DEMCO partnership, next-generation solutions, and new training opportunities expand Datapath’s reach.
Success depends on sales, but notable growth can also present new challenges. Datapath, world-leading engineers of visual solutions, has been a rapidly growing presence in Latin America with sales increasing exponentially, year-on-year, for the past five years. The company, based in the UK, is now a “go-to for video wall processing needs” in Chile, according to Greg Babbs, Datapath’s Sales and Account manager for the region.
While demand for Datapath has been accelerating, Babbs explained that meeting customer needs always comes first. The question for Babbs and his team became: “How do we best take the growing demand, which is coming from all over Latin America, and best serve our customers?”
To address these logistics and deliver exceptional experiences in new markets, Datapath partnered with DEMCO, the Chilean family-owned technology distributor, in January 2018, to carry its pro-AV products. Datapath’s visual solutions complement DEMCO’s established portfolio of IT products, LED displays, professional monitors, access points, and tablets.
Flexible Solutions for Control and Collaboration
Datapath’s portfolio covers the full spectrum of video display management and control. Popular products in the Chilean market are the next-generation Fx4 videowall controllers, iolite 600 compact video controllers, WallControl 10 software, and Quant software for real-time application sharing and collaboration. New solutions include the Wall Designer software redesigned for the MacOS platform, released earlier this year. All of the Datapath systems are available for hands-on demonstrations in the Santiago de Demco showroom.
Investing in Best Practices and Education
With the Datapath partnership in place, DEMCO is positioned as the premier Latin American professional AV distributor and resource. Describing the Datapath / DEMCO alliance as “the perfect marriage,” Babbs said that, after creating best practices for distribution and inventory, the two companies wanted to emphasize the importance of AV training. “Now, we will focus on education and training, to raise the bar and raise the standard of the education throughout all of Latin America.”
Adding value for loyal and potential customers, Babbs stated that DEMCO exceeds the average “product presentation” and provides clients with inspiring “essential AV industry and technical training to help them improve the quality of their installation, whether that be with Datapath or not.”
Datapath Training Academy Creates a Level Playing Field
A recent Datapath Training Academy, held at DEMCO in May, was energetic and well attended. Nearly 50 attendees packed the showroom during morning and afternoon sessions. DEMCO is also playing a pivotal role in making new connections; 75 percent of the attendees for the May training day were new to Datapath.
DEMCO is in the final stages of building a new, fully featured showroom in Santiago. “They’re going to have Datapath products there, married with Samsung video walls, and they’ve also brought on the Vogels mounts brand. They’re now looking to add a cabling company so that they can train ‘solution selling’ in Chile,” Babbs said.
To be held at the new showroom, the Datapath Training Academy will continually train and educate AV stakeholders. Integrators will be encouraged to take end users with them to show them the advantages, features, and specifics of different technologies, “so that everyone’s on a level playing field,” Babbs added. This brand-agonistic, best practices approach will help fuel broader growth for Latin America AV stakeholders.
An autumn Datapath Training Academy at DEMCO’s Chilean showroom is being planned for later this year. As new products come to market, and more integrators and end users invest in their AV skills, the Latin American Datapath Training Academy will likely increase in frequency.
