To Certify or Not To Certify - it Depends
When someone says they are certified, what does that really mean? According to the Oxford Dictionary, certification means “the action or process of providing someone or something with an official document attesting to a status or level of achievement.” Some examples of the word used in a sentence might include: You must be certified to practice dentistry. The masonry work must be done by someone who is certified for the job. This food is certified organic. This preowned car is certified.
So, being certified means something. You have taken the effort to know more about a specific subject than the average Joe and that makes you different, some might say qualified to discuss that subject with a more knowledgeable perspective.
In the world of digital signage this certification process is important for several reasons. First, unlike ANY other application of technology, the answer to ANY question you or your customers may ask is “it depends.”
It depends on: where you’re placing the screens; how many screens you will have; what the content is on the screens; what you want your messaging to do; how big the screens need to be; how often they need to be updated and who is doing the updating; where are the screens being placed; where are the players located; how many content streams do you have; how long do the loops need to be; etcetera, etcetera, etcetera…
To intelligently ask or answer these questions, having a fundamental knowledge of what is involved in creating a digital signage network is imperative. This applies whether you are putting one screen in your lobby or 10,000 screens in McDonald's or Walmart.
The Digital Signage Experts Group (DSEG) was established in 2008 to provide the digital signage industry impartial, agnostic, and vendor neutral thought leadership and the tools to educate and inform end users, dealers, distributors and manufacturers on the key elements that go into every digital signage deployment. The Digital Signage Federation (DSF), the Digital Signage Expo (DSE), and numerous manufacturers, distributors, resellers, and end users have partnered with the DSEG to bring a comprehensive set of industry certification programs to the global digital signage industry. The programs address the major skill sets needed to successfully design and implement a digital signage network.
The basic Digital Signage Certified Experts (DSCE) class is a requirement for everyone involved in designing or deploying a digital signage network, whether you are an end user, a system integrator, a distributor or a manufacturer in the space. The other certification courses become more specialized.
If you have anything to do with content, content strategy or content creation, the Digital Content & Media Expert (DCME) becomes a necessary addition to your digital signage certification journey.
If you are at all involved with the technological aspects of designing or deploying a digital signage network, the Digital Signage Display Expert (DSDE) and the Digital Signage Network Expert (DSNE) are both classes you should seriously consider to set you apart from the rest of the PRO-AV and IT reseller community.
Taking these courses, on line, at your own speed, can enhance your ability to address your and your customer’s questions in a more professional manner with knowledge to back it up. You become the subject matter expert, the go to person most likely to know how to navigate the “it depends” minefield that is digital signage.
Please consider signing up to today. The investment is minimal and the time spent is well worth the rewards.
More information about the Digital Signage Experts Group can be found on their website.