US-based Uniguest acquires UK's ONELAN, a digital signage and visual communications company. 

Well-known in digital signage, wayfinding, and meeting space tech, ONELAN's footprint spans across 6000 projects in 50 countries and operates in the education, corporate, retail and hospitality sectors.

Less known to Europeans is the company Uniguest.While the press release highlighted its interest in cybersecurity ("Secure Technology Provider Acquires U.K. Digital Signage Company," Uniguest entered into security from its history of providing public technology such as internet kiosks and guest computer systems in hospitality, business services, senior living, community living, fitness centers and other industries.

Uniguest operates more than 28,000 devices across 15,000+ locations: that's more than enough exposure to the public to make software security a big priority. Their new next-generation software platform, Secured Advantage 10was built to protect the most innocent guest users and defend against cyber threats, viruses and malware. So, yes, Uniguest knows something about security.

Their website "Company Overview" defines the company with this headlined text: "Uniguest is a leading technology solutions provider of secure managed kiosks across multiple industries..."

Products in digital signage include: U-Local concierge kiosk station for guests and visitors to access and explore local knowledge; and U-Table, an interactive and Internet-enabled solution to enhance social areas, boost customer’s productivity, and to increase their property’s food and beverage revenue streams.

Uniguest doesn't mainly sell security products; it sells technology solutions that are distinguished from their many competitors by their security.

In 2013, Hoover (financial services research company) estimated Uniguest sales turnover as $43 million. Then private equity firm Atlantic Street Capital acquired Uniguest to accelerate the company’s growth and expand its technology offerings beyond the hospitality industry: Uniguest completed a series of four acquisitions in 2015 and 2016. Acquisitions included Vertical Systems, Inc. (VSi), Ascension Software, Eleven Wireless, and Showcase Technologies.

Now Uniguest is buying ONELAN’s digital signage and visual communications solutions as a natural extension to Uniguest’s portfolio of products.  ONELAN has much to offer Uniguest's traditional customers (guests, shoppers, and residents  in the hospitality, office retail, and community living industries.)

“Digital engagement is something we see as a crucial component to the future of the industries we operate in,” Uniguest CEO Jeff Hiscox says. “After doing a thorough review of the market, we realized ONELAN’s solutions are best in class and our combined solutions will drive a new “digital infusion” in the public use space of our customers.”

For the near future, ONELAN will continue to operate as a stand-alone business with its current team members out of the UK headquarters. Uniguest will fold the signage offerings into its solution set, and the products will be available to Uniguest clients during the Q2 2018.

“Uniguest is a natural partner for us as their Secured Advantage product goes hand-in-hand with our interactive signage solutions,” ONELAN Chief Commercial Officer Hugh Coghill-Smith [photo] adds. “Both companies strive to bring the most value to our customers. We determined the best way to provide a seamless customer experience was to bring the two portfolios together as one offering.”

While headquartered in the UK, ONELAN has a presence in Dubai, Germany, China and North America, with a worldwide network of more than 300 accredited dealers and system integrators in 50 countries. Recently ONELAN achieved the ISO 9001_2015 standard, making it one of the first companies in Europe to have achieved this.

What can you expect from this acquisition? First, ONELAN will have bigger pockets, a wider product offering and a chance to internationalize this American company. Second, Uniquest in USA will have new expertise and new proucts to sell to its extensive list of current customers (many of these American companies make worldwide purchase decisions.)

And the private equity company will-- in a few more years after the fruit of this acquisition-- be looking to cash in on its investment which has already seen 5 years, a long time in equity holdings.

Go Uniguest Buys ONELAN 

Europe’s largest IT event, CEBIT 2018, will be less of a traditional trade fair and more of a "business festival," organisers Deutsche Messe promise as they reveal further details on the show, such as theme areas, in-show events and optimised hall layout.

This is IT's home ground...IBM CEO Ginni Rometty will be delivering the keynote speech.

With 800 square meters (8600 sq. ft.), Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) will show hybrid infrastructures, location-based services, IoT systems, artificial intelligence, blockchain applications and supercomputers.

And Europe's giant IT system integrators like €12 billion ATOS will join in. ATOS wants to talk about the Workplace of the Future. "ATOS values CEBIT as a key platform for engaging in dialogue on digital transformation with its customers," comments Ursula Morgenstern, CEO of Atos Germany.

As show organizers cater to a new generation of IT executives (and a new generation of IT technology), CEBIT moves to the month of June and adopts a modern high tech festival format.

"With its winning threefold mix of innovation-rich showcases, quality conferences and informal networking opportunities, the new CEBIT will provide a 360 perspective on the digitisation of business, government and society," says Deutsche Messe. "As well as attracting IT experts, industry professionals and top-level decision-makers from the digital and IT user industries, our aim with the new CEBIT is increasingly to reach the next generation of business decision-makers."

