Memoori has tracked a number of strategic partnerships between several of the leading players of building performance software in recent times. These are proving to be critical in the development of new software products but partnerships have not always been popular in this business so what is driving it?

Our report The Market for Building Performance Software 2016 to 2020 shows that along with growth in M&A activity and major funding in new ventures; partnerships are proving crucial to the success of the evolving Building Internet of Things (BIoT) and its impact on the Building Performance Software Business.

There is a need to share the development costs and ensure that products meet the needs of all the stakeholders in the decision making chain. Whilst this theme runs across all types and sizes of software companies it is a particularly strong feature in large companies.

Recently, the major building controls, security, lighting and elevator manufacturers have been actively extending their strategic partnerships to augment their integrated portfolios and keep abreast of building performance software business in the move to the Building Internet of Things (BIoT).

Siemens announced two strategic partnerships in 2016 in order to advance the IoT capability of its Navigator energy and sustainability platform offered by the Building Technologies Division. The unit announced in February 2016 that it was integrating software from IBM's Watson IoT Business Unit, including analytics and asset management, into its platform.

Subsequently in May, Capgemini announced it was supporting Siemens in the implementation of a cloud based services platform for Navigator, featuring asset management and analytics technology. This partnership is intended to expand capability for data driven services in general to building operators, campus owners and corporate real estate customers.

Previously, Siemens had partnered with SAP on a real estate cockpit, the Building Performance Management Cockpit, which combines the Siemens Navigator software with SAP’s high-performance HANA database technology, which consolidates all relevant information for professional real estate management.

Johnson Controls previously announced that they had joined the Cisco Digital Ceiling community as a founding building automation partner. The Digital Ceiling framework connects disparate systems into a single IP network to create smart connected building systems. It provides a platform that converges the IT network and building technologies, including lighting, heating, cooling, security, motion detection, and other sensors and actuators (March 2016).

The announcement suggests that Johnson Controls shares Cisco’s belief in Digital Ceiling framework offering building owners and operators a way to apply the benefits of the Internet of Things throughout facilities, and create new experiences for building users that will improve their productivity, safety and comfort.

Johnson Controls and Cisco have a long-standing history of collaboration having worked together in a global alliance since 2008. Cisco, meanwhile, have been steadily developing their Digital Ceiling community. In Feb 2016, Cree Inc., joined the community, when they introduced their SmartCast Power over Ethernet (PoE) technology, an open platform that enables the Internet of Things (IoT) for buildings through improved lighting control.

Wipro announced a strategic partnership with Schneider Electric in March 2016 to develop convergent solutions for India's Smart Cities. Wipro and Schneider already have a strong partnership around IT, Data Centers, connectivity, Intelligent Building Management Systems and Data Center Infrastructure Management solutions. Both the companies are now collaborating to focus on key "OT" areas like energy optimization, analytics and citizen service improvement for smart cities.

Current by GE, is also rapidly expanding its ecosystem of partners. Its entry into the building automation business was signalled in April 2016, when the company announced the acquisition of Daintree Networks, a provider of connected building controls solutions for commercial facilities.

GE stated that the acquisition will enable Current to expand its building automation platform and its energy-as-a-service offering to small and medium size facilities through the deployment of Daintree’s open, standards-based wireless control systems.

In May 2016, Current also announced a significant expansion of its building automation ecosystem by forging a relationship with leading IoT solutions provider, Tridium. Under the agreement, Tridium’s IoT software platform, the Niagara Framework, will be used with Predix, GE’s secure, industrial strength cloud environment, to capture and analyze the volume, velocity and variety of machine data generated across commercial and industrial buildings.

To facilitate data-informed app and software development at an enterprise and city level, Current is launching six microservices against its intelligent LEDs and GE’s Predix cloud platform. These architectures will drive data interactions relative to temperature, occupancy, ambient light sensing, pedestrian planning, parking, traffic and public safety.

This article was taken from our report The Market for Building Performance Software 2016 to 2020

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