Design Smart Home Services, Not Connected Things

By Cees Links, president and CEO, GreenPeak

Are you designing for the smart home or for the new Internet of Things (IoT)? We all know it’s going to be really, really big.

• According to World Economic Forum: “By 2020, more than 5 billion people will be connected, not to mention 50 billion things.”

• Cisco says: “The IoT is a world where up to 50 billion things (or devices) will be connected to the Internet by 2020; or, the equivalent of six devices for every person on the planet.”

• Gartner says: “4.9 billion connected things will be in use in 2015 (up 30% from 2014), 25 billion by 2020.”

These organizations are all predicting amazing opportunities for the future growth of the IoT market. It all sounds quite rosy and bright. However, there is a growing undercurrent of industry grumbling and complaining that the IoT and smart home revolution seems to be taking a lot longer than it should. What is the problem? Maybe the industry is selling the wrong thing: a product instead of a service.

Engineering as a Service

It is time to take a new look at how our technology industry approaches and markets the potential of the smart home—the smart IoT. By giving consumers, as well as businesses, governments and corporations, what they want—effective service applications as well as complete managed solutions instead of DIY things—the tech industry can further accelerate the growth of smart technology, thereby making our lives safer, more efficient and more comfortable—all for less cost.

End users and consumers don’t want to resource, purchase, install and program a variety of smart home devices. They don’t want to be concerned with how these various devices will talk to each other, how these devices will connect to the Internet, and where and how they can be controlled. Consumers just want working, out-of-the-box products and services.

They also want secure homes. They want locks and alarms on their doors and windows that can be remotely controlled and monitored. They want locks that are smart enough to realize that when no one is home, the doors and windows should be closed and locked. Smart enough, even, to send a message to the homeowner asking for permission to lock the doors and windows, and go ahead and do so when the homeowner gives the OK.

End users want homes that are comfortable with control of the air conditioning and heating that are customized to how they live their lives. When no one is home, the HVAC does not need to be on, however, it should know the family’s schedule and assess the temperature of the home and the weather outside to begin making the home comfortable as the family heads home.

With smart homes, engineers are applying old technology to emerging applications. These basic sensing and control technologies have been available for decades. What is new is the Web connection, and the smartphones and tablets that can talk to these home systems.

What is needed now are service providers to handle the installation, maintenance and operation of the system. Yes, early innovators and earnest DIYers can go to their local home improvement store and buy and install all of this right now. But mostly, people just want it to work easily.

So instead of spending all of this time, money and PR to convince consumers to buy smart home things, the industry should team up with service providers to enable them to cost effectively market and manage these systems. Wouldn’t you be happy if a company like Apple or Intel decided to move into this space—instead of just selling products—and ran a smart home for you?

When we buy a car, most consumers really don’t care how the engine works, how the brakes slow down the vehicle, how the transmission changes gears, or the fuel system adjusts the gasoline/air mixture. They just want the car to go where they want it to go. The less interaction, the better.

In the same way, homeowners want a service that makes their lives safer, more efficient and more comfortable; all for less cost and with minimal maintenance.

Quit selling things and start selling services.

Links is CEO & Founder of GreenPeak. You may send comments to him about this article via [email protected].