Giving it some thought
By choosing to host a network in-house, system operators can maintain total control and ownership of the network and its data, with no risk posed by third-party system failures. This should improve reliability.
On the same note, however, it means IT staff must be dedicated to supporting and maintaining the system to ensure quick response times and high efficiency. Some companies embrace this, as they want to create and manage their processes to fully optimize existing in-house resources.
When digital signage applications are hosted in-house, information technology (IT) staff must be dedicated to supporting and maintaining response times and efficiency.
Cloud-based digital signage, while not a good fit for every business environment, attracts other clients with promises of lower costs and reduced hardware requirements. There are also many cases where its ‘elastic’ nature is preferable to an on-premise system. In some situations, allowing a third party to host a premise-based system—i.e. implementing an IaaS model—may be a viable hybrid option.
The key is to do research beforehand and understand the various advantages and disadvantages of on-premise, cloud-based and hybrid systems. This effort will save time and resources by ensuring the network initially deployed can meet the client’s requirements over time.
It is important to take these needs into account by considering workload trends within the organization. What specifically is required of the digital signage system? Will that change or will the use of the network remain fairly steady? The answers to these questions can help determine how best to host the network.
If the client knows workloads will come in batches, with periods of inactivity in between, then an on-premise system risks wasting some of the resources that must be provisioned at the outset. Similarly, if high growth means the average use of a digital signage network is rapidly increasing, keeping up can be a major challenge, making content deployment lead times for an on-premise system longer and more complex.
Unpredictable bursts in system demand can be handled well by cloud-based networks. On-premise users cannot themselves effectively plan for extreme cases where a sudden spike in use will result in reduced performance. These trends are often a result of external factors that influence network requirements, so it may also make sense for the network to be externally managed.
Doug Bannister is founder, CEO and director of software development for Omnivex, a digital signage network management software provider based in Concord, Ont. This article is based on a seminar he presented at the 2012 Digital Signage Expo (DSE) in March. For more information, visit www.omnivex.com and www.digitalsignageexpo.net.
