AV is IT versus AV is AV
BC HATCHETT
Not since the “Taste Great, Less Filling” wars of the late 1980’s has there been a hotter topic than “AV is IT”. Depending on your point of view, this will hit a nerve and a discussion will ensue, but odds are there will be little movement on either side. I am in the “AV is AV” camp, and this is not meant as a slight against my colleagues on the IT side of the house. But there are 3 reasons that I feel that AV is AV and not IT.
The AV industry is large and diverse enough to stand on its own
If you look at the entirety of the AV industry, there are multiple disciplines involved. We have everything from project managers to installation techs, programmers, designers, low voltage installers, drafters, etc. This does not include the manufacturing and sales sectors, or even the construction trades that are often needed for our projects. The size and scope of what is needed for successful AV
outcomes are why I believe AV is AV and not just a subset of IT. Some of these roles are also found on the IT side of the house but does that mean that AV is IT or just that AV and IT have some overlapping commonalities.
Focus on signal transport and monitoring
To me, this is the crux of the AV is IT argument. Many, if not all, AV devices are reliant on IT infrastructure these days. The days of pulling 5 wire BNC have been replaced with Cat 6x, and to be honest, I am 1000% ok with this. Using IT infrastructure and tools makes my job much easier. Being able to leverage our enterprise network for signal transport has been a game-changer in so many ways, it could be an article itself. Being able to route audio signals via Dante, deploying updates via PowerShell, monitoring and remote support tools, etc. I could go on and on about how IT-related tools and infrastructure
make my AV life much easier. In this area, IT steals the show, and for good reason. BUT, does this mean AV is IT? Nope. To boil this down, IT might be the engine of the car, but it is not the whole car. It takes a whole host of other actions to make the car a car. In this respect, there are other actions needed to make an AV system work correctly over the long term. Just because something plugs into the network, does not necessarily mean that it is IT, it just means that it uses IT infrastructure. I often use the example that I have a lamp at home that is connected to my Alexa which is connected to my home network. Since it is attached to the network, does that mean my lamp is IT? No, it means that my lamp is just connected to my network.
Language needs to evolve
I don’t think what we are experiencing with the whole AV is IT vs AV is AV is a problem of knowing the technology or a matter of pride, I think it is a problem with language and definitions. When someone says they work in “IT” I immediately think of someone doing support on a customer’s computer, not a cloud engineer, or network security specialist, or network architect. When someone says they work in AV my mind goes to projectors and displays, not a programmer, project manager, or field engineer. This is because of my past experiences and preconceived notions; your results may vary. It is very easy to lump everything into IT and the IT industry is inarguably ahead of AV when it comes to industry standards and processes. The AV industry is still very siloed when it comes to the standardization of technology. The “trons” use their own standards when it comes to AV over IP and Dante vs AVB is still out there just to name a few. With manufacturers not really having an incentive to get behind complete interoperability, it is going to be a while before equipment standardization is at the same level as our IT friends. We still haven’t even reached alignment with who sets the standard (AVIXA vs. AVAQ, vs IPMX vs?).
This just scratched the surface of my thoughts on the whole AV is IT/AV is AV debate, and I don’t think that this discussion is going to go away anytime soon. But I think the conditions are right for the discussion to finally gain some much-needed traction. It is going to take people checking their egos at the door and willing to understand the opposing perspective, but I know we can do it. By the way…AV is AV.
Get to Know BC Hatchett
BC Hatchett, M.A.Ed. is the Associate Director for Classroom Technology with Vanderbilt University Information Technology. He holds a master’s degree in education and has worked in higher education technology management for 15 years. BC is also one of the co-founders of the Higher Education Technology Managers Alliance (HEMTA) which is working to provide a greater voice for the higher education technology industry. He is extremely passionate about serving his institution and providing the best possible experience to Vanderbilt’s faculty, staff, and students. Outside of work, BC enjoys spending time with family, friends, watching the Nashville Predators, and quoting The Big Lebowski as often as possible. Feel free to connect with him on Twitter and LinkedIn.