May 2009 - Sound & Communications

Schools & CollegesBy Dan Ferrisi“Data Scan” is our monthly analysis of information provided by respondents to our annual Commercial Systems IntegrationSurvey (the 23 rd edition, published with the July 2008 issue) and the Worship Center Survey (the 12 th edition,published with the March 2009 issue).To tie in with this month’s schools and colleges theme,we are analyzing information provided by respondents tothe 23 rd annual Commercial Systems Integration Surveywho indicated in Question #18 (asking about venues andpercentages of each company’s business) that 10% or moreof their business relates to school and college integrationprojects.Question #4 relates to business trends, specifically totaldollar sales for one year compared to the previous year.This chart includes both positive and negative developmentsbut, broadly speaking, the trend seems promising.For 2006, a healthy 65% of respondents reported experiencinga business increase of some magnitude; this time,that has increased to 76%. Most notable, perhaps, is thenine-percentage-point increase in those reporting a businessboost of 5% or more. On the negative side, for 2006,only 6% of respondents reported experiencing a businessdecrease of any magnitude; however, this time, that hasincreased to 12%. This is cause for slight concern, andsomething to monitor in future reports.Question #7 asks about average dollar sizes of projects.The results shown on this chart are quite unusual, in thatall the percentage points gravitated to a single answer.For 2006, about one-quarter of respondents indicated theaverage dollar size of their projects was between $5000and $25,000. By contrast, this time, it soared to 44%. And,although $25,000 to $100,000 remained unchanged (as did$500,000 to $1,000,000, at 0%), every other answer lost responsethis time. For instance, those reporting an averageproject size of less than $5000 dropped to 10%. The $100,000to $500,000 range slipped by one-third. If there is a conclusionto be gleaned, it is that, for education-related projects,the typical price tag will fall into the middle range.Question #10 relates to the number of projects completedin the previous six-month period. It is difficult todiscern any kind of trend here, because the shifts in percentagepoints, although in some cases substantial, are notin any particular direction. A big plunge is seen in thosereporting they completed between 11 and 20 projects inthe previous six-month period: For 2006, it was 43%; thistime, it fell to 32%. A commensurate bounce is evinced forthe 21 to 50 range: For 2006, it drew only 15% of response;this time, it surged to 27%. As for the other answers, thechanges are smaller…probably attributable to statisticalnoise. It seems, for this question, too, we will have to waitfor additional data.nBased on responses to the 23 rd Annual Commercial SystemsIntegration Survey, published in the July 2008 issue, which polled2800 Sound & Communications readers across the US. This surveyreport is sent to subscribers as part of their subscription toSound & Communications. Additional copies of the survey areavailable for $2.95. To request Commercial Systems IntegrationSurveys, subscribe to the magazine and read select articles, visitwww.soundandcommunications.com.59%50%Increased 5% ormore10%15%44%17%15%12%Increased lessthan 5%26%$1,000,0007% 6%1002007200698 Sound & Communicationswww.soundandcommunications.com