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What to look for in a digital signage CMS

There are no easy answers when choosing the right content management system for your digital signage deployment, but there are lot and lots of questions.

February 27, 2015 by Christopher Hall — w, t

When there are literally hundreds of options, picking just one can be a nightmare. There are several hundred digital signage software providers, and their solutions cover a full spectrum of capabilities — and prices. How is an end-user to choose?

Steve Rosenheim, the business development manager for content creation services for technology and pro AV distributor Almo Professional A/V, has a three-page questionnaire he asks his clients to help him figure out what they're trying to do with their digital signage project. From that he determines what they'll need to make it happen, from displays to media players to content management systems.

So it's essentially a game of 20 questions to figure out which CMS to use.

"Here's 20 questions I ask people, and we're just scratching the surface with that," he said in a recent interview. "There's just so much to know."

In figuring out what to look for in a digital signage CMS, it quickly becomes clear when talking to professionals who provide digital signage solutions that the answer — as it is in so many other facets of digital signage — is pretty much, "It depends. What do you want it to do?"

According to Keven Prewett, the vice president of vendor management for tech distributor Ingram Micro, the most important thing is to figure out what the end-user wants to accomplish with their digital signage deployment and then find the solution that fits — not the other way around.

"I think if you're the integrator you need to understand what the end-user is looking for both in the long and short-term," he said in an interview. "It's important to understand what the application is going to be."

Often approached incorrectly

"It's a very difficult question, and it's one that is often approached incorrectly," Rosenheim said.

When you're choosing a CMS, according to Rosenheim and Prewett, you have to take into consideration a veritable cornucopia of factors:

• Capabilities - What do you need it to do? Is it going to a video wall or a single monitor? Will it supports ads, video, RSS or XML feeds? Do you want widgets or other specialized apps?
• Resolution - Will it support full-HD? Or 4K?
• Ease of use - How easy or difficult is the software to use? Will the end-user need to be trained, or will they have to hire someone to create their signage for them?
• Cost - How much is it? Are there licensing fees or recurring costs?
• Fixes - Does the company stand behind its product? Who do you call for help?
• Interoperability - Will it work with this or that media player or display?
• And finally, do you really need it? - There are simple solutions and very complex solutions, and everything in between. There's no need to spend more on something more sophisticated than what you need.

"These are the kinds of questions that the end-user who's going to purchase this product or software needs to be asking to make sure that he gets the one that works for him," Rosenheim said.

And that's still just scratching the surface. Some CMSes will play some files, but won't play others. Do you need it to play WMV files or run HTML5? Does it need to link to the Internet, or to databases? Does it need to support touch? What about mobile interactions? Or gesture?

"More times than not people pick a CMS incorrectly because they really don’t know what to look for," Rosenheim said. "We see so many examples of people putting up hardware -- they buy the hardware and they mount it on the wall -- and then they go to do the content and they have no clue what to do and the monitors end up black for months. I've got dozens of stories like that."

Ask, ask again ... then ask again

According to Prewett, the key seems to be questions, questions and more questions, both for the end-user and the software provider. Ingram Micro recently found itself in the position of end-user when it deployed a new corporate communications digital signage network at its Buffalo, New York, offices.

"We went through a lot of these same questions, if you will, and I think it's working with a software company that's going to stand behind their product and they're vested in making sure that their product delivers what they commit that it will," he said. And how do you figure that out? You have to ask for references, talk to other clients of theirs, possibly work with an advisor who's familiar with their products, and so on. "I think any legitimate company is going to have no problem saying, 'Yeah, go talk to this end-user, that end-user, this integrator,' and give references if that's something you're asking for."

And then make sure again you understand any potential recurring costs.

"It's really important to understand all the implications of different costs as well," Prewett said. "The last thing you want to happen is to have a screen go dark and nobody knows why or nodody was expecting it."

So there's no simple list or checklist that tells us what to look for in a digital signage CMS?

"Again, I think it would really depend on the specific end-user," Prewett said.  "I think every scenario is going to be different in some way shape or form. To me the most important thing is having a provider whose product does what they say it does. There's nothing worse than somebody overcommitting and saying, 'Yeah, we can do all that,' and then you find out later that they can't or, 'Oh yeah, that’s a feature were adding later,' after you’ve chosen to go with them and you’ve already spent the money and done the installation."

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Almo Pro AV is the largest value-added North American Professional AV distributor, offering its reseller partners the most expansive range of products, managed services, technical support, and training to drive business growth and generate profits.

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