Smart Spaces

15 Dec 2014 Editorial Team

Home automation is gaining traction within the infrastructure industry, contributing to a change in the way homes are being viewed, says AVINASH K GAUTAM.

Then you are a technology company serving the housing sector, you not only have to be up-to-date about the developments in construction technology and consumer preferences but be ready to adapt to fast changing scenarios.

Silvan Innovation Labs is in the business of developing technologies for making people´s lives safer, more secure and comfortable. In common parlance, it is known as home automation or smart homes, and these days it is becoming fashionable to club everything under the umbrella of IOT (Internet of Things). Almost everyone uses a smart phone with ubiquitous internet connectivity, and is aware of advancements in cloud computing and analytics technologies, and newer construction technologies such as Mivan for improved in-home connectivity options. In the light of these developments, Silvan is focused on providing home automation and security solutions for large projects.

Home safe home
Home automation is gaining traction within the infrastructure industry as one of the add-ons offered to customers, and thereby contributing to a change in the way homes are being viewed. Most of the leading builders have already incorporated home automation while many are considering integrating it in their projects.

Home automation is still a sunshine sector in India. Every stakeholder - builder, architect, project management consultant, electrical consultants and end user - is still coming to terms with the intricacies involved in this and what it means in terms of implementation, complexity and experience. End customers are becoming more aware and looking forward to incorporating it in their homes. We also come across architects - who till a few years back did not know much about home automation - claiming that 60-70 per cent of their clients now demand for it.

Strategies and plans
Although the stakeholders eventually want a solution, which pleases the home owner, there are some nuances that are a matter of concern. For example, over and above having an excellent home automation system, a builder would want the system to be scalable to various marketing needs, and be easily maintainable in a large project. An electrical contractor will be interested in the conduction and wiring complexity. The architect would be concerned about how it complements the aesthetics, while the PMC would be concerned about the overall execution complexity in the context of a large project.

Silvan's strategy addresses each of these stakeholders for their specific concerns, apart from providing a solution, which the home owner will love. Currently, the company is focusing on larger residential projects. It recently launched its hospitality solution and is gearing towards fine-tuning its solutions for distributed commercial spaces.

In the current market scenario, there are many solution providers along with large-size projects with home automation as part of the plan. At a global level too, this is being seen as the holy-grail for the IOT play. Hence, we see the demand for home automation growing at 35-40 per cent CAGR.

Overcoming challenges
At present, one of the major challenges in this industry is to ensure a seamless experience for all stakeholders. The problems get compounded by the fact that there is still some ambiguity in everyone's mind. The strategy to overcome this is to make every process and experience simple, coupled with tools that enable unambiguous information exchange across various stakeholders.

Another challenge is financial viability in large projects, which is getting better as innovations are bringing down costs. For business, we have been focusing on South and West India. We are investing quite a bit in R&D to enable simple solutions for home owners and their existing homes. Our approach has resulted in wide acceptance of our solutions by reputed builders like Sobha, Lodha, Brigade, Prestige, Tata Housing, Nambiar Builders, Total Environment, VDB, Dhammanagi, Indraprastha, Pride, Zonasha, and Prince Foundation, to name a few.

About the Author:
Avinash K Gautam, CEO, Silvan Innovation Labs, is a graduate from IIT-Kanpur and Post Graduate from IISc-Bangalore. Prior to establishing Silvan, he has performed senior leadership roles in various multi-national companies in India and abroad.

Home automation is gaining traction within the infrastructure industry, contributing to a change in the way homes are being viewed, says AVINASH K GAUTAM. Then you are a technology company serving the housing sector, you not only have to be up-to-date about the developments in construction technology and consumer preferences but be ready to adapt to fast changing scenarios. Silvan Innovation Labs is in the business of developing technologies for making people´s lives safer, more secure and comfortable. In common parlance, it is known as home automation or smart homes, and these days it is becoming fashionable to club everything under the umbrella of IOT (Internet of Things). Almost everyone uses a smart phone with ubiquitous internet connectivity, and is aware of advancements in cloud computing and analytics technologies, and newer construction technologies such as Mivan for improved in-home connectivity options. In the light of these developments, Silvan is focused on providing home automation and security solutions for large projects. Home safe home Home automation is gaining traction within the infrastructure industry as one of the add-ons offered to customers, and thereby contributing to a change in the way homes are being viewed. Most of the leading builders have already incorporated home automation while many are considering integrating it in their projects. Home automation is still a sunshine sector in India. Every stakeholder - builder, architect, project management consultant, electrical consultants and end user - is still coming to terms with the intricacies involved in this and what it means in terms of implementation, complexity and experience. End customers are becoming more aware and looking forward to incorporating it in their homes. We also come across architects - who till a few years back did not know much about home automation - claiming that 60-70 per cent of their clients now demand for it. Strategies and plans Although the stakeholders eventually want a solution, which pleases the home owner, there are some nuances that are a matter of concern. For example, over and above having an excellent home automation system, a builder would want the system to be scalable to various marketing needs, and be easily maintainable in a large project. An electrical contractor will be interested in the conduction and wiring complexity. The architect would be concerned about how it complements the aesthetics, while the PMC would be concerned about the overall execution complexity in the context of a large project. Silvan's strategy addresses each of these stakeholders for their specific concerns, apart from providing a solution, which the home owner will love. Currently, the company is focusing on larger residential projects. It recently launched its hospitality solution and is gearing towards fine-tuning its solutions for distributed commercial spaces. In the current market scenario, there are many solution providers along with large-size projects with home automation as part of the plan. At a global level too, this is being seen as the holy-grail for the IOT play. Hence, we see the demand for home automation growing at 35-40 per cent CAGR. Overcoming challenges At present, one of the major challenges in this industry is to ensure a seamless experience for all stakeholders. The problems get compounded by the fact that there is still some ambiguity in everyone's mind. The strategy to overcome this is to make every process and experience simple, coupled with tools that enable unambiguous information exchange across various stakeholders. Another challenge is financial viability in large projects, which is getting better as innovations are bringing down costs. For business, we have been focusing on South and West India. We are investing quite a bit in R&D to enable simple solutions for home owners and their existing homes. Our approach has resulted in wide acceptance of our solutions by reputed builders like Sobha, Lodha, Brigade, Prestige, Tata Housing, Nambiar Builders, Total Environment, VDB, Dhammanagi, Indraprastha, Pride, Zonasha, and Prince Foundation, to name a few. About the Author: Avinash K Gautam, CEO, Silvan Innovation Labs, is a graduate from IIT-Kanpur and Post Graduate from IISc-Bangalore. Prior to establishing Silvan, he has performed senior leadership roles in various multi-national companies in India and abroad.