Bengaluru-headquartered audio-visual and systems integration (AVSI) firm Aesthetix Technologies India Pvt Ltd has been honoured with the prestigious AV Provider of Excellence (APEx) Certification for the second consecutive year (2021). In doing so, the company not only became the first Indian AVSI to achieve the rare honour but also showed an inspiring way of successful business continuity- in the face of ensuing adverse situations.
SI Asia had a snappy chat with Sudan Mylsamy, Managing Director of Aesthetix on how he steered the company towards the accolade. Excerpts here:
SI Asia: Congrats upfront. How did you make it possible? what additional skill sets, certifications and upgrades in processes have you achieved to deserve the second consecutive APEx
SUDAN: Thank you, Ram. Well, the process began a few months ago to ensure all criteria, and requirements were put in place. As always APEx presents challenges, considering that it represents the pinnacle of Certifications for AV firms. It comes with many pre-requisites that need to be met, if not exceeded. There is no single avenue that was responsible for this renewal but as always incremental improvements across all spectra, i.e. technical skillsets and process upgrades. If you recall our punch line statement from our last interaction, we believe in ‘building excellence,’ and to do that every opportunity and requirement needs to be built upon.
SI Asia: Any CTS, or additional certifications or other laurels achieved?
SUDAN: CTS is just one element of the criteria so to speak. There are a plethora of certifications available from AVIXA and various OEMs that contribute to achieving this honour. These are not necessarily technical but cover avenues such as Project Management, Support, Troubleshooting and various real-world challenges that an AV integrator is likely to encounter while we service our clients.
SI Asia: Achieving APEx in normal conditions itself is considered a tough job, but you did it in the midst of so much uncertainty all over….How?
SUDAN: Well, we are in the AV industry for so many years, and an essential part of our fundamental skillset should be our ability to seamlessly collaborate with our peers, partners, and clients. While it was indeed a challenge, it wasn’t a task that was insurmountable. Nothing really if we put our minds to it. Having said that, the support and clarity that AVIXA ranks helped us with have to be acknowledged- kudos to their teams worldwide who helped us chart these uncertain times. Of course, we’re blessed with a very motivated Aesthetix team that is equally dedicated to ensuring we better ourselves at every opportunity provided.
SI Asia: In the current scenario, however, what is Aesthetix business model/strategy?
SUDAN: At this moment, we are focused on using the time in engaging with clients (many of our clients have implemented BCP (Business Continuity Plans)) to help them traverse the challenging landscape through various avenues such as work-from-home collaboration etc. For the future, we are putting forth revised plans in place to be able to effectively handle situations.
The projects team is using this time to pursue as many certifications and training as possible. Eventually, when we resume, we wish to ensure our clients benefit from these pursuits.
SI Asia: What kind of impact has this current situation had on Aesthetix?
SUDAN: Understandably, we did get affected with projects and shipments in pause. How much impact- we cannot say now! The extent of this will only be known once there is clarity on how long the lockdown will extend, and up to what extent.
SI Asia: What are your thoughts about the future?
SUDAN: We move forward with cautious optimism, as always. COVID-19 has re-written the rulebook for pretty much most of businesses worldwide. I’d like to use this crisis as an opportunity to re-evaluate, re-prioritize and adapt. Wasn’t it Churchill who once said “never let a good crisis go to waste.”
