IoT platforms of various types are critical components of smart home offerings for both consumer and enterprise-facing tasks.  Device makers and service providers must make crucial build, buy, or integrate decisions about the platforms that will enable their solutions and expand their value.  As technology advances rapidly, most service providers do not have the appetite for developing their own platforms but seek open platforms with as much future flexibility as possible. They can struggle with understanding how platform options are differentiated and which combination of platform integrations will provide the most compelling service offerings.

According to smart home device owners, the voice assistant platforms have rocketed to the top of both familiarity and usage compared to their competitors. Usage of voice platforms for smart home control has more than doubled in the past year. Overall, smart home platforms still have relatively low consumer familiarity. Purchase of control systems supported by platforms have shown much slower growth rates than standalone devices as consumers increasingly tend to enter the smart home journey by building their own personal ecosystems incrementally rather than buying bundled kits as they once did.  Still, once a consumer owns more than 3 devices, there is an over 50% chance they will own a home control system of some kind. In the long run, this is where platforms will be positioned to bring the most value.

Moderated by Brad Russell, the CONNECTIONS™ session, “Smart Home Platforms: Building Service Revenues,” addresses how companies in this space can leverage platforms to provide a reliable, interoperable ecosystem with a simplified user experience, delivering expanded value through enhanced features, cloud intelligence, and security to protect user data and privacy.

This session takes place on Wednesday, May 22 from 8:30 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. Speakers include:

• Alice DeBiasio, Vice President, General Manager, Pro Security Products, Resideo
• Sachin Shukla, Global Business Development Manager, Samsung SmartThings
• Mark Spates, Product Lead, Google
• Linden Tibbets, Chief Design Officer, IFTTT

For more information visit www.connectionsus.com