A MarketScale Minute With ComQi

Stuart Armstrong, Group President and CRO of ComQi, was on hand at DSE 2018 to offer his veteran perspectives on the event and its impact on digital signage innovation.

ComQi is a leading supplier of digital signage solutions within major verticals primarily in retail, but also hospitality, healthcare, QSR, food service, corporate communications, and sports and entertainment.

Armstrong spoke of ComQi’s content management system, called Engage. Engage is a cloud-based system that is “very scalable” and able to “power a couple of screens to thousands of screens.” Armstrong is proud of the company’s “impressive client list of global companies” and attributes that success to the ComQi’s ability to function as “an integrator and cover everything for our clients from consulting to hardware procurement, installation, ongoing support, content design and development—all layered on top of that powerful CMS, Engage.”

We asked Armstrong what new items his company brought to DSE 2018. He explained that there is “a lot of new news in general,” including ComQi’s recent acquisition by AUO, one of largest supplier of panels globally and largest supplier of digital panel signage in the industry. Armstrong is excited to announce that ComQi is “now a wholly owned subsidiary of AUO, which gives our clients huge value and cost advantages in the rollout of their products.”

Also new is the launch of the company’s new extension to the Engage platform called Onsite. This software empowers store personnel to update templates and content and upload directly to a screen in their store. Noted Armstrong, “the big thing [for digital signage] is to create relevance, and now giving control to onsite systems,” while maintaining the “integrity and quality of brand,” allows companies to perform quick updates in a tablet-friendly platform that lends itself to the paramount task of staying relevant with their content. Introducing this new software at DSE was an exciting moment for the ComQi.

In regard to how the industry in general is integrating IoT, Armstrong spoke with confidence that ComQi has been at the forefront of that movement. The Engage system is a smart hub with the ability to do device management, an activity key to IoT. He added that all new developments “need to work within the ecosystem attached to dig signage.” For example, the tasks of communicating with POS systems and engaging in data exchange are critical, as well as attachability to sensors and integration with touch screens, all of which Engage manages beautifully.

Why is DSE so special to ComQi? Armstrong proudly stated that he and his team have been at DSE from the beginning, 15 years strong and continuing to move forward. He has witnessed changes in the size of the show itself as well as the booths, but most notable is the evolution of buyer sophistication. In addition, it’s exciting to have a front row seat to the variety of companies spawned from the ever-growing digital signage industry, and he believes their presence adds value to the show as well. He views the event as a place for solutions, which differentiates them from other industry tradeshows. In closing, he offered, smiling, “It’s a pleasure to see our clients, prospects, and partners coming to the show,” engaging in the “collaboration that this forum provides.”