In the integration business, no two projects are exactly alike. Every space, whether it’s a conference room, a sports bar or a classroom, comes with its own quirks, constraints, and client wish lists. That uniqueness is part of what makes integration rewarding. But here’s the truth: every integrator already relies on a form of standardisation, whether they acknowledge it or not.
Think about your own projects. You have your go-to displays, your preferred switchers, the mounts you know won’t fail. You have a mental checklist of solutions that you reach for again and again because you know they work. That’s standardisation – just without the formal label.
What I’m advocating is taking that instinctive reliance on “what works” and making it deliberate, documented, and repeatable. Not because it boxes you in, but because it gives you the structure and efficiency to take on more, with confidence, without reinventing the wheel each time.
EFFICIENCY GAINS
When I was an integrator, I saw firsthand how much efficiency you gain when you stop treating every project like a blank slate. Early in my career, we realised that almost every residential system we delivered included the same handful of brands. Later, on the commercial side, I saw the same thing in sports bars, restaurants, and classrooms. The requirements were rarely identical, but distributed video, reliable control, consistent audio coverage were priorities across practically every project.
Formalising those patterns into standard designs pays off in several ways:
• Formalising those patterns into standard designs pays off in several ways:
• Design time shrinks. Instead of redrawing the same system from scratch, you start from a proven baseline.
• Procurement gets easier. Stocking and ordering is streamlined when you know which components you’ll use most often.
• Installation speeds up. Your team isn’t learning a new workflow on every site: They’re installing gear they know.
• Support is simplified. Fewer unknowns mean fewer surprises, which keeps service calls under control.
• That’s not about cutting corners. It’s about building on your experience to work smarter, not harder.
ORDER HISTORY
So how do you begin standardising AV projects? The simplest place is your order history.
Look at the last dozen huddle rooms, sports bars, or classrooms you delivered. Patterns will emerge. Maybe every job included a particular DSP, a specific type of display mount, or a certain AVoIP solution.
The biggest mistake I see integrators make is building standards around what they think will work, or what happened to be on rebate last quarter. That’s how you end up with a bad bundle: one that hasn’t been tested, that your team isn’t confident installing, or that doesn’t reflect real-world conditions.
Your standards should be proven in your own work. You’ve tested it, installed it, and supported it. You know where the hiccups are and how to avoid them. That’s the kind of knowledge that saves hours onsite and inspires confidence in clients.
COMMS IS KEY
Once you’ve identified patterns in your client asks and equipment deployments, document them into baseline designs. Think of them as starting point packages you can present to a customer. They shouldn’t be rigid cookie cutters, but rather flexible frameworks.
For example: “Here’s our core conference room package. If you need more microphones, here’s the path to scale up. If you want a high-impact videowall, here’s our immersive package.” That tiered approach streamlines your process and helps clients understand value and trade-offs. They can see what’s included, what it costs, and where the upgrade paths are.
That transparency is powerful. It builds trust and accelerates decision-making. It also helps you draw a clear line between what’s a standard project versus a fully custom job, ensuring that you’re compensated appropriately when a client’s vision requires extra design time, testing, or specialist partners.
If a client asks for something outside your standards, acknowledge that it exceeds the baseline. Price in the extra time, the extra risk, and, if needed, the outside expertise to deliver it properly. If it’s a request you expect to see again, make the project a proving ground for your next standard. If it’s a one-off that doesn’t align with your business and target clientele, don’t be afraid to say no.
In this way, standards actually help your business evolve. As new needs arise and technologies mature, you build new standards based on emerging patterns across client needs. Your baseline gets continuously refreshed with tested, trusted solutions.
EXPANDED OPPORTUNITIES
Some integrators resist standardisation because they fear it will stifle creativity. In my view, it’s the opposite: Far from limiting your business, standardisation actually expands your opportunities by giving you the foundation on which to build innovation.
Standards free up bandwidth for the truly custom work that differentiates your business. A strong baseline lets your team take on more ambitious projects, knowing that your core solutions are solid. It positions you to scale without overextending your resources.
So don’t think of standards as a straitjacket: Think of them as scaffolding. They hold up the weight of what you already know and give you the stability to climb higher, explore new solutions, and evolve your business without losing your balance.
