Quite often the smartest man in the room, Paul Skelton (who spends a lot of time by himself) has many opinions. He also believes the louder he talks, the more correct he is.

Firewalls for connected devices will be the ‘next big thing’

The DDoS attacks of 2016 that made international headlines have seemingly been forgotten by the public, despite being seen as apocalyptic when they occurred. But the fallout in the tech sector continues. In the US, a handful of companies have launched firewalls and other network security products that are specifically designed for the needs of the custom installation market.

These products will find their way to Australia and NZ in 2018 en masse and will quickly become the single most important tool at an integrator’s disposal.

Home cinema will experience a significant resurgence

For some time now, industry experts (hell, even your favourite magazine editor – me) have spoken about the pending demise of the home cinema channel: “Networking is the future of the CI channel.” And, while I continue to agree with the latter suggestion that networking is unquestionably the future, it appears home cinema is enjoying a resurgence in the market.

This will grow considerably in 2018 as some of the desire for excess, which built this market long before the Global Financial Crisis hit in 2009, once again permeates the market. 2018 is an AV guy’s time to shine.

AV over IP will move from the early adopters to early majority phase of the adoption curve

Despite attending several training sessions on AV over IP, in addition to reading an excessive number of articles on the subject, I will be the first to admit that I still don’t completely understand the finer details of this technology.

But what I do know is that the rate at which it is being adopted is growing exponentially; and in 2018, it will move out of the realm of early adopters and enter the ‘early majority’ phase of the adoption curve. Get ready to hear a lot about AV over IP in the next 12 months.

Apple and Google will challenge Sonos for dominance of the wireless MRA market

For years, Sonos has been the dominant player in the wireless multi-room audio market. Now, its growing presence in the broader public conscience has drawn attention from Apple and Google, both of which have announced plans to take on the WMRA sector.

Of the two, Google is perhaps the better placed to do some damage to Sonos, but it will ultimately have to share the market as Sonos continues to be the market leader (even if it did appear to phone it in during the recent CEDIA expo in San Diego).

Of course, the forthcoming battle could be quite advantageous for integrators if they opt for third party WRMA systems, like HEOS, which will hopefully not succumb to the inevitable race to the bottom that will be sparked by the tech giants.

Individualised, ‘healthy’ buildings

After years of ‘green fatigue’, the commercial automation space will come face to face with the next trend in smart building designs: ‘healthy’ buildings (yep, the hippies have finally won…). Green credentials will still matter, but there will be an increased focus on natural light and indoor air quality, as well as the individualisation of workspaces that can only be achieved through the use of a complete control system.

Daylight sensors, climate control and acoustic design services will all grow in importance and should be ‘easy sells’ for commercial integrators.

Connected’s very own ‘Baba Vanga’, Paul Skelton, has an unnatural ability of predicting the winner of each season of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. Now, he turns his attention to the world of custom installation.