Summary: The following article looks at AVI’s Microsoft Consulting business, Magenium and its new Microsoft Experience Center in Chicago.
Learn about Converged Communications and our Microsoft Experience Center in the video below.
If you’re one of the thousands of companies that have yet to modernize your workplace tools, take heart. We can assure you that you’re in good company. Because while many organizations have transformed their technology for the hybrid workplace, plenty have not – especially if they’ve been dealing with other issues, like:
- Improving the customer’s digital experience
- Focusing on IT security
- Supporting, maintaining, & upgrading technology infrastructure
- Implementing a merger or acquisition
If you’ve been busy with these (or an array of other) strategic priorities, you may find yourself unclear on what’s possible today when it comes to workplace tools and tech. 
While AVI Systems is most well-known for our traditional audiovisual, unified collaboration and digital media services (designing and installing technology for board rooms, meeting spaces, and customer experience centers, for example), we also have an IT consulting practice called Magenium that helps companies of every size modernize and manage workplace solutions.
How Magenium Delivers Modern IT Services
Established in 2007 and acquired by AVI in 2018, Magenium has built and maintained its reputation as a go-to partner for companies that want to adopt the latest Microsoft solutions. More specifically, Magenium has deep expertise across Microsoft’s Modern Workplace suite of applications, which includes Microsoft Teams and Teams Phone, SharePoint, OneDrive, Exchange and other solutions that enable better collaboration and productivity. Our consulting experience in Modern Work got us recognized by Microsoft in 2023 as a Finalist for Partner of the Year.
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Magenium also works across Microsoft’s entire stack and offers Microsoft-certified services focused on Digital & App Innovation, Data & AI, and Infrastructure, putting us in the top 1% of all Microsoft partners. We can deploy modern applications on Azure, and our Managed IT Services ensure your teams don’t experience the painful downtime they may unfortunately be used to. Our goal in every implementation is simple: help companies realize the promise of a hybrid workplace and enable their teams to be productive from anywhere on any device.
Start Here: The Top 3 Modern Work Considerations for 2024
Many of our conversations with prospects and customers center around one key question: Where do I start?
It’s a fair question, given the range of solutions available and the rapid pace of transformation that’s taken place. If we were starting with a blank canvas, here are the top three modern work considerations we’d focus on:
- Modernize your strategy and environment – Start by asking some broad questions. Can your processes and workflows quickly adapt to changing market conditions and customer needs? Have you identified new tech and processes that can drive efficiency and innovation? Are you creating a culture of collaboration, communication, and knowledge sharing? Have you enabled your employees to work from anywhere?
- Upgrade your toolset – Once you’re clear on your most pressing strategic requirements, it’s time to look at your toolset. Do you have outdated or incompatible tools that hinder your productivity? What are you doing for your application hosting? Are you in the cloud? How about collaboration tools? If you use them, do they seamlessly integrate to create workflows? Are they employee-friendly?
- Secure your data and devices – After determining the right tools needed to achieve your goals, the last step is implementing robust security measures. Have you adopted data loss prevention tools and other data security protocols? Do you regularly assess your vulnerabilities? Do you have a plan to respond to or recover from a data breach? How much do employees know about cybersecurity? What about data privacy?
Get Hands On: Our Microsoft Experience Center
One of the biggest challenges companies face when building an office worth returning to is understanding what’s possible. In Nov. 2023, the Magenium team moved into its new home in Chicago which includes a Microsoft Experience Center to address this.
The space was intentionally designed to be part office and part showroom. It features the latest technology from Microsoft and incorporates audiovisual technologies from leading manufacturers. The result helps customers and prospects see what’s possible and what Microsoft tech is capable of with different room archetypes.
“Most people would never buy an expensive piece of technology for their home without seeing it first. So, when companies invest in new workplace tools, visiting a space like this only makes sense. When they can see how a solution works in the context of a working office, everything clicks. Not only do they understand what’s possible, but they also feel more confident the solution will meet their needs when they bring it to their workplace,” says Jim Prothe, Marketing Director, Magenium.
In the short time this space has been open, Magenium’s Microsoft Experience Center has already gained a reputation as the go-to destination for IT pros to see and test the latest Microsoft solutions.
Before You Get Started
If we’ve piqued your interest in Microsoft solutions, you may wonder whether you could purchase one of their applications and implement it yourself. You could. But we’ve found that most companies need support to be successful. These modern workplace tools are powerful, and there are a wide range of questions to answer before you introduce them into your IT environment, including:
- Governance
- Security groups
- Roles
- End-user training
- Licensing
Having the proper guard rails in place to guide your implementation is especially important for larger companies. Without them, you could end up with an application that sprawls until it is useless because everybody is doing their own thing.
A Microsoft Solutions Partner You Can Trust
If you need help transforming your workplace tools or want to improve the return on your Microsoft investment, we want to help!
At Magenium, we are dedicated to delivering technology solutions that solve problems and move organizations forward, making us a trusted partner to government and non-profit agencies, Fortune 500 corporations, and medium and small businesses nationwide.
©AVI Systems, Inc., 2024
