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There's no treasure map to making money in a down economy, but veteran integrators say now is the time to focus on business fundamentals like training and customer service. Others say it may be time to consider broadening your service offerings to find mo

With the recent economic downturn and the fact that the nation is now officially in a recession, systems integrators of all sizes are trying to determine what steps they're going to have to take to remain profitable when many of their traditional customers are financially hamstrung.

While many like to view the industry as "recession proof," others say that that notion just simply isn't true and that integrators need to prepare for tough times ahead, even if they're not immediately feeling the effects of the sour economy.

"The integration business tends to lag the general economy. So, if the general economy goes into a recession, we don't' feel it for a while because we're doing projects that extend out for several quarters," said Jim Coleman, president of Atlanta-based integrator Operational Security Systems. "Of course, the other side of that is when things start to get better; we don't see it for a while. We are late getting to a recession and we're late leaving it."

The result, said Coleman, is that eventually there will be fewer and fewer opportunities in the market for integrators and that more and more companies will be competing for the same jobs. Subsequently, profit margins will suffer, which will make it difficult for smaller integrators to stay afloat.

According to Coleman, companies with large embedded customer bases may well be able to sustain the hit by performing maintenance, additions and upgrades on existing accounts, but he indicated that other companies are going to have to do things to differentiate themselves from the competition such as providing superior customer service.

Another way that integrators are exploring as a means of making through the recession is to change their service offerings.

Bill Bozeman, President and CEO of PSA Security Network, which is an organization that includes over 200 systems integrators, said that many companies are now looking into managed service offerings to help them manage their cash flow.