Digital Signage Portal

Hi all,

I was wondering whether anyone has used or is currently using Digital Signage SaaS? Could you please let share your experiences of what you've encountered when using this type of a solution.

Thanks.

we are using BroadSign Suite since 6 years now and it saves us a lot of CAPEX and OPEX by the fact we do not have to have any IT to maintain servers and manage issues.

Also, we have all the upgrades FOC with automatic implementation.

People with large networks, a lot of locations have to use Saas if they want to insure their investments right

What is SaaS?

SaaS is the new name for ASP regarding digital signage software solution.

On the market, you can buy the software (like Navori) for players, servers and administrator. Then you have to hire IT people to manage all the hardware and software.

With SaaS (Software As A Service, like BroadSign), you rent your player licenses and the vendor provides the server side with all management and services around.

For commercial, large, multisite networks, it is better to use use SaaS to limit your cost in CAPEX and OPEX.

I've used Firecast by WireSpring. Its a good solution w/ solid Linux-based players. The web interface used to be a little hard to get around for beginners but they've much improved since then. I haven't used it in a while so I've never used it w/ HD video.

In terms of using SaaS in general, since upgrades and maintenance, etc...,are out of your hands, recurring fees are unavoidable. Also, bandwidth and storage are obviously going to be much more expensive then if you're doing it from your own servers. Really, there's a two-part question to answer to know whether SaaS is for you: Are you a solutions provider or buyer and what is your business' core competencies (do you have the staff/knowledge to run a network)

I've heard of this service but I haven't used it or seen it in action.

I'm currently using the conventional way of plugging in a player to the back of a screen.
Disadvantages of this method is the high investment for the player to start off with, then I have my ongoing support fees on top of that. And of course there are many advantages too.

I'd like to know more about SaaS, what's the costing model like, and whether or not there are any limitations to what you can do in regards to templates, and how is the quality output like on a large screen?

I do not understand your question especially about quality output. I think there is a missunderstanding on SaaS.

SaaS DS is exactly the same thing as a DS software excepting you do not handle the servers. So you have your players on sites and quality is great (always depending the software used).

Also, today you have some "normal" DS software providers who come onto SaaS market (like Scala but not limited to). You have to be very careful with that type of providers as they are not real SaaS providers. They just keep the server on their side but the software and services are still very far away from real SaaS providers (like BroadSign but not limited to).

To comeback on the capabilities of the SaaS solution, it again depends on the provider you choose, some are giving a full range of services and features, and some are very poor. You have to define your requirements before looking at the products (so you will not follow the speech of the vendor and then have a real comparison chart).

That's our job to help companies to find the right hardware/software regarding what they want to achieve. We have tested more than 100 DS softwares from the simplest one to the more complex. Same thing with hardware, we are testing in real situation screens, PC platforms, wireless transmitter, CAT5/6 video solution. But we are also able to provide a full project survey with proof of concept, business plan (including financial plan with ROI), network design, ... all based on strategy and tactic marketing point-of-view and not like a screen vendor, "just trying to have some screen on the walls". We are able to manage a tender process with project management from A to Z, having the right language with vendors but also translating desires to real request for customers. We have seen that a lot of people who wants to start (or already in) DS business don't know the real aspect of that market. DS is just a tool for strategic and tactic media marketing against mass media marketing. If your network is done wrong, installed in the bad locations, using not a good fitting software, ... you will face issues getting advertisers onboard. And if your network is not for commercial usage, you might not deliver the right message at the right moment to the right audience...

We work worldwide and we are already behind more than 150 projects which represents more than 25000 screens.

Using Saas means that there is a dependency in using an Internet connection to connect to the centrally hosted server. One of the downsides I see with this is that SaaS systems needs to be distributed (i.e. have a server geographically located in each country). This is to avoid congestion and bandwidth limitations to the SaaS server. Looking at the network infrastructure point of view, having too many clients or players connecting all to the same server will saturate the link.

Claudio75, you mentioned that you've tested CAT5/6 video solution... what do you think about the video degradation if any when using this type of solution. Especially when using CAT5/6 extenders.

I like your business approach and we also follow the same methodologies. Maybe we can share some of these so that we can improve the way we approach future projects and clients.

Are you able to share some of the case studies? I would love to read some of your projects. There is a dedicated section for this http://www.digitalsignageportal.com/Digital-Signage-Forum/Digital-Signage-Case-Studies/

you are right, Saas belongs to internet connectivity but if you have/are a good network operator you will need the connectivity for issues feedback (as monitoring).

However, a good SaaS provider works on clustering, redundancy servers locations, ... which avoid bandwidth issues and saturation. That's why I am saying to be careful about your choice of SaaS provider.

Regarding CAT5/6 video solution, I am against this kind of solution as we always facing issues in quality and sync epecially when using HDMI/DVI. I always prefer to use the player behind the screen or next to connected by using a real cable. It is the same with wireless video connexion. I always use extenders and wireless in extrem configuration when I can't do in another way and the screen must be installed in the location.

I haven't been across any SaaS provider that details how their infrastructure is set up. I'll be interested to find out this information.

One of the problems with having the player next to the screen is security, especially if its out in the public arena. Someone can easily come along, disconnect the player, change the settings or even connect to your network if they wanted to (that's if it's not behind a firewall).

I think quality is always an issue but I've been told better quality extenders are coming out on the market which will hopefully improve the quality instead of the other way around.

So from what you're saying, the order would be:

1. Physical cable connection (no extenders or splitters)
2. Extenders or splitters
3. Wireless video connections

I guess it all comes down to the situation, environment and requirements.