SCC AVS boss: We want to be up there with AVMI and ProAV
AV integrator targets market leadership status under new owner SCC
SCC AVS managing director Graham Fry says he harbours ambitions to build his firm to a scale rivalling AVMI and ProAV following its acquisition by IT group SCC.
Avsnet sold up to SCC last November and has since been rebranded under the SCC banner.
Talking to CRN, Fry estimated that SCC currently talks to just three per cent of its 800 customers about videoconferencing and audiovisual opportunities.
"That gives us a really good customer base to talk to. We're already working with other parts of SCC, including the end-user compute and business transformation teams, to look at how our offerings are complementary to what they already talk about," he said.
Most IT solution providers have traditionally kept AV at arm's length, although a spate of M&A at the turn of the last decade saw Dimension Data grab outfit mvision and Logicalis swallow Direct Visual.
However, Fry said the prospect of more consolidation between the IT and AV channels is on the cards again as the two technologies continue to converge.
"C ollaboration and AV require a great network these days. It's moved away from being an analogue technology. And that's happening very rapidly," he said.
"I've been contacted three or four times since the acquisition by people representing large IT companies, not realising that avsnet had already been acquired. So I'd be very surprised if [further acquisitions] don't happen."
Avsnet talked to other broader IT companies before reaching a deal with SCC, Fry revealed.
"What I really liked about how SCC positioned the transaction was they had bought a managed print company called M2 and left it slightly outside the group," he said.
SCC AVS, whose revenues fell 15 per cent to £12.1m in its most recent year, was "creaking" under rapid growth, Fry admitted.
"There were a few things where we weren't at the right maturity level - HR and systems - and that knocked us a little," he said.
"What SCC offered me was a way I could carry on my vision. I want to be up there with the AVMIs and ProAVs - and overtaking the Savilles - and this gives me a much safer way to do that. I can leverage parts of SCC that have 40 years of maturity and focus on delivering unified comms, collaboration and AV."
SCC AVS ranks 14th in CRN Essential's upcoming 2019 Audiovisual Integrator Report, available to CRN Essential subscribers later this month.
Also available on CRN Essential in 2019:
Shadow Channel Report (or for related news article see here)
2019 Print Provider Report (or for related news article see here)
2019 Cybersecurity Provider Report (or for related news article see here)
DaaS Adoption Report (or for related news article see here)
2019 Staff and Salaries Report (or for related news article see here)