I read an article today written by the venerable Tim O'Reilly where he talks about the similarities in "business" leadership structures used by Google, WalMart and Barack Obama. O'Reilly attributes success to data, specifically the ability to collect, analyze, and report back data (massive amounts of data) in a timely and useful way.

"Competitive advantage comes from capturing data more quickly, and building systems to respond automatically to that data."

Measurement, proper filtering, and interpretation of relevant data are like the legs of a three-legged stool. There must be a way to get relevant data into the hands of consumers, operators and decision makers. In the case of a digital sign network operator, such relevant information in the face of digital signage metrics would be of extreme importance. As metrics reaches ever closer to standardization, we'll see niche companies capitalize greatly on the ability to capture, interpret and distribute measurement data from on a grand scale. As this happens, digital signage will reach the point where "buys-ins, and real buy-ins, by certain industry sectors, [meaning] the digital signage industry has truly succeeded." --J. Shaeffler.