Do You Have an IT Expert on Staff?

As custom installation continues to converge the audio/video and IT worlds, you will continue to need to pick up new skills and knowledge.

Gone are the days when running speaker lines through the house did the job. With each passing quarter, both control hardware and A/V equipment become more dependent on a home network.

So as you're called on to perform more networked installations, you'll need to hire a specialized IT guru -- or train a current employee to fill that position.

Is it Better to Make or Buy?

What's the best way to get an IT person on your staff?

This is a classic "make or buy" decision: do you hire an IT ninja or train one of your existing people?

While it may be feasible to have one of your existing people bone up their networking skills and become your expert, it's wise to keep your eyes open for someone with IT experience and an interest in CE.

In that situation, cross-pollination of skills between them and your existing staff can occur: your A/V knowledge trains them for their new role, and their IT knowledge rubs off on the rest of you.

If you decide to train an existing employee to become your IT guru, you're not making a wrong decision.

The right answer for you depends on your internal resources and your pool of external candidates. I know managers and business owners who've done both with success.

As they say, your mileage will vary.

Why Your Whole Team Needs to Be the Expert

But even after you get one specialized IT person on staff, the rest of your team needs to have at least the basic skills to be on the same page.

Your installers, salesmen and designers (who are often the same people) need to have grip on IT to understand what they're selling and specifying.

Regardless of how you proceed, continuing education is a given. It's not as if equipment in the CE channel is going to start getting less complicated.

Prepare, build your team's skills, and you'll be in a good position as our business evolves.

Lee Distad is a freelance CEDIA Certified Professional Designer who offers design and process consultation to firms in the Custom Installation industry, as well as copy writing and other professional writing services. Lee’s business and industry blog can be read at http://www.leedistad.com