avi-spl award write up

2016 North American Managed Video Conferencing ServicesCompany of the Year Award

2016

BEST PRACTICES RESEARCH

© Frost & Sullivan 2016 2 “We Accelerate Growth”

Contents

Background and Company Performance ........................................................................ 3

Industry Challenges .............................................................................................. 3

Conclusion........................................................................................................... 7

Best Practice Award Analysis for AVI-SPL ...................................................................... 9

Decision Support Scorecard ................................................................................... 9

Visionary Innovation & Performance ..................................................................... 10

Customer Impact ............................................................................................... 10

Decision Support Matrix ...................................................................................... 11

The Intersection between 360-Degree Research and Best Practices Awards ..................... 11

Research Methodology ........................................................................................ 12

About Frost & Sullivan ....................................................................................... 13



Background and Company Performance

Industry Challenges

User demand for video communications is growing exponentially. Frost & Sullivan

monitors how the proliferation of mobile devices - combined with an unending appetite to

consume video content - has been a big driver for boosting adoption of video

communications including video conferencing. Video conferencing is becoming a key

enabling technology for accelerating digital transformation in sectors such as

manufacturing, banking, health care, education, energy, retail, and hospitality. Video-

enabled customer engagement, digital classroom, mobile and virtual banking, smart

factories, digital talent acquisition, and ehealthcare are just a few areas where video

conferencing is fundamentally changing how business is being done.

Though video conferencing has been around for decades, in the past its usage has been

rife with high costs and complexity. As a result, adoption has often remained limited. Yet

Frost & Sullivan points out that user expectations have greatly shifted. Users want video

conferencing to be as simple as a click away and deliver experiences that are truly

engaging. Businesses understand the value of deploying video conferencing widely across

their organization. At the same time, they are overwhelmed with the technology

implementation and the strain it can put on IT resources.

Organizations report to Frost & Sullivan that they are looking for services and solutions

that enable them to

implement reliable and simple to use video conferencing with guaranteed

service levels

support capacity growth as their needs grow - at affordable costs

support migration to cloud that works with existing investments and allows

them to keep their current infrastructure while integrating new applications

ensure their IT Staff has the right skills to support current video conferencing

infrastructure

offer seamless interoperability between large conference rooms, huddle rooms,

mobile devices, desktop systems, and other varied meeting spaces

As more and more businesses make video conferencing a core part of their

communications and deploy it organization wide, these requirements are creating a

groundswell of demand for managed services. A new breed of service providers are

disrupting the market with next generation cloud and managed services that are

transforming how communications and collaboration capabilities are purchased and

consumed delivering dramatic changes in cost savings, risk reduction, business agility,



ease of use, and management. Frost & Sullivan recognizes the fact that AVI-SPL is a

leading provider in offering a new class of video conferencing solutions which are not

only affordable to deploy in every meeting space, but also make the experience both

simple and reliable.

Addressing a Wide Range of Customer Needs

The video conferencing market is changing dynamically. An influx of providers is now

offering next generation solutions to capitalize on the growth opportunity. As such, Frost &

Sullivan points out that enterprises have more options than ever before when choosing

technology and implementation models. However, many providers are offering cookie

cutter services that are not aligned with the complex communication needs of today’s

enterprises.

AVI-SPL’s approach to technology implementation hinges on a strategy that is

comprehensive, yet flexible enough and targeted at organizations that are looking for a

measured and practical approach to video conferencing. AVI-SPL works closely with

enterprises to understand and optimize their business operations and requirements. It has

an established portfolio of managed services that is very much aligned with the

predominant needs of enterprise users. Moreover, its cloud services span across public,

private and hybrid collaboration solutions which gives organizations the flexibility to

maintain existing investments while planning for next gen services.

AVI-SPL stands out in the enterprise collaboration market with a portfolio that is both

broad and deep, addressing everything from small team collaboration to large scale

events.

In the managed video conferencing services market, AVI-SPL offers:

Comprehensive remote managed services which offer around-the-clock monitoring

of AV and video collaboration systems.

