Cisco Systems is building on its enterprise video portfolio. The networking giant started with video surveillance technology. Then it released a digital media system and last October it unveiled telepresence technology.
Digital signage, the most recent move, fits into these announcements, said Erica Scroeder, senior manager of marketing for emerging technologies at Cisco, based in San Jose, Calif.
Cisco, which does not make large LCD flat panel or plasma displays, has established an initial go-to-market partnership with NEC Display Solutions. It is not, however, an exclusive deal.
“They are the market share leaders for display. The intent here is as customers implement digital signage, they want to get quickly up and running. NEC and Cisco can do that,” Scroeder said.
Another reason for the NEC partnership is the display vendor’s solutions focus. Of the more than 57 vendors in the market with LCD flat panel displays, NEC is one of the few that carry content management solutions as part of its offering through the channel.
For the channel, Cisco is aiming at breadth and depth similar to its advanced technologies line. “We want to give partners yet another opportunity to differentiate themselves and expand their portfolio. For those with a strong vertical focus they can layer on routing, switching, wireless and security onto digital signage along with physical security,” said Rich Graham, area vice-president, distribution and channel operations at Cisco Canada.
Solution providers with Cisco and NEC digital signage solutions can earn 30 per cent margins or more on fully integrated solutions, Graham said.
Cisco’s strategy with digital signage will be based on ease of use because the end user in most cases will be non-technical people in areas such as human resources, public relations and marketing.
A human resource organization, for example, can use digital signage for training or delivering a message from the CEO before a retailer opens its doors to the public.
Then through the network and content delivery system the digital signage display can be changed to marketing or other selling information.
“It can be used for pep rallies similar to what BestBuy staff does before the doors open. Instead of rolling out slides and a projector that is hard to scale or e-mail, digital signage is a good option for those who are in charge of communications,” Scroeder said.
Information sharing is a trend she sees around stadiums, airports and hotels. “Digital signage is great for directional and public information in the event of an emergency,” she added.
Scroeder was at the San Francisco Airport when the ban on all liquids came into effect. Scroeder learned that airport staff was making photocopies to be used as paper signs about the change in regulation at 4 a.m. “If they had digital signage that change would have happened immediately,” she added.
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