Summary
Customers continue to demonstrate demand for home energy management solutions along with the many smart home products and services available on the market today. The challenge is that they want to be able to manage and control their individual experiences in one simple-to-use application. Historically disparate solutions, energy management and smart home, are converging by taking advantage of new technology platforms that can support both and do so via third party platform services. This Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) approach allows companies to focus on their customer and business growth objectives without the expense and complexity of having to build the capability internally. If curated well, these converged PaaS based solutions for energy management and smart home allows companies to create customer experiences unique to their brand. These solutions also allow them to extend their current portfolio of products and services combined in a single unified customer experience. Customers’ demand for quality experiences is increasing. Delivering non-energy products and services, like in-home warranty and repair, needs to be part of an entire value proposition placing the customer in the heart of it. 
Opportunity Exists to Be More Relevant to Your Customers
The variety and availability of smart home products offers a distinct opportunity to create winning customer experiences that supports energy companies core goals. These new experiences allow energy companies to create revenue growth programs in areas that are adjacent to their core business where they have the right to play. In many cases these new products and services create new channels to market. Owning a direct channel to your customers allows a shift in marketing efforts from passive to active. Interfacing with customers in through an application that they want strengthens your relevance. This new way of interacting with customers, offering new products and services, energy savings and insights solidifies your relevance. When these services are combined, energy companies may increase their relevance. Relevance is key to long-term customer relationships. Creating experiences that enable the type and increased frequency of interaction is what customers want. Providing customers with home controls and information through a single application not only strikes relevance, but also enhances their position as a trusted advisor. This offers customers the information that they want and need in a way that resonates with them. The alignment of customer centricity and digital capabilities offer businesses ways provide new, real-time value to customers to drive growth, enabling technology to drive relevancy and satisfaction.
Misperception of Cost, Time & Risk
Many businesses face digital advances and innovative changes with fear, getting stuck in the swirl about how to grow and innovate. Lack of understanding of technology platforms that deliver the smart home experience leaves many businesses stagnant. This is often the result of overestimating the risk and cost of implementation. Given the options available today, launching a PaaS-driven business model doesn’t need to be as daunting, time-consuming and expensive as it was just a few years ago. Not having to invest in building a platform from scratch accelerates the speed to market and eliminates preconceived technology risks which positions PaaS business models to scale. Platforms are reliable. An essential element of most platforms is the built-in interoperability with other platforms, services, partner companies, and technologies offered today around the suite of smart home products from security to appliances. It can also enable an integrated back-office structure that can include billing, account management, diagnostics and customer support. All like the way the Salesforce.com platform offers turnkey CRM solutions.
The Ultimate Benefit of a Unified Platform
Platform as a service (PaaS) providers allow businesses to focus on what they do best. Companies can focus on the delivery of differentiated customer experiences rather than developing or managing technical capabilities outside of their power zones. Flexible platforms give companies the ultimate control. Experiences are curated to control the total value chain; third-party relationships, economics, new products and services and the ability to market value propositions to new customers.
We Can Help
Delivering a Smart Home and Energy Management experience through a platform allows businesses to build and provide a differentiated customer experience; the experience designed around the current and future capabilities of your company. The platform allows customers convenience and control. Customers can manage all home devices from one application allowing flexibility to expand remotely managed devices and appliances, maximize home security, increase energy efficiency and reference home management insights. From Idea to Execution: Sprosty Network helps businesses identify, develop and execute organic growth strategies. Our hands-on, pragmatic and entrepreneurial approach to innovation helps you deliver what’s next.