keep winning over customers like SureFlap.
A few years ago, the company and some contractors built a system for connecting the SureFlap devices to the Internet, including designing software and creating a hub device that would wirelessly collect the data and transmit it to the cloud.
But “we weren’t IoT people,” SureFlap founder Nick Hill says. “There weren’t many” in those days, he adds.
SureFlap’s leaders eventually decided they needed better software to oversee the communication between the devices, the IoT hub, and the back-end database. The company turned to Xively, which has more expertise with enterprise MQTT—a messaging protocol for small sensors and other devices. Xively’s software and services have provided the security, stability, and “scalability” that SureFlap was looking for, Hill says.
“That’s critical for us,” he says, especially as SureFlap starts selling more devices. The company says it has already sold more than 500,000 units of its original pet door product. SureFlap was acquired earlier this year by Allflex, which makes tags and electronic chips for identifying animals.
Hill thinks the IoT industry is starting to yield companies with useful products, but he predicts “a shake out” that will result in a culling of the weaker players in the market.
“You can see the momentum building very strongly,” Hill says. “The challenge is how do you separate yourself from every startup.”
LogMeIn’s leaders, who have bet much of the company’s future on the IoT hype proving true, certainly hope the sector’s momentum continues. If that happens, the onus is on LogMeIn to take advantage and convince more companies to choose Xively for powering their connected devices.
