Taking Your AV Business Forward in 2024: Is Your RMM Good Enough?

Remote Management and Monitoring (RMM) has become mission-critical for AV manufacturers and OEMs to ensure seamless product functionality and customer satisfaction. That makes choosing the right RMM platform a strategic decision that organizations can’t afford to take lightly. In this blog, we’ll take a look at what’s driving the shift to RMM in the AV market, and drill down into the key parameters OEMs and manufacturers should examine before choosing an RMM platform.

What is RMM?

As the name implies, Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) software enables manufacturers, OEMs, and their channel partners to remotely monitor and configure AV devices and equipment through the cloud. 

RMM is not a new concept. Traditional RMM relied on agents installed locally on hardware, devices, and machines. These agents collected data, which was transmitted to a central on-premises monitoring system. Admins received alerts and could troubleshoot, update, and manage device performance, hardware status, and security events – within their networks. 

Today, RMM has dramatically matured. Advanced cloud-based RMM solutions collect and transmit data to the cloud, eliminating local network constraints. This provides real-time insights into the performance and security of cloud-connected resources wherever they are via a remote dashboard. The inherent scalability of cloud-based RMM solutions makes them far more suitable to today’s dynamic business environments.

Why RMM for AV Manufacturers?

The global AV market, valued at $55 billion in 2022, is now forecast to reach $79 billion by 2028 - a CAGR of over 6%. In the context of such massive economic potential, the transition of the AV industry to an AV-as-a-Service (AVaaS) model has thrust RMM platforms to the forefront.

The reason is simple: the rise of AVaaS marked a shift away from traditional product sales and towards a service-oriented model with greater focus on ongoing customer engagement. RMM facilitates the AVaaS model – enabling OEMs and other stakeholders to remotely monitor and manage devices, ensure continuous functionality, swiftly address issues, provide updates, and much more. 

RMM is also critical for optimizing the performance and reliability of the AV solutions that modern organizations rely on. In both corporate and institutional workplaces, professional AV equipment like video walls, microphones, speakers, video conferencing systems and other devices have become indispensable. And with these devices and systems increasingly IoT-enabled, organizations are turning to RMM platforms to seamlessly and proactively deliver the service, support and customer experience that their users demand.

Seven Things to Look for When Choosing an RMM solution

When it’s time to choose an RMM platform, here are seven key aspects to consider:

1. Transparency – For an RMM platform, ‘transparency’ is essentially the ability to discern and analyze data from devices in the field, particularly regarding device performance and usage. A transparent RMM platform empowers OEMs to make informed decisions in both product development and sales and marketing strategies. By understanding the granular specifics of data obtained, manufacturers can optimize offerings, promptly address issues, facilitate continuous improvement and enhance overall operational efficiency. 

2. Cloud Interoperability - Cloud interoperability is how well (or poorly) a product can seamlessly integrate and operate alongside others in the cloud. It’s a crucial consideration when choosing an RMM platform. Poor interoperability creates challenges and pain points for end users – damaging functionality, performance and ultimately brand reputation. A platform that ensures AV devices can collaborate effectively in the cloud enhances user experience, facilitates smoother operations, and allows for a more interconnected and versatile AV ecosystem.

3. SSH Tunneling – SSH Tunneling is a secure method for transmitting data between local and remote devices, creating an encrypted connection that allows secure access to resources on a network. This feature is crucial for RMM because it empowers IT managers to access and troubleshoot devices anywhere. For example, an IT manager in NY headquarters can seamlessly tunnel into a specific location, like a Chicago office, and swiftly yet securely address issues. While many RMM vendors claim full cloud support, without SSH tunneling RMM lacks the teeth to deliver on the true benefits of the cloud. 

4. Intuitive UI/ UX  - An intuitive User Interface/User Experience (UI/UX) is pivotal for an RMM platform for the simple reason that the easier a system is to use, the more it is well-used. A user-friendly interface streamlines onboarding, reducing the time it takes for users to learn to use the platform effectively. An intuitive UI/UX ensures that AV OEMs and manufacturers can optimize workforce efficiency, minimize the learning curve and accelerate adaptation.

5. Monitoring AND Management – It’s important to ensure that your RMM platform of choice has both true monitoring and true management functionalities. What does this mean? Your RMM platform should be able to not only pull data but also push commands to devices. This dual functionality ensures comprehensive control over AV systems. The monitoring side provides insights into device performance, while the management side allows proactive intervention, troubleshooting, and updates. A robust RMM platform that integrates both monitoring and management empowers OEMs to maintain optimal device functionality, swiftly address issues and lower truck rolls, and adapt to evolving audio-visual environment needs.

6. Scalability - The ability of your RMM to seamlessly scale directly impacts your operational efficiency. Some RMM solutions are out-of-the-box tools that are ready-to-use across both local and cloud environments, others require individual setup for each installation. A truly scalable RMM platform ensures streamlined deployment across different environments and supports the dynamic nature of audio-visual systems.

7. Integral Support Tools - Integral support tools like a ticketing system and messaging system streamline operations, enhance communication, facilitate issue tracking, and ensure efficient problem resolution. An RMM platform with integral support tools offers AV manufacturers and OEMs the off-the-shelf infrastructure they need to provide responsive customer support, manage workflows, and maintain the seamless audio-visual system availability.

The Bottom Line

RMM is mission-critical for AV manufacturers and OEMs seeking to ensure product functionality and customer satisfaction, especially in the face of the shift to AVaaS. With the global AV market skyrocketing even as competition grows fierce, RMM is key to reshaping the customer value chain. When considering which RMM platform is right for you, consider transparency, cloud interoperability, SSH tunneling, UI/UX, scalability, and integral support. Choose RMM wisely - it is truly the bedrock for future-proofing your AV business.

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This article was first published, in slightly different form, by Commecial Integrator.