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The Cloud: Why 2012 Will Be a Breakout Year
Managing security, phone systems, thermostats and more with the cloud.
Brett Price launched Clare Controls in 2011 as a cloud-based home automation system.
Cloud computing is one of CE Pro's Top 5 Home Technology Opportunities for 2012. We will be profiling each trend over the next week as part of our State of the Industry Report.
By now, CE pros are fairly well versed in streaming media and cloud-based content, even if such services can be difficult to manage and challenging to monetize.
But there are additional opportunities in cloud-based services. We believe 2012 will be a breakout year for hosted home control, including security, energy management, telecommunications and whole-house automation.
We hear this often from integrators: “I don’t trust the cloud for my clients. It isn’t reliable.” And the LAPD recently dumped Google's Gmail email service, saying it could not meet the required security needs.
Yet many CE pros entrust their entire business to the cloud (also known as SaaS or software as a service), sharing Google documents, for example, and using Salesforce.com or some other cloud-based sales and CRM software.
“We’ve moved from all internal Microsoft products to manage all communications and documents in the cloud,” says Scott Newnam of Raleigh, N.C.-based Audio Advice.
But he’s “not nervous” about moving more home technologies to the cloud, just as the company has done with content. In fact, Newnam thinks it may make more sense to manage some home-control functions in the cloud than it does to manage audio/video systems.
He points out that mass-market providers such as ADT, Comcast and Verizon - all of which rolled out cloud-based home-control services in 2011 - focus on security, thermostats and cameras.
“They’re very, very different from music systems and HD switching systems, which have lots of permutations that can change on a regular basis,” Newnam says. “You don’t have to go and change them [home automation devices] every day, and it’s much easier to provide that without a lot of custom logic.”
He foresees hybrid solutions where some of the less complicated subsystems like thermostats - “You might not see a new thermostat for 10 years” - are managed in the cloud, with more dynamic systems like audio and video managed locally.
Also, says Brett Price of the startup home-automation company Clare Controls, “when you look at those types of products, the user sensitivity to response time isn’t going to be that great. No user is going to be that aggravated if it takes a second-and-a-half for a key press on a thermostat to actuate something.”
Clare was launched in 2011, along with several other companies and products with the cloud at their core - and not just security and home automation, either. Several companies including startups Allure Energy, EcoFactor and Nest, as well as old-timer Honeywell, bowed cloud-enabled (not just IP-enabled) smart thermostats. Newcomer Navvo launched the Voco music management solution with a speech-recognition engine hosted in the cloud. And virtually all of the leading power-management providers now offer cloud-based solutions.
And then there’s Panasonic, which released a cloud-based phone system that does away with the typical PBX hub. It starts with an Internet-connected telephone base station that can communicate wirelessly with up to six extensions. The handsets cost about $300 each and the extensive telecom features cost $40 per month per line.
By now, CE pros are fairly well versed in streaming media and cloud-based content, even if such services can be difficult to manage and challenging to monetize.
But there are additional opportunities in cloud-based services. We believe 2012 will be a breakout year for hosted home control, including security, energy management, telecommunications and whole-house automation.
We hear this often from integrators: “I don’t trust the cloud for my clients. It isn’t reliable.” And the LAPD recently dumped Google's Gmail email service, saying it could not meet the required security needs.
Yet many CE pros entrust their entire business to the cloud (also known as SaaS or software as a service), sharing Google documents, for example, and using Salesforce.com or some other cloud-based sales and CRM software.
“We’ve moved from all internal Microsoft products to manage all communications and documents in the cloud,” says Scott Newnam of Raleigh, N.C.-based Audio Advice.
More Cloud News
Cloud Services: 4 Benefits for CE Pros
LAPD Drops Gmail, Questions Cloud Security
Say Goodbye to Huge Racks
CEA: Cloud Will Thrive in 2012
While his company does offer cloud-based security services (via Alarm.com), “there’s not really a marketing push for it,” he says.Cloud Services: 4 Benefits for CE Pros
LAPD Drops Gmail, Questions Cloud Security
Say Goodbye to Huge Racks
CEA: Cloud Will Thrive in 2012
But he’s “not nervous” about moving more home technologies to the cloud, just as the company has done with content. In fact, Newnam thinks it may make more sense to manage some home-control functions in the cloud than it does to manage audio/video systems.
He points out that mass-market providers such as ADT, Comcast and Verizon - all of which rolled out cloud-based home-control services in 2011 - focus on security, thermostats and cameras.
“They’re very, very different from music systems and HD switching systems, which have lots of permutations that can change on a regular basis,” Newnam says. “You don’t have to go and change them [home automation devices] every day, and it’s much easier to provide that without a lot of custom logic.”
He foresees hybrid solutions where some of the less complicated subsystems like thermostats - “You might not see a new thermostat for 10 years” - are managed in the cloud, with more dynamic systems like audio and video managed locally.
Also, says Brett Price of the startup home-automation company Clare Controls, “when you look at those types of products, the user sensitivity to response time isn’t going to be that great. No user is going to be that aggravated if it takes a second-and-a-half for a key press on a thermostat to actuate something.”
Clare was launched in 2011, along with several other companies and products with the cloud at their core - and not just security and home automation, either. Several companies including startups Allure Energy, EcoFactor and Nest, as well as old-timer Honeywell, bowed cloud-enabled (not just IP-enabled) smart thermostats. Newcomer Navvo launched the Voco music management solution with a speech-recognition engine hosted in the cloud. And virtually all of the leading power-management providers now offer cloud-based solutions.
And then there’s Panasonic, which released a cloud-based phone system that does away with the typical PBX hub. It starts with an Internet-connected telephone base station that can communicate wirelessly with up to six extensions. The handsets cost about $300 each and the extensive telecom features cost $40 per month per line.
2012 State of the Industry Report
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Article Topics
News · Product News · Business Resources · Home Automation and Control · Control Systems · Security · Clare Controls · Cloud · State Of The Industry ·About the Author
Julie Jacobson, Editor-at-large, CE Pro
Julie Jacobson is co-founder of EH Publishing and currently spends most of her time writing for CE Pro, mostly in the areas of home automation, networked A/V and the business of home systems integration. She majored in Economics at the University of Michigan, earned an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin, and has never taken a journalism class in her life. Julie is a washed-up Ultimate Frisbee player with the scars to prove it. Follow her on Twitter @juliejacobson.
6 Comments (displayed in order by date/time)
One of the true values of the cloud is residual, recurring revenue. The AV industry has struggled for years to find a true answer to that problem. By offering cloud-based solutions, such as control, system monitoring, communications, and other sub-systems, the AV integrator has a chance to build a recurring revenue base, and that is something that can be sold at exit.
Hey Julie!
You might want to do a follow up “Why 2012 will be the year of the lawsuit”, following Honeywell’s claim that anything round and good violates their IP.
Tom, I’m sure you can dig up some of your old patents and make a buck or two, no?
Take a wild guess who already owns my patent!
If only you got royalties ...
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Cloud Computing as a whole will make giant strides in 2012, the benefits offered by the cloud will allow businesses to expand and innovate even in the current financial environment , Just watched an informative video presentation on cloud computing,Technology benefits , providing insight into cost savings and strategies for adoption@http://bit.ly/uMMik3