For years, the interactive display industry focused on building better hardware and deploying devices at scale. Today, schools are asking a different question: are these tools actually delivering value in the classroom?

To explore how the market is evolving, we sat down with Michael Strand, Chief Revenue Officer at Promethean, a global leader in interactive displays.

According to Michael, success today is no longer just about selling devices. It’s about helping teachers fully adopt the technology and ensuring it delivers lasting value in schools.

“There’s definitely more scrutiny now around ROI, how technology is actually being used and its impact on learning” says Michael. “Schools are looking much more closely at the lifetime value of the products they invest in.”

Michael Strand, Chief Revenue Officer at Promethean

From rapid adoption to long-term value

Michael explains that the pandemic dramatically accelerated adoption as schools searched for tools to support remote and hybrid teaching.

The result was a rapid wave of deployment across classrooms. But the speed of adoption meant many schools purchased technology without fully considering how it would be used in everyday teaching. At the same time, the surge in demand brought a flood of products into the market, some of which were not designed specifically for education.

As a result, some of the technology installed during that period ended up being underused.

That experience reshaped how schools approach technology investment. Decision-makers now look much more closely at return on investment and lifetime value, while also expecting classroom technology to integrate with existing systems and meet requirements around security, manageability and sustainability.

Another major shift is how schools manage device lifecycles.

In the past, refreshes often happened in large batches, with schools replacing displays across entire campuses at the same time. Today that model is far less common.

Interactive displays are more durable than ever, and budget pressures mean schools are running devices longer. Michael notes that displays can remain in classrooms for five to eight years, sometimes longer.

Therefore, many institutions now operate mixed fleets of displays from different generations, purchased at different times and running different systems.

For technology providers, this creates a new challenge: ensuring new technologies can work seamlessly alongside devices that may already be several years old.

Designing technology for a mixed-fleet reality

For Promethean, these changes highlight a broader shift in how interactive displays should be designed, focusing on flexibility and upgradeability.

Instead of requiring schools to replace entire displays as technology evolves, the company designed its platform around a modular computing architecture. The computing module can be upgraded independently from the display itself, allowing schools to adopt new operating systems or emerging technologies without replacing the full device.

“The key is to provide customers with a seamless, cost-effective and sustainable way to upgrade,” says Michael. “It also helps future-proof the technology for new developments, such as AI-enabled applications.”

Promethean has also focused on ensuring its software environment works consistently across different operating systems and devices. This allows teachers to use displays within the digital ecosystems they already work in, whether they are using Windows, Chrome, Android or connecting Apple devices.

“Our software suite works across all of them and provides the seamless glue,” Michael explains. “For a teacher, it should feel like the same experience whether they’re using a PC, a Mac or another device.”

Beyond the technology itself, Promethean focuses on helping teachers integrate digital tools into everyday teaching. The company provides lesson-creation tools, curriculum resources and professional development programmes that support educators in using technology effectively in the classroom.

For Michael, this reflects a principle that has shaped the company since its early days.

“This company was built by teachers, for teachers,” he says. “We take that very seriously.”

Promethean focuses on providing customers with a seamless, cost-effective and sustainable way to upgrade their technology.

Experiencing classroom technology in practice

Designing technology that fits the needs of schools is only part of the challenge. The next step is ensuring educators can experience how it works in practice.

Customer experience plays a critical role in bridging that gap.

Unlike many technology purchases, the value of interactive displays becomes clear only when educators see them in real classroom settings.

“Seeing is believing,” Michael says. “When teachers can actually interact with the technology and see how it supports teaching, that makes a big difference.”

That is why technology companies cannot rely solely on product specifications or launches. Building meaningful engagement with the education community is just as important.

“These are long-term relationships,” Michael says. “We don’t look at this as a transactional business.”

At Promethean, this means focusing on storytelling and demonstration, showing how technology supports teaching and learning rather than simply presenting product features.

This is also why the company values its partnership with Bett.

Bett provides a rare opportunity to bring technology and storytelling together in front of the right audience.

Connecting with the education community at Bett

Michael describes Bett as a stalwart event, noting that educators from around the world have been coming to the show for many years to explore innovations, attend sessions and connect with the wider education community.

For Promethean, Bett provides a rare opportunity to bring technology and storytelling together in front of the right audience. At the show, educators can interact directly with the displays, explore classroom scenarios and speak with the Promethean team about how the tools are used in real teaching environments.

“We can’t go to every single partner site,” Michael explains. “But Bett allows us to show everything in one place, at one time.”

The event also provides an important opportunity to connect with Promethean’s global partner network.

“For us it’s also a chance to meet resellers and distributors from across the world,” he says. “We’ve had partners coming from Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East. It’s a really efficient way for us to connect with our international channel.”

Promethean has partnered with Bett for more than a decade and plans to continue engaging with the education community at Bett UK 2027.

From Michael’s perspective as CRO, the value of the event is clear.

“We still need to ensure ROI, and we have a really strong one with Bett,” he says.

That return begins with the booth experience, including how the team engages visitors, captures leads and tracks conversations.

“It’s about the follow-up,” Michael explains. “We move quickly and work closely with our channel partners to make sure those conversations turn into real opportunities.”

“If we’re investing this kind of money, we need to be able to show results from the leads,” he adds. “Everything else is icing on top, but it’s still significant.”

For companies like Promethean, Bett remains strong platform where they can connect directly with the global education community.

Those interactions help them better understand how classrooms are evolving and how technology can deliver meaningful impact in teaching and learning.