Hardware

The long game: How SpinetiX is betting it all on hardware that lasts

Francesco Ziliani, CEO at SpinetiX, joined Daniel Brown, editor at Digital Signage Today, via video link hot on the heels of ISE 2024 to share insights into current digital signage trends and strategies for success in a changing industry.

February 20, 2024

Francesco Ziliani, CEO at SpinetiX, joined Daniel Brown, editor at Digital Signage Today, via video link hot on the heels of ISE 2024 to share insights into current digital signage trends and strategies for success in a changing industry.

SpinetiX has attended 18 out of 20 years at Integrated Systems Europe (ISE), Europe's largest annual show for digital signage and proAV. Ziliani noted that the show is a tradition for SpinetiX, but there was a personal element this year as well, since his wife is from Barcelona.

With a high attendance both from exhibitors and attendees, Ziliani said he believes this is the first year since the pandemic that he believes the show is back at full steam; the SpinetiX team was so busy in its own booth that it was hard to get out to view others.

Even so, Ziliani did mention that one of the highlights for him was seeing the QSys booth, which focused on delivering an experience to the viewer.

"They have automated scenarios that you usually have in corporate or in education by combining different AV technologies together," Ziliani said. "There was digital signage, there were lights, there were cameras, there were sensors. And what I like about the experience that they have been able to offer to their visitors was inspiring because it teaches us that we live in an industry where technology synergies are so important.

"I'm very glad that at SpinetiX we understood this from the beginning, so we have been from the beginning thinking how we can offer APIs and how we can use a leverage third party technologies to really help our customers to integrate — because in the end our customers are integrators, so how can we make their lives simpler?

"And, on the QSys booth, they really did a good job, I believe, in reminding us we are an industry of integration, and the potential is just huge."

10 Key Takeaways

Additional takeaways from the conversation include:

1. SpinetiX Arya, a cloud-based CMS software, is a central focus for the company this year, with notable expansion in education, corporate, and hospitality verticals.
2. SpinetiX has also worked to simplify the setup process for 8K video walls by integrating between Arya and the new SpinetiX 8K video players, including a new software wizard for system integrators that helps take into account things like bezels and orientation variables.
3. It is vital to educate your end users, particularly on how to publish their content once an integration job is installed successfully.
4. Ziliani noted a guiding principle of innovation for his team is a saying: "Behind simplicity there is the highest sophistication."
5. While the high cost of ultra-high definition content, such as 8K, may be slowing its adoption somewhat today, its dominance is inevitable, so the industry needs to prepare and future-proof for UHD when planning deployments.
6. Part of the long-term ethos of SpinetiX comes from its roots as a Swiss company, Ziliani said. "Swiss people live in mountains, and they know the importance of a long life, of tools, of what you create. So we are not creating something that is programmed to die because you stop supporting it. Our philosophy is really to offer a product that can last as much as it's reasonable to support it."
7. The mindset is behind SpinetiX products being regularly in use for 10 years or more, which is far beyond the industry average for media players (Ziliani said he has had some customers report that they are happily using products they purchased 18 years ago).
8. This also ties into sustainability, which is a top priority for the company, which seeks to reduce e-waste and other ecological impacts by creating long-lasting products.
9. Partnerships are vital to success in the digital signage industry, and Ziliani said SpinetiX abides by another maxim in this area: "Alone you go fast, but together you go far."
10. SpinetiX has launched a new line of media players, called IBX.

The full interview, including trend analysis for the European and global digital signage industry, is available above. Interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Video credit: Daniel Brown/ Networld Media Group.