Questions IT Directors should ask to vet Digital Signage Providers

In the crowded space of digital signage solutions, picking one is becoming increasingly difficult. This is further complicated by the multitude of stakeholders with varying requirements - from marketing and communications to operational and most importantly, IT stipulations.With over a decade’s experience working with buyers across multiple companies and departments, we have come across a lot of variety in the level of sophistication and knowledge about digital signage systems. For the most part, buyers have a fairly clear vision of the overall objective of the signage network and what kind of content they would like to have. But most buyers, even experienced C-level executives, do not know the pros/cons between different digital signage technology architectures e.g. on-premise vs hosted, or between a solution developed in PHP vs Python or an android-based vs Linux-based solution. Neither do they have the time nor see a need to learn to be an expert. And this is ok.That being said, the technical success of a digital signage project depends, to a large part, on its pre-sale evaluation, i.e. the Q&A between the project manager and the vendor.

Don't Ask These Questions

During a typical 8-10 week evaluation process to vet digital signage providers, we respond to approximately 12-15 technical questions. While most are relevant and critically important, there are other questions we get asked ALL THE TIME, but in a very imprecise way that leaves a lot to interpretation. Here are some of our (not-so) favorite questions:

1. How good is your support?

At Mvix, we are frequently asked this question and we launch ourselves into a monologue of the fact that we provide a 3-pronged support structure which includes 24/7 phone support, help desk tickets, and knowledgebase articles, with 2 hierarchical levels of technical sophistication (which we refer as Level-1 and Level-2 support). But did that monologue really answer the question of how “good” our support is? Obviously not.

2. Is your software easy to use?

Hands-down, one of the most “blah” questions. It's akin to asking “How easy is it to drive a car?” or “How easy is it to use a computer?” or “How easy is it to ___________ (fill in your favorite task)?” The answer for any of these questions is obvious - it’s not about the software, but the user’s adaptation. No vendor will ever tell you that their software is not easy to use. If they thought so, they would’ve corrected it anyway. Considering the above, are these really the best ways to ask such questions to get a detailed, meaningful and valid answer?So, what questions should IT directors ask to vet digital signage providers? Regardless of your industry and/or your specific functional needs, the questions listed below are critical to ask of any prospective digital signage providers. Ask them to make sure you are:

• fully identifying business opportunities
• analyzing security capabilities
• effectively checking references
• setting the right implementation expectations
• accessing the necessary level of training and support
• putting yourself in a position to scale for future company growth
• understanding how to measure the results of your investment

Ask These Questions Instead

There are several ways to approach this, but for the purpose of simplicity let's divide into product questions and support questions.

Product and Evolution:

Targeted questions IT directors can ask about applications and platforms:

1. Language? Methodology used?
2. How frequent are new releases? What is your process for rolling these out? Are there fees for upgrades to new versions? Can you give some examples of new features released in the last upgrade?
3. Has the product offering expanded by acquiring other companies and connecting different solutions?
4. What percentage of time does the development team spend on support vs R&D?

The goal of these questions is to understand if the product has a ton of legacy code. More lines of code are NOT good. It means more time spent on maintenance and more work and cost associated with upgrades. In fact, upgrades will take longer and major changes in the user interface become almost impossible.

Support and Onboarding:

Targeted questions that IT directors can ask to vet digital signage providers include:

1. Will I have an assigned point of contact to support me?
2. What is the guaranteed uptime per the SLA? How long is the average response time?
3. What is the percentage of solved issues in 1 contact?

The goal here should be to understand if support is Proactive or Reactive. They are really a misunderstanding by the client on how to use the solution. Companies that provide dedicated training resources can prevent this confusion for their clients, providing a much better experience.This is just the tip of the iceberg; the more specific questions buyers ask, the happier they will be with the digital signage fit and the more successful the relationship will be.