Private hosting of infrastructure that is deployed in AVI-SPL’s data centers with

hardware, storage and network dedicated to a single company.

On-premise deployment and management of customer’s infrastructure, with the

AVI-SPL team providing on-site systems management.

End to end management of video conferencing, including call scheduling and

launching, and an on-demand help desk that’s available during video calls.

AVI-SPL’s Symphony Platform is its cornerstone technology that offers a range of value-

add features and services including monitoring and management; scheduling; actionable

analytics on usage; signal quality and meeting experience including a new QoE (Quality of

Experience) measure; a rich admin dashboard for a global view of conferencing estate and



its performance; and integration via APIs with other monitoring and scheduling

applications like Crestron Fusion. Symphony adapts to customers’ workflows so there is

no need for an overhaul of existing processes. Symphony’s Business Process Automation

Module allows AVI-SPL to customize how client meetings are organized, monitored and

managed down to the device level. In addition, for customers that are ready for cloud

migration, AVI-SPL offers multi-tenant OPEX based Unify ME VMR, a Virtual Meeting Room

(VMR) service.

While other service providers in the market are pushing their customers to adopt public

clouds, AVI-SPL works closely with enterprises to understand and optimize their business

operations and requirements to see when and how the organizations can realistically

migrate to the cloud. Frost & Sullivan recognizes how AVI-SPL clearly remains in lock-

step with changing customer needs.

Strong Financial Performance

With over 40 years of audio/video conferencing service expertise, AVI-SPL supports over

5,000 conferences monthly. AVI-SPL has a dominant presence in the AV systems

integration market, which it has successfully leveraged to extend the depth and scale of

its offerings.

The company’s recent financial highlights include:

In 2015, AVI-SPL saw a 20 percent bookings growth, which is almost double that of

the average growth of the industry. The company is looking to continue the

momentum into 2016 with a heavy focus on providing reliable service, developing and

acquiring talent, and evolving into the collaboration provider space.

More than 50 percent of AVI-SPL’s systems bookings are now video conferencing

related. It is estimated that its 2016 video conferencing sales run rate is roughly

$290M, and represents a 20 percent growth rate over the prior year.

In 2015, a third of AVI-SPL’s video conferencing managed services sales were from its

cloud-based services, including remote monitoring and management, hosted bridging

services, and Collaboration as a Service. In the first six months of 2016, its cloud-

based services have grown by 112 percent YoY.

In 2016, AVI-SPL has reached a fast growing installed base of hundreds of enterprise

customers that are using its cloud and managed video conferencing services. Frost &

Sullivan applauds how AVI-SPL is aggressively pursuing all opportunities in the

conferencing market. It continues to invest in not only next gen platforms and services,

but also in building a world class workforce that forms the foundation for its managed

services business.



Global Footprint

While many of its nearest competitors have a regional focus, AVI-SPL serves its customers

across the globe with a strong footprint in key geographies outside North America. Within

the U.S. market, AVI-SPL has a strong presence from coast to coast. With a strong global

reach through its operations from 37 offices and 3 VNOCs across North America, Europe and

the Middle East, AVI-SPL has completed more than 32,000 installations in 101 countries.

The company has been expanding its presence in the EMEA market since 2013, when it first

stepped into Europe. AVI-SPL now has a broad physical presence across Europe and plans

to move into Germany in the coming months. In 2015, its UK office doubled in size. In

addition, it has formed key partnerships in Australia along with forming a significant

relationship with Vega in Asia. With presence of three global help desks, AVI-SPL’s footprint

enables it to effectively service national and multi-national organizations with standardized

solutions across regions with consistent SLAs.

Consistent Customer Experiences across Varied Meeting Spaces

Business videoconferencing is fast-becoming the go-to communications tool. As more and

more businesses look to implement wall-to-wall video conferencing, they are rolling out

video conferencing devices in diverse environments that include board rooms, conference

rooms, huddle rooms, open work spaces, and over desktop and mobile devices. However, as

users move from one meeting environment to another, they face the daunting challenge of

acclimatizing with varied devices and user interfaces and consequently inconsistent user

experiences. This also compounds the management challenges for IT.

