Seb Chakraborty, CTO for British Gas Connected Homes, answers the following industry questions prior to the 2015 CONNECTIONS Europe event taking place 10-11 November in Amsterdam:

What challenges does Europe face with rolling out new smart home & connected entertainment services?

• Standards – there are a huge number of non-compatible products that will not work with each other and this will mean consumers will be either locked in or spend a lot of money trying to get multiple products.
• Affordability - from a customer perspective, the technology is still very expensive and therefore so are the consumer RRPs (i.e. Euro 40 for a light bulb) and this needs to reduce over time to gain widespread appeal. From a manufacturer's perspective the current consumer model tend to be of price points which doesn’t make commercial sense unless the business can afford to cross subsidise with other value drivers.
• Connected devices have been confusing, fiddly and unable to work together – even the phrase ‘Internet of Things’ doesn’t mean much to a lot of people.
• Customers don’t understand why they want/need these products in their lives and that they have real value to them.  Many customers won't get it till they get it. Our job is to successfully relay why connected homes products are important and how they benefit from them. I would also add that experiential marketing and retail getting the right in-store experience will be crucial for sales.
• Security, Permissions and Customer Preferences are all rising themes as customers become aware of perceived risks of data

What is the biggest challenge your company faces in the next 3 – 6 months?

In a nutshell, the biggest challenge is reaching the mainstream. With Hive we are demonstrating that connected technology is no longer the sole preserve of the geeky or wealthy.

People have been let down by other, more complex connected products and consumers were turned off by the idea because they were unclear about the benefits,  what the products do and how they could be controlled. We want to change that, and in doing so take connected products to larger mainstream audiences. There is still work to be done but we’re trying to lead the way and make connected home products for everyone.

Within this, we know some customers, particularly those who are less familiar with the concept, need assistance with installation and after sales support. British Gas is uniquely placed to transform how people control their homes and curate the entire process; we’re the only UK provider to deliver and guarantee a complete end-to-end experience – from product creation to delivery, installation, customer service and the scale to support.

How will companies leverage the growth in the market in the next 12 months? What is the impact of the Internet Giants (Google, Amazon) getting involved in the market?

• There is opportunity for consolidation as the market is too fragmented with multiple brands and products, and there will be challenges for particularly the smaller players who could either struggle to scale or haven’t worked out the monetisation models.
• Growth means investment in all aspects of connected homes, from standards, product development, partnerships, integration approaches, all of which benefit the customer.
• For sure, the Internet Giants are having an impact and helping drive adoption of the connected home, which has to be a very good thing. Much of the work Google and Amazon are doing is very positive indeed and yet still in early stages. But then so is the truly connected home, which is still in a formative stage and we have a long way to go before we see critical mass and wide-spread adoption.

Seb will be speaking at the panel session “IoT: Adding Value to the Smart Home Experience" on 10 November at 13:30. For more information on the agenda for CONNECTIONS Europe, visit www.connectionseurope.com. 

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