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The digital signage 'ecosystem'

December 2, 2011 by Don Pierson — Founder, President, Flypaper

I love buzz words. Every industry has them. Web 2.0. Web 3.0 (whatever happened to that?). Cloud Computing. In digital signage there's a phrase du jour as well: digital signage ecosystem. You can't walk an exhibit hall or have a conversation with a reseller without hearing it. As with all new, catchy phrases it's important to understand what it actually means. After all, there are a lot of people who still don't know what "the cloud" is.

A digital signage ecosystem is a complete solution for an end user that includes, in a nutshell: displays, players, scheduling/content management software and of course content authoring, which can mean both software and services. This is the most basic definition. What's amazing (or not) is that it seems like every organization within digital signage is abuzz with the ecosystem chatter. From small DOOH providers to enterprises like Intel and distributors like Ingram-Micro, the ecosystem talk is, well, all over the system.

Every major industry has an ecosystem to benefit everyone from the developers, to the resellers, to the end users. Look at CRM for example. An industry that basically grew out of contact management in the '80s has sprung up to be a diverse net of software solutions for SMB to enterprise, custom to out-of-the-box. It has service providers that specialize in every platform, and complementary software systems that integrate with each other (billing, email marketing, etc.). There are entire conferences and tradeshows, online learning, countless media and educational disciplines that bring all of these providers together. The CRM industry is its own self-sustaining, economic engine.

Ecosystems are a sign of a healthy industry. They make implementations easier and more cost effective. They help small providers boost sales by pairing their products and services together, sometimes with larger products and services. They enable services companies to work with a larger, more organized tool box, as opposed to 20 small ones that scatter and mess up the garage.

But mostly, an ecosystem shows maturity. It positions the entire industry for rapid growth and expansion into new areas. It takes fragmented products and services and gives them connectivity. For digital signage, it's not just a buzz word. Our ecosystem is here.

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