A key requirement to minimize user inertia is to create a consistent and standardized

experience. AVI-SPL simplifies this complex process. It focuses on providing the resources

so that clients do not end up with a mish-mash of workflows. AVI-SPL implements an end-

to-end video conferencing implementation with the right management and support that

provides not only a consistent front-end experience for users, but also an integrated service

and support at the backend for IT admins.

Strong Microsoft Capabilities

AVI-SPL has a well-established ecosystem of key partners ranging from AV heavyweights,

monitor/display manufacturers, control system designers, to video technology providers. In

recent months, a big game changer for AVI-SPL has been its strong and fast growing set of

Microsoft capabilities. AVI-SPL updated its Microsoft practice to Gold Certification in Q3 2015

which is a major feat. It offers robust professional services expertise with its Microsoft

practice – it can manage Skype for Business deployments from migration plans to license

sales to implementation services.



In addition, AVI-SPL is a global delivery partner for Microsoft Surface Hub with partner

agreements in U.S., Canada, Europe and Middle East. The Microsoft Surface Hub

incorporates interactive touch screen technology with its own speakers, microphone arrays,

and software apps to help create advanced meeting room collaboration experiences. More

importantly, Surface Hub allows users to connect to each other through Skype for Business,

and share their work during meetings in real time. AVI-SPL provides services surrounding

Microsoft Surface Hub beyond transactional product sales as part of its growing Microsoft

practice. Utilizing its global services infrastructure, AVI-SPL offers value-added services

including design, installation and configuration, and professional readiness assessments

such as network assessment and room readiness. In addition, AVI-SPL will support Surface

Hub customers post-installation with system monitoring and management, enhanced

warranty and support services, and end-user training.

Conclusion

Frost & Sullivan monitors how AVI-SPL has demonstrated clear and effective execution on

its growth strategy. While the overall AV integration industry has gone through a major

upheaval, AVI-SPL has been able to grow successfully by balancing its core systems

integration business with a keen focus on investing in a broad range of next generation

collaboration software and services.

Frost & Sullivan is proud to recognize AVI-SPL with the 2016 Company of the Year Award.



Significance of Company of the Year

To receive the Frost & Sullivan Company of the Year Award requires a market participant

to demonstrate excellence in growth, innovation, and leadership. This kind of excel lence

typically translates into superior performance in three key areas: demand generation,

brand development, and competitive positioning. These areas serve as the foundation of a

company’s future success and prepare it to deliver on the two criteria that define the

Company of the Year Award (Visionary Innovation & Performance and Customer Impact).

Understanding Company of the Year As discussed above, driving demand, brand strength, and competitive differentiation all play

a critical role in delivering unique value to customers. This three-fold focus, however, must

ideally be complemented by an equally rigorous focus on visionary innovation to enhance

customer value and impact.



Key Benchmarking Criteria

For the Company of the Year Award, Frost & Sullivan analysts independently evaluated

two key factors: Visionary Innovation & Performance and Customer Impact.

Visionary Innovation & Performance

Criterion 1: Addressing Unmet Needs

Criterion 2: Visionary Scenarios Through Mega Trends

Criterion 3: Implementation Best Practices

Criterion 4: Blue Ocean Strategy

Criterion 5: Financial Performance

Customer Impact

Criterion 1: Price/Performance Value

Criterion 2: Customer Purchase Experience

Criterion 3: Customer Ownership Experience

Criterion 4: Customer Service Experience

Criterion 5: Brand Equity

Best Practice Award Analysis for AVI-SPL

Decision Support Scorecard

To support its evaluation of best practices across multiple business performance

categories, Frost & Sullivan employs a customized Decision Support Scorecard. This tool

allows our research and consulting teams to objectively analyze performance, according to

the key benchmarking criteria listed in the previous section, and to assign ratings on that

basis. The tool follows a 10-point scale that allows for nuances in performance evaluation;

ratings guidelines are illustrated below.

