Time to be Heard

Some of our readers have commented  that many of the articles in the last few newsletters have addressed significant enhancements to our existing products. In this issue, discussions about the new products we are testing are even more frequent. Readers will be seeing more  details about these new products in next month’s issue as well as periodic status updates, as those products move to field test sites and are installed in real world situations. I would like to initiate an interactive discussion about where we should focus our R&D efforts after these new products are in full production and we can turn our resources in other directions.

We try to reach out to our integration partners through our product presentation and surveys on our web site to determine priorities. At a very broad level, this slide from the product presentation introduces where we have the potential to go in the areas of services, downstream protocols, and upstream protocols.

EnOcean®, Siemens, and Novar integrations are almost ready to go to field test sites. The time is perfect for you to speak up about any new integrations or enhancements to our current products that you feel are important in your marketplace. Nothing is off limits. Take the above list as a springboard for discussions. There are some integrations, or services, that have universal appeal. Others might be regional in scope or only important to certain vertical markets. That is all OK. Convergence is happening with the IT world and with process control technologies. Which of these are most important to your business? How important is support for high-end residential technologies? 

We have invested heavily in trade show and trade association participation in the last year, with tremendous results. We have also been very active in the BACnet International working groups. You probably saw the article in AutomatedBuildings recently about gateway best practices; that was an outgrowth of this work. We are considering participation in some of the European trade shows next year. Whenever we travel for trade shows or participation in industry associations, we try to extend our stay to meet with our integration partners in the local area. Therefore, in addition to the input on technology related items, we would like to hear from you about what trade associations, trade shows, etc. have netted results for you. With the plethora of organizations focusing on sustainable buildings, green buildings, energy efficiency, and other topics of the day, we cannot participate in all of them.

Earlier, I mentioned surveys on our web site. Here is a summary of the information they provided.

The sample size is not large enough to base business decisions about where to invest resources. Therefore, we really would like to hear from every one of you. We look forward to your eMails and phone calls discussing what you need from us to help grow your business around the S4 Open technology.