More than eight million building management systems (BMS) will be integrated with some form of Internet-of-Things (IoT) platform, application or service by 2020, according to a recent report from ABI Research. However, like many suppliers in established markets today, commercial building management system vendors face both opportunities and threats when navigating the emerging IoT ecosystem.
According to ABI Research, the opportunity is that the IoT integration transforms the traditional BMS from an unconnected monolithic system to become part of a wider and integrated sensing and control network. Support for open BMS connectivity to third-party applications means BMS operation can be informed by a range of external events such as changing weather conditions or variable energy pricing.
While BMS players understand they cannot deliver a full range of services on their own, they are also wary of losing control over BMS implementations and missing out on new IoT-enabled revenue opportunities. The 'Integrating Building Management Systems into the IoT' report examines the various approaches to selling software and services that integrate the BMS into the IoT and covers major players in this space including BuildingIQ, Cisco Systems, CliMetrics, EnerNOC, Honeywell Building Control Systems, Johnson Controls Inc., Schneider Electric, Siemens Building Technologies, SkyFoundry, and Viridity Energy.
Dan Shey, Practice Director, ABI Research
Apart from hardware sales, it is applications and services that will drive much of the value from the IoT-integrated BMSs of the future.
