Systems integration.
On its simplest level, you’re intimately familiar with the term. Bring home the new scanner/printer … digital camera …garage door opener …fenceless dog pen ... you get the concept. You have to set up the new technology and make it work within the framework of your home, office, yard, whatever. It is not very often that one sets up the new technology, switches it on, and watches it seamlessly work without a glitch. Especially when you’re a business owner, and the new technology is for your post production facility, audio suite, corporate board room, or broadcast facility.

If your business is large, your on-staff engineers are generally too busy to technologically integrate the new wing of your business complex and have it up and running when you need it. If you’re small or medium-sized, you may be able to install the new editing equipment you ordered, for example, but do you have the time to stop what you’re doing and juggle all the headaches of getting everything working right? For companies offering creative services to clients, systems integration without down time is crucial to success and repeat business. Several local companies specialize in putting technological systems in order quickly and seamlessly, so you can get back to business fast.

Rocket Science in Atlanta
One of these local companies is Atlanta-based Comprehensive Technical Group (CTG). CTG is a turnkey systems integration company that offers everything from consulting on buying technology to engineering designs for installation and integration, complete installation, training on new equipment, equipment repair, and ongoing support.

Jim Wile, president of CTG, worked for years with Crawford Communications before branching out on his own. “We started out as just two guys running around town fixing broken stuff. We never imagined having any employees, let alone nearly 50,” Wile states. “That tells me that there is a demand for outsourced technical services.”

Fifteen years later, CTG serves clients from Turner to CNN and smaller businesses, such as post production houses like Guillotine Post, partnering with its clients to provide everything involved in the systems integration/technological needs of a client’s business.

“These days, with margins being so tight and the technology so readily available, companies large or small can’t afford to have extra people on staff. If a customer has an engineer on staff, they already have a full plate with daily operations,” Wile explains. “Adding installation and integration on top of this work means that either the daily work suffers or the installation work has to get done in-between daily tasks, keeping the new equipment in the box rather than generating revenue.We take that load off the staff engineer and get the equipment installed and making money quickly.”

Another local company that can help creative companies with systems integration challenges is Norcross-based Broadcast Integration Group, part of TI Broadcast Solutions Group. The company offers services ranging from consulting and system design, conceptual through design/build, to engineering and project management for broadcast companies. Vice President Tom Larrison says his company can interject its services at multiple points throughout the process of a broadcast systems upgrade and help the end-product. “Actually, when given the opportunity to break projects into phases, such as consulting/conceptual design, system design, pre-build/system integration, testing and commissioning and training, for instance, Broadcast Integration Group can provide a firm price warranty at each phase.”

Wile says that companies using CTG’s services will find that professional systems integration costs less than they would expect. He uses Guillotine Post as an example of a client that learned the cost savings of his company’s offerings: “With our first project, we installed a new Avid Adrenaline into an existing suite. We added shared storage and cabled everything back to their central machine room.

“Because of Guillotine’s work load, we needed to do this over a weekend and without interrupting their edit schedule. We completed the work on time and Guillotine didn’t miss a moment of billable time,” Wile adds.

Wile also says that a number of clients find that they get more from their original technology purchases by using professional systems integrators from the get go. “If the customer doesn’t have a staff engineer or access to an engineer, they can wind up using their time trying to figure out how to best use the new equipment. Often a customer will buy new equipment and be disappointed with how it works only to find out that the equipment was everything they were hoping for, it just wasn’t hooked up properly. [Since] we work at a variety of different ‘shops’, we can bring new ideas to customers who otherwise would have to work these things out by trail-and-error.”

Yet, even the most technologically savvy business owners find money savings from other angles with professional integration services. William VanDerKloot, president of Atlanta post house Magick Lantern, is an aficionado when it comes to using professional systems integration services, and he reports definite savings to his business from this practice.

“With constantly evolving technology, we look to expert systems integrators to help us offer our clients the latest equipment and facilities,” VanDerKloot explains. “This involves much more than simply buying equipment … it’s designing equipment to meet the various digital workflows demanded by our clients.” VanDerKloot gives a recent example where Magick Lantern replaced a digital online room with a new Avid Adrenaline HD system. “We were up and running in both rooms in a day or so,” he reports. “That is so important for a facility operation, because a room that is down is a room that isn’t generating revenue.”
In today’s creative business landscape, systems integration is becoming so important that some businesses are finding themselves performing more and more systems integration jobs, in addition to other offerings. For example, Bo Reames, sales manager with Buford-based Backporch Broadcast says that his company is traditionally a sales and service provider of Sony products in particular.

“Becoming a dealer of new broadcast and professional products required us to offer integration/installation services and solutions in certain situations,” Reames reports. “All of this tied together makes us a very versatile company. Having the engineering capabilities we have makes us capable of providing nearly any service, depending on the scale, to a client in need.”
Case in point, Backporch Broadcast was recently called in by the Boys & Girls Club in Atlanta as they were relocating editing systems from the first floor of their facility to the fourth. When a scheduling conflict arose with another vendor and a strict construction schedule couldn’t fluctuate, Reames and his company stepped in to perform systems integration.
“We arrived two days after [we received] the original phone call, disconnected, relocated, reinstalled and tested the editing equipment without disturbing their daily operations,” Reames says.

T Minus Today and Counting
Systems integration for creative technologies is no longer a luxury of the Turners and CNNs alone. It is a trend that professionals see continuing to grow. “Systems integration in all areas; post, broadcast, presentation, audio, even sound reinforcement; is becoming very computer-based,” Wile emphasizes. “We have had to put a huge emphasis on computer technology. The IT requirements of many of the new systems are highly demanding and require us to have very specialized training.”

As important as design and installation is the training these companies offer their clients. As Larrison reports, “We provide orientation and operational training. We also insure that manufacturer training is included … where required.” Wile points out that CTG offers Avid Authorized Training at their corporate offices. “We have a class schedule that is available on the web, and our classes typically hold four to six students,” he adds.

In addition, Andy Slusher, sales manager with CTG, says  his company’s involvementwith integrating systems doesn’t end with designing and installing systems or training.

Ongoing maintenance support is another component of his company’s offerings. Again, it all goes back to the intricacy of technology today, “Technology has converged in such a way that many of our customers expect us to be multi-disciplined in our offerings,” he says. “We are an authorized service center for the products we sell, and we offer 24/7 support and CTG Command, a remote diagnostic tool that allows us to troubleshoot and, in many cases, repair a problem before it is recognized.”

As technology changes and evolves, another potential headache is making old and new technologies work together. Wile reports that his company is often called upon to help make old and new equipment merge without a hitch, and his trained and certified staff is adept at making this happen.

Another critical component to follow up after technological systems installation is the detailed drawings generated by professionals. According to Larrison, a systems integrator will have these important records on file when a company moves, expands or needs changes to the system. “We provide services that would allow customers to communicate system changes to us,” Larrison explains. “We keep all completed system drawings on file for each customer.”

Companies working in the world of visual communications can place one phone call and achieve “all systems go.” Probably a little more appealing than scratching one’s head while digging through a file cabinet looking for engineer’s drawings, or sitting in the floor with those dreaded instruction manuals, and wondering why you are working so hard but not billing a thing.