The New PaaS

The Internet of Things (IoT) enables a new class of service – Product as a Service. A world where devices, things, appliances, objects become a service being offered. This had started at the high end of market many years ago even before IoT went mainstream and technology analysts forecasting numbers on the “billions” of devices that would be connected. A great example was that of Rolls Royce and its airplane engine division that even before 2009 was generating significant service revenue by monitoring the jet engines while in flight: Britain’s lonely high-flier.

Imagine a world where you don’t pay for the light bulbs or doors or HVACs upfront but you pay monthly – it sounds preposterous – doesn’t it? Take it a step further – home builders could bundle all these services – team up with a finance company and include it all in a single lease? It does sound preposterous but attempts of this nature are real. Consider what BMW & Solar City are doing – buy an EV from BMW, and you can have Solar Power included in your lease – it is the value being generated by connecting and controlling everything!

 

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AHR industry leverages IoT

Last week I blogged to walk the talk, and getting on with IoT. I came across a blog post covering the AHR Expo – AHR is show focused on air conditioning, heating and refrigeration expo. Nest after being acquired by Google last year made HVAC, Thermostats and IoT popular. The acquisition was a major driver in throwing visibility on IoT. The reality, though, was that thermostats (and hence HVAC) were being enabled by IoT for quite sometime. But I digress…

Businesses of all sizes use HVAC, Refrigeration and Building Automation. And companies such as Honeywell, Schneider, Daiken, and Rheem have been enabling their products to be smart and connected. HVAC and Building Automation systems are installed & maintained, typically, by third parties. The third party integrators, contractors form the backbone of this business.

A sign of success is when contractors who install these “AHR” systems, and support them for repairs and maintenance – are benefitting from enabling smart connectivity on the systems. This leads to a win-win for both the contractors and the consumers or business owners. First step is to enable smart connectivity to their equipment, next step is to train and make the IoT-enabled tools available to the contractors.