap into TD SYNNEX resources and programmes to take our AV knowledge into TD SYNNEX and use the resources and capabilities TD SYNNEX has to benefit AV partners. It is, as I said, very much about bridging that gap.
Q: Right now, what are your immediate priorities?
A: I want us to start working with some additional partners, to help them feel confident in talking about Meeting Room solutions and AV, where the opportunities are, and start making things happen faster.
Q: How optimistic do you feel about the future?
A: Very. This year has been interesting, to say the least. We see immediate opportunities around signage and shared working spaces and making conferencing and collaboration more accessible. As people return to the office there are going to be a lot of questions about how we work and direct people around. We don’t know exactly how things are going to change and how meeting rooms will be used. As that starts to pan out, I think there will be more opportunities in helping people get the best out of the technology, because everyone will expect more from collaboration now.
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