4 Common Mistakes Made During a Digital Signage Deployment By Frank Lucer At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Deploying a digital signage initiative is fraught with a number of potential pitfalls. We learn some of them the hard way. Often, the most frustrating - and expensive - problems are revealed only after a network has been fully deployed. In retrospect, it's easy to identify mistakes that were committed along the way, but costly to resolve the issues they cause.

There are a number of common blunders that new customers and administrators make when deploying a signage initiative. The good news is that upfront planning and foresight can help you avoid making them. In this article, I'll describe 4 mistakes that can lead to an ineffective deployment.

#1 - Lack Of Scalability

It's likely that your signage program will expand over time. When you make the initial investment in the project, it's difficult to predict how its integration will encompass additional components and functionality as your needs change. Unfortunately, this lack of foresight can result in a network that isn't capable of supporting a seamless expansion. That can lead to costly upgrades. Even though there will always be a level of uncertainty, try to forecast how your network will grow in the future.

#2 - Using Untested Content

While the individual components that comprise your system (i.e. media server, plasma screens, etc.) are important, the design and use of content plays a key role. The problem is that the content is often the last variable that operators consider. When pressed for time, it is often created hurriedly and deployed without being tested. Compatibility issues, effectiveness, and the manner in which the content supports sales efforts and other initiatives must be tested before being deployed.

#3 - Lack Of Training

Too often, companies invest in a digital signage network without giving sufficient thought to training issues. In many cases, an untrained employee with little to no experience is given the task of spearheading the project. The problems that can occur may be obvious: ineffective design and deployment of content, gaps in security or functionality, and configuration issues. Before moving forward with the initiative, it's important to identify a team who will oversee the program. The members of that team should discuss training issues with the signage company.

#4 - Lack Of Budget

A large network deployment can easily cost tens of thousands of dollars. Depending upon the retailer with whom you're working, they may be open to a progressive payment structure based upon tiered levels of completion. For example, rather than paying $50,000 upfront, you may be able to pay on a 40-30-20-10 schedule. 40% would be due after the contract has been negotiated; 30% would be due when the system has been delivered; 20% due after installation, and the remainder due at project completion.

Occasionally, a company will fail to properly plan their budget. Suffice to say that if you fail to make the payments as detailed in the contract, it can stall the installation and deployment of your network. This happens more often than you might think; plan conservatively to avoid budget-related issues.

Ensuring A Smooth Deployment

The 4 mistakes that I've described above ensnare many would-be network operators. Fortunately, each of these mistakes can be easily avoided. Consider your long-term signage needs in order to build sufficient scalability into your network. Test every piece of content that you plan to deploy. Discuss training issues with your signage company and prepare an airtight budget through contract completion. In an upcoming column, we'll explore a few more mistakes that can sabotage your digital signage network prior to its launch.

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