As was probably the case with most of you and your companies, this past month was a very busy one. At CSIA we concluded October with our yearly in-person board meeting in Madison, Wisconsin. We had very good discussions and made important decisions on several topics that have been with us for a while. Being still relatively new in my current role, this past meeting was a great opportunity to sync up with the board and set the strategic plan to guide our efforts in the coming years.
An important decision was made to set up an End User/EPC Advisory Council. While we are still trying to figure out the specifics, including the final name of this group, we are excited about this bold move. I have already reached out to a few end user contacts, and am finding that there is interest on their end as well. End users are our final customers and we want them to specify working with integrators who are CSIA members, and in particular members who are CSIA Certified. The membership survey results indicated that when it comes to CSIA’s focus point of Influence the marketplace so that CSIA Certification becomes preferred by end user clients, we don’t deliver with the same strength as we do for the other two focus points (Help system integrators be more professional and Be a forum for all members to network, train, discuss common issues and share best practices). We need to become better known among the end user and EPC communities. Engineering departments at many end users and EPCs have repositioned themselves to be primarily the orchestrators of work done by outside System Integrators and other suppliers. If we help them do a better job at this, we create a win/win scenario.
I have the great benefit of residing just three hours away from our headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin. I try to meet in person with CSIA staff every month and I was there on Monday and Tuesday. We had a full agenda and the 2016 Executive Conference was a large part of it. We are getting close to having our conference website and registration up and running. I very much look forward to our Puerto Rico event.
As this is the last newsletter before the holidays, I want to share with you the enthusiasm I’ve had working for CSIA. I have felt very welcomed and supported from the start. Thank you all very much. I wish all the best for yourselves, your families, and your companies in 2016.