The middle of last week saw Ingram’s first Broadsign Reseller Webinar [1] and at first we were a little unsure as to what the advantage was in this type of reseller arrangement (it looked to us that one still needed to sign up with Broadsign at the cost of USD 4000 before engaging with Ingram BUT we are told that this is not the case and we are happy to correct that).
Ingram have been telling potential allies “You will first need to go to BroadSign’s website to become a certified BroadSign reseller. Once that is complete, that will unrestrict the sku’s and you will be able to purchase the BroadSign product from your IM sales rep”
BroadSign has two different software options available..
- BroadSign Express – which gives you the capabilities to build content, access the BroadSign image library, and software and network support
- BroadSign Ultimate – includes everything from Express with additional capabilities
BroadSign Ultimate requires that you establish a ‘domain’ – this domain is a onetime fee of USD 4,000 and on top of all that of course (it’s SaaS after all) you have the reoccurring fee for the monthly license per media player.
This Ingram deal, the brainwave of Jeff Dahlstom we believe, must have taken a good 15 months of work to launch, because BroadSign were touting it back at ScreenExpo in February 2008.
With several FTEs undoubtedly committed to Ingram with customer support service, BroadSign are going to have to sell a lot of licenses just to cover the acquisition and setup costs of this business venture.
The whole concept of SaaS is to remove barriers to entry – BroadSign Express does that and it’s BroadSign Ultimate that requires a USD 4000 fee to kick start the domain process.
3 Comments To "Ingram – BroadSign’s Middle Man"
#1 Comment By Daniel Parisien On 13 February 2009 @ 16:13 @717
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the post. Just a quick note of clarification: BroadSign Express does not require a domain setup – it is the entry level offering. Ultimate requires a domain, which is essentially a private network, and it unlocks all of the functionality of the BroadSign Platform. BroadSign Express is an extremely easy to use web interface which we are explaining as a powerpoint for digital signage.
#2 Comment By Nurlan Urazbaev On 13 February 2009 @ 21:08 @922
In other words, if I translate Dan’s info to myself into plain English: BroadSign Express, which is projected to be the most popular product, does not require any upfront fee, only low monthly fee per player software is required, which includes hosting and basic support. This will allow small operators to be set up literally in minutes and start running their content at a fraction of a cost of traditional network ownership.
BroadSign Ultimate, as I understand it, is the enterprise version of the product, where the operator will have a dedicated server domain, hence – the domain registration fee… Did I interpreted your post correctly Dan?
#3 Comment By Daniel Parisien On 13 February 2009 @ 23:02 @001
Nurlan said it better 🙂
Chris, would it be possible to post a correction to the story? It is somewhat misleading and I don’t think casual dailydooh.com readers will necessarily go into the comments of this story to get a clear picture.
Thanks again,