Should You Create Your Own Digital Signage Platform?

It may seem less costly. It might also seem relatively simple. A lot of companies wonder whether they should move forward with plans to build their own DOOH platforms. The digital sign industry continues to enjoy increasing adoption across an ever-widening range of sectors. As it matures, a lot of businesses are considering bringing development in-house. Is doing so a good decision?

In this article, we'll take a close look at some of the factors involved with launching your own signage software platform. These are the issues that are often neglected, but can come back to plague your network (when you're least prepared!). We'll discuss evolving content formats, security, troubleshooting, and other hurdles so you'll know what to anticipate.

Suppose you hired software developers to create your signage platform from the ground up. You have a reasonably good grasp regarding standard content formats. The problem is, these formats will change. Your software will need to change with them if you intend to keep up.

A lot of companies think they can get rid of their hired guns (i.e. the developers) once the initial platform has been built. In reality, you'll need to keep them around. That's the only way to ensure your software won't be outdated within two or three years. Content is what drives your network. If your software falls behind, you'll hamper your network's effectiveness.

Assume you have installed your playback and content management software on your company's local servers. Further assume these same servers house whatever operating system (e.g. Windows) you're using to support your network's other programs. Over time, you'll need to install security patches to plug holes in these other applications. Some patches will need to be installed to the operating system itself. The question is, what effect will these patches have on your self-produced signage platform?

Compatibility with security patches is a big issue with proprietary software. The smallest modifications made to one program can cause your DOOH client to misbehave. This means you'll need staff on hand to work through the potential glitches.

 Every digital signage network owner eventually runs into problems they're unable to resolve on their own. This is the reason DOOH packages usually come with a support contract. If you're running your own software, you'll have to rely on your own staff to troubleshoot issues (another reason you can't simply get rid of your development team).

There's another problem: nearly all software platforms have bugs. These bugs need to be identified and fixed as they're discovered. Unfortunately, they appear sporadically, which means you'll need to have a testing process in place through which they can be resolved. This, of course, adds to the cost of building your own software.

 The media players, servers, and other hardware you're planning to use for your signage platform will eventually need to be retired and replaced. These components will age quickly. The problem here is that upgrading your hardware means you'll need to test your playback and content management software again.

This goes far beyond merely testing whether it works properly on your new servers. You'll need to put your software through a rigorous testing environment so you can check its compatibility, security, and to ferret out small bugs that result from the upgrade.

Many companies that consider building their own digital signage platforms do so because they're convinced nothing else will meet their needs. They want a unique solution. We'll set aside the question of whether such a need actually exists. In most cases, business owners revisit this decision once they have a clear understanding of the costs involved.

Instead, consider that having a unique digital signage solution at your disposal does not necessarily mean you need to create it from the ground up. There are many ways to customize existing platforms, and avoid many of the costs involved with a do-it-yourself approach.

To the original question, should you create an in-house digital signage platform for your company? Only you can answer that question. Realize, however, the cost and effort involved before deciding to travel that path.