Travis Baumann | Source | CEO at InGenius Solutions

"Demand for remote collaboration hardware has skyrocketed since the start of the year. Office and IT managers are spending money to reconfigure office to reflect the hybrid workplace. There's a need for fewer larger conference rooms and more huddle rooms that support focused work among distributed teams. Since meetings now include more people working from home, these huddle rooms need to be smaller and more numerous. The technology also has to be easy to use, since those working from home may not have the same exact technology as the office. And, when people do convene in larger groups, they need smart boards that support brainstorming and fluid collaboration -- regardless of whether someone is in the room or at their kitchen table. So IT spending is rising to account for these reconfigurations!

There's also a greater cost to companies when outfitting home offices with all-in-one equipment that integrates a camera, a microphone and a control screen, like the Neat Bar. These aren't cheap -- $2,500 -- but they dramatically up-level the AV capabilities of home offices. These new costs add up, as there are many more home offices than HQs. There are also new, more affordable products, coming to market soon. These products, like the Neat One and the Neat Frame, will reduce the cost somewhat, but still lead to a continued rise in IT spending through 2022 as the hybrid workplace is fully enabled with the necessary collaboration technology.