Like it or not, the era of DIY home security is now upon us. It is not going away, either. Homeowners and renters looking for home security systems that do not have to be hardwired are turning to DIY packages that give them the security they want without having to pay for professional installation. In some cases, consumers are even looking for DIY monitoring.
Enter the cloud
Cloud computing has done something amazing for the home security market: it has opened the opportunity for large numbers of smaller companies to offer a range of monitoring packages at very competitive prices without requiring those companies to invest billions of dollars in their own central stations complete with the infrastructure necessary to support monitoring. Now they can invest in software that is hosted in the cloud.
Likewise, property owners that decide to monitor their systems by themselves have access to that same cloud software. In essence, the data center hosting the software provides the infrastructure while the property owner becomes his or her own monitoring agent. He or she receives alarm notices on a mobile device, and he/she can access the system 24 hours a day, every day of the year from virtually anywhere in the world that he/she has an internet connection or cell reception.
-
Cutting Costs Good for Consumers
Cloud technology has done more than make it possible for smaller companies to set up shop with fewer expenses; it is also saving consumers money by making DIY home security the norm. Without the cloud, the American consumer would still be locked into the old model of hiring a full-service provider to install their equipment, service it, and provide monitoring services. But with the cloud, full-service providers can be taken out of the equation.
This is not to say that there is no place for full-service home security in the marketplace. There are plenty of property owners who would still prefer to deal with the full-service provider. That’s great. But there is also now more than enough room for companies specializing in DIY home security to flourish. And that is exactly what they are doing.
-
New Players Large and Small
One doesn’t need to be a home security specialist to know that a number of DIY companies are now dominating that segment of the industry. We know who they are; we see their television and internet ads all the time. But there are also dozens of smaller companies that are holding their own without national marketing campaigns.
Every one of these companies represents DIY homeowners whose desire for home security and self-monitoring is now made possible by the cloud. And because the cloud is ever-expanding while becