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Making a meal of it

How palatable has audiovisual really proven for the channel so far?

Consumerisation of IT has helped cook up a smorgasbord of expanding, interlocking opportunities for audiovisual specialists as well as the more traditional purveyors of software, servers and services.

Recent years have seen pundits talk blithely about the resulting convergence of the audiovisual and IT channels - but has this happened in any real sense?

Simon Fagan, director of Computer 2000's audiovisual distribution arm Maverick, says there are certainly still elements of the audiovisual market where it pays to be specialised.

"Some people are more happy managing, installing or deploying more complicated solutions than others - such as for video-conferencing, where a certain amount of accreditation from brands such as Cisco is still required," he says.

Others have issues with networking, and some IT resellers do really well on that angle. Meanwhile, Fagan is seeing more channel partners collaborating and liaising with each other to create the offerings that customers demand.

Fields converging slower

Convergence between audiovisual and IT is still happening, he suggests, even if not as fast as was initially predicted.

"And I guess it aligns with projects," he adds. "But audiovisual itself is still quite a specialised area."

He says though that more IT resellers could yet be involved with audiovisual - especially if they are prepared to expand their skill sets. Some prefer to stick to a more traditional, box-shifting approach - leaving the juicier areas to experienced audiovisual integrators, such as AVM and Impact, he says.

IT resellers seeing a Barco product in the distributor's portfolio are more likely to leave it on the shelf instead of considering where it fits with their offerings, Fagan suggests.

"We see [IT] resellers getting more involved," he confirms. "But it is whether they get involved in larger projects that involve more complex audiovisual. And we do see a certain amount of consolidation in projection and displays."

Midwich's audiovisual showcase last year, Technology Exposed (pictured, left), attracted hundreds of VARs. At the time audiovisual director Darren Lewitt said more channel partners are seeing the value in offering diversity and moving beyond the tried and true.

Yet Avnet has just announced it is withdrawing from the UK unified communications (UC) market completely. UC is not the same thing as audiovisual, but there is clearly overlap in some areas, such as videoconferencing. Avnet's move might raise the question of whether portfolio diversity is delivering what IT resellers need or expect for ongoing profitability.

Avnet says UC is simply "non-core" - even though it is complementary - and that is why it will not take any more orders for Avaya, Lifesize, or media gateway vendor Audiocodes.

Ian Vickerage (pictured, below right), director of specialist video communications distributor Imago Group, sees aspects of IT and audiovisual in what he does. But even he does not run the two concepts casually together, either separately or converged.

"Imago has two main types of reseller. One is videoconferencing specialists, some of whom are experienced audiovisual people. I do not know too many who are serious in audiovisual without some videoconferencing," he says. "And the other is IT resellers, who have their own individual strengths. They are not as technical or IT-focused usually, they have more customer service and marketing focus and orientation - they tend to be more generalised."

Even with the rise of videoconferencing using SVC, over the internet, there can still be costly infrastructure investments required, and generalists do not always realise that. However, those that acquire the knowledge to sell the right offering to the right customer can still do well, especially if they have networking skills, Vickerage notes.

"If you are putting in iPads or PCs for video-conferencing or something like that, people do not appreciate that part of the traditional bridge you use costs about $6,000 (£4,000). It's expensive, yet you hear people talking about PC videoconferencing and that it is very cheap," he explains.

"With the complexity of all the bridging and connectivity of different devices in different areas, you need to know what you're doing, and you need to budget for it."

There may be some convergence, but it may not be the easiest add-on for the channel partner either, it seems.