Enlighted

Underlining the growing importance of the workplace within building automation, smart buildings giant Johnson Controls acquired workplace management technology firm FM:Systems last week for an initial price of $455 million. This adds to a growing trend by major players in the building automation market who are seeking to increase the level of integration between integrated […]

This Research Note examines the emerging strategic priorities of Siemens in the smart commercial buildings space. We have mapped acquisitions, mergers, strategic partnerships and investment activity to ascertain the Siemens Smart Infrastructure division’s growth by categorizing the various business relationships by technology and investment type over a 3-year period. This article, Part 1 of a 2-part analysis, is intended as […]

In this Research Note, we examine two significant initiatives for Siemens Buildings business, both announced in the last week of June 2022: the acquisition of Brightly Software by Siemens Smart Infrastructure (SI) and the launch of the Siemens Xcelerator platform for digital transformation, which enables co-creation and co-innovation with partners for their new Building X […]

In this research note, we examine the Buildings business of Siemens, which operates within the Smart Infrastructure (SI) division, based on their Q4 press conference, Capital Markets Day presentations and building technology-related activities throughout 2021. The SI portfolio addresses the complete value chain across buildings and electrification, increasingly growing together at the grid edge. Their smart building […]

In the space of three days this week, two already well-funded Occupancy Analytics companies closed Series C and D rounds, underscoring (in case anyone was in doubt) investor confidence in the move to hybrid working driving demand for digital workplaces. On Monday, California-based Vergesense announced that it had closed a $60m Series C round led […]

The leading building automation players are investing and partnering with startup companies who have developed lower cost solutions for the light commercial buildings market.  The latest example is the Siemens acquisition of French startup, Wattsense, which enables the leading player to address this market. The acquisition by the former Building Technologies business, part of Siemens Smart […]

Over six days in May 2018, German conglomerate Siemens made its smart building intentions clear. On the 17th, Siemens announced its acquisition of Los Angeles based J2 Innovations, a software framework provider for building automation and IoT technologies. Six days later, on May 23rd, the European manufacturing giant announced the acquisition of California-based IoT-enabled smart […]

Most operational systems in buildings, from lighting to HVAC, last at least 10-15 years, and perhaps more. While there are ongoing maintenance costs to operate these systems, those ongoing expenses are small compared to the costs to replace core systems. Smart building technology can extend equipment life and improve performance, but vendors often run into […]