Software is becoming increasingly important for digital signage. And the ability to scale is becoming central to the software. What Amazon, Microsoft and Google can deliver here and what software providers should consider when making their choice.
Digital Signage-Software: Hyperscalers – Curse or Blessing?
The digital signage software market is becoming more consolidated, as companies feel the pressure to scale. Customers now expect modern software with cloud-first features, strong IT security certifications, and full remote device management capabilities.
At the same time, companies like Samsung are turning the market into a platform business by offering app stores for third-party applications.
Scaling is key
Scaling refers to the ability of software solutions to manage increasing numbers of users, data, or requests without limiting performance.
There are two ways to scale:
- Vertical scaling (scale-up): adding more CPU or memory to a single server
- Horizontal scaling (scale-out): adding more servers to share the load
Using multiple servers, however, often requires a more complex setup and changes to the software architecture.
Help from Hyperscalers
Today, a modular and service-oriented design is essential. It allows different parts of the system to scale independently. For cloud-native developers – basically all new providers and increasingly many established digital signage CMS vendors – scaling is easier to implement.
Major cloud providers like Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud offer both vertical and horizontal scaling at the press of a button. Their global data centers and content delivery networks (CDNs) make it easy to deliver content quickly around the world.
However, these services can become expensive. Despite the cost, hyperscalers are often the only practical choice for newer or smaller providers that need to launch features quickly and stay up to date with security standards.
Risk of discontinuity
There is also the risk that relying on just one provider always brings. All three major hyperscalers are based in the US, which could pose challenges if trade tensions escalate.
Disruptions of the software and services landscape would impact not only digital signage but much of the global IT infrastructure. That’s why providers in regions like the EU, China, or India should consider local alternatives to ensure business continuity.
New benchmarks
In the past, digital signage companies needed at least 100,000 active licenses to stay competitive. Now, that threshold seems to be shifting.
While industry giants like Stratacache and Samsung have over a million licenses each, companies with 200,000 or more are currently growing faster than the market – both organically and through acquisitions.
Learn more about the software leaders in our invidis CMS Ranking 2025.