RATINGS GUIDELINES

The Decision Support Scorecard is organized by Visionary Innovation & Performance and

Customer Impact (i.e., the overarching categories for all 10 benchmarking criteria; the

definitions for each criteria are provided beneath the scorecard). The research team

confirms the veracity of this weighted scorecard through sensitivity analysis, which

confirms that small changes to the ratings for a specific criterion do not lead to a

significant change in the overall relative rankings of the companies.



The results of this analysis are shown below. To remain unbiased and to protect the

interests of all organizations reviewed, we have chosen to refer to the other key players

as Competitor 2 and Competitor 3.

Measurement of 1–10 (1 = poor; 10 = excellent)

Company of the Year

Visionary

Innovation &

Performance

Customer

Impact Average Rating

AVI-SPL 9.4 9.0 9.2

Competitor 2 8.7 8.9 8.8

Competitor 3 7.6 7.8 7.7


Criterion 1: Addressing Unmet Needs

Requirement: Implementing a robust process to continuously unearth customers’ unmet

or under-served needs, and creating the products or solutions to address them effectively

Criterion 2: Visionary Scenarios Through Mega Trends

Requirement: Incorporating long-range, macro-level scenarios into the innovation

strategy, thereby enabling “first to market” growth opportunities solutions

Criterion 4: Implementation Best Practices

Requirement: Best-in-class strategy implementation characterized by processes, tools, or

activities that generate a consistent and repeatable level of success.

Criterion 3: Blue Ocean Strategy

Requirement: Strategic focus in creating a leadership position in a potentially

“uncontested” market space, manifested by stiff barriers to entry for competitors

Criterion 5: Financial Performance

Requirement: Strong overall business performance in terms of revenues, revenue growth,

operating margin and other key financial metrics

Customer Impact

Criterion 1: Price/Performance Value

Requirement: Products or services offer the best value for the price, compared to similar

offerings in the market

Criterion 2: Customer Purchase Experience

Requirement: Customers feel like they are buying the most optimal solution that

addresses both their unique needs and their unique constraints



Criterion 3: Customer Ownership Experience

Requirement: Customers are proud to own the company’s product or service, and have a

positive experience throughout the life of the product or service

Criterion 4: Customer Service Experience

Requirement: Customer service is accessible, fast, stress-free, and of high quality

Criterion 5: Brand Equity

Requirement: Customers have a positive view of the brand and exhibit high brand loyalty

Decision Support Matrix

Once all companies have been evaluated according to the Decision Support Scorecard,

analysts can then position the candidates on the matrix shown below, enabling them to

visualize which companies are truly breakthrough and which ones are not yet operating at

best-in-class levels.

)

High

Low

Low High

Cu

sto

mer I

mp

act


Competitor 2

Competitor 3

AVI-SPL



The Intersection between 360-Degree Research and Best

Practices Awards

Research Methodology

Frost & Sullivan’s 360-degree research methodology represents the analytical rigor of our

research process. It offers a 360-degree-

view of industry challenges, trends, and

issues by integrating all 7 of Frost &

Sullivan's research methodologies. Too

often, companies make important growth

decisions based on a narrow

understanding of their environment,

leading to errors of both omission and

commission. Successful growth strategies

are founded on a thorough understanding

of market, technical, economic, financial,

customer, best practices, and

demographic analyses. The integration of

these research disciplines into the 360-

degree research methodology provides an

evaluation platform for benchmarking

industry players and for identifying those

performing at best-in-class levels.

360-DEGREE RESEARCH: SEEING ORDER IN

THE CHAOS



About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, enables clients to accelerate growth

and achieve best in class positions in growth, innovation and leadership. The company's

Growth Partnership Service provides the CEO and the CEO's Growth Team with disciplined

research and best practice models to drive the generation, evaluation and implementation

of powerful growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan leverages almost 50 years of experience in

partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment

community from 31 offices on six continents. To join our Growth Partnership, please visit

http://www.frost.com.

http://www.frost.com/

avi-spl award write up

Technology