The Supply Chain challenges of the past few years have compelled organizations to reconsider their digital signage hardware strategy. In the past, IT departments often had a standard monitor and a standard media player (sometimes combined in System-on-Chip devices) that was rarely deviated from and easily obtainable for timed hardware refreshes. However, the disruption caused by supply chain issues, coupled with ongoing business needs, has necessitated a greater degree of flexibility and a reevaluation of the overall strategy.

IT departments and their AV Integrator partners now need to be more focused on content management platforms and the overall ecosystem as long as the technology supports the use case.

While digital signage hardware standards remain important, the disruptions in the supply chain have forced IT departments to reconsider their tactics. Previously, it was common to select a single monitor and media player for most installations, building expertise through repetitive installations and avoiding the time and cost associated with validating new players for security. However, once that same hardware became scarce, the question became what player was available that supported the use case.

If flexibility benefits the business in one instance, why not adopt a more flexible approach overall to achieve better business outcomes? For instance, if a lower-cost media player can support the majority of a company's use cases, it makes sense to save resources on those endpoints and allocate them towards more powerful technology for experiential use cases involving sensors and interactivity. And if your content management system can support multiple operating systems and use cases then you have complete flexibility. A company can go from a single standard that needs to support most use cases to a cost-saving matrix that can support all use cases.

Moving to this matrix also flips the entire digital signage decision process on its head. It doesn’t start with the physical space, followed by the hardware, and end with whatever software works. It starts with the platform. A secure and intelligent content management system that can cater to every use case, from enhancing manufacturing productivity to promoting retail advertising, and is compatible with multiple operating systems, empowers IT departments and their AV Integrator partners to address any challenges presented by the business.

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