The CeBIT 2018 format comprises four main sections-- d!conomy, d!tec, d!talk and d!campus. The d!conomy section covers digitisation, with exhibition topics such as digital business, digital administration, Internet of Things (IoT), security, networks, channel and distribution, mobile solutions and datacentres. The d!tec section is all about cutting-edge innovations and startups, d!talk is a conference platform and d!campus is a space for networking, live music and street food.

The show opens with a keynote by Jaron Lanier, an American computer scientist and Microsoft employee famous for his work in VR. Another speaker is Dan Lyons, the author of the "Secret Diary of Steve Jobs," who will talk about his experiences in "startup hell." German science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar will also take the stage to talk about AI and the future of our relationship with computers.

Other speakers include "memory hacker" Dr. Julia Shaw and Mikko Hypponen Chief Research Officer at the Finnish IT security company, F-Secure.

CeBIT opens on 11 June with a first day reserved for conference attendees and journalists. The day is capped off by a Welcome Night featuring high-ranking political leaders from Germany and abroad, setting the day for the three business-centric show days to follow. "Digital Friday" (15 June) targets the general public with hackathons, drone competitions and recruitement events for students and digital professionals.

The hall layout is somewhat revamped-- Halls 9 to 13, 14 to 17 and 25 to 27, as well as the central open-air site around the EXPO canopy, host a number of activities, showcases and networking events. The exhibition stands in the halls will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The d!campus is open till 11 pm and features a program of digital culture, street food and live performances by popular artists, such as German hip-hop star Jan Delay.

Editor’s Note: DIGITAL SIGNAGE NEWS EMEA is a Media Sponsor (along with rest of Channel Media Europe) of a pavilion for IT industry professionals. If you want to do business with IT channels, this is the place. Exhibitors wanting the ease of an turnkey stand and the convenience of a shared hospitality lounge—as well as the marketing support of a large cooperative pavilion--should contact Jan Nintemann, +49 541- 97126- 0, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Go New CEBIT Promises More Excitement for the Latest Generation of IT Executives

Go Global Fairs/TT-Messe, CEBIT with Jan Nintemann

Digital Signage Expo (DSE) may not have set an all-time attendance record this year, but it did deliver the highest buyer attendance (by percentage) in its 15-year show history-- -93.3% of total attendance were end-users, system integrators and advertising/brand executives.

End-users alone accounted for nearly 45% of the audience, a higher percentage than 2017.

Verified attendance was 4032-- on par with DSE’s attendance performance over the past five years. (With one exception, 2017. In 2017 the show was fortunate enough to have co-locations with three other events-- GlobalShop, Cinemacon and Pizza Marketplace)-- which gave DSE a significant one-year attendance boost. (And probably much better pizza…)

International attendees were 17.5% of the overall attendance, coming from 60 countries.

A stunning new media installation illuminating Chicago's West Loop won the APEX Award for Installation of the Year:150 Media Stream is a 3000-square-foot (278.7 sq. m) display divided into 89 separated super-thin LED blades variously sized between 3.25 inches (8.25cm) to 15 inches (38cm) in width, and standing vertically anywhere from 6 feet (1.8m) to 22-feet (6.7m) tall. Creative content is provided by distinguished artists as well as students from partnering cultural and educational institutions. Check out the video in the link below…

DSE 2019 will be in March 26-28 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Watch The Installation of the Year 2018

Go Check out the Rest of the Annual APEX Award Winners

Milestone AV Technologies’ brand identity is changing across all facilities, documents and online as signs and site logos are switched to Legrand.

Legrand is committed to serving the AV industry and AV users by supporting and investing in the brands and product lines, sold principally under the Chief, Da-Lite, Middle Atlantic, Projecta, Sanus and Vaddio brands.

“By joining Legrand, we became part of a bigger company with opportunities for greater service to our customers and more growth for our employees,” said Scott Gill, President – AV Division. “We’re excited to display our new corporate identity on our building, materials and through our website.”

This new identity also comes with a refreshed look for milestone.com. Customers will still have access to the product brands as well as all the customer friendly functions and features. Chief, Da-Lite, Projecta and Sanus have fully integrated experiences currently. The updated website now features landing pages for Vaddio and Middle Atlantic until their experiences are integrated into the website. Vaddio will be fully integrated in the next few months while Middle Atlantic is planned for early 2019. The milestone URL will transition to a Legrand URL mid-2018 as well.

Globally, Legrand employs nearly 36,000 people. Net global sales in 2016 were more than $5 billion with many products leading their category.

Go Milestone Becomes Legrand

Go Legrand: the Big News at ISE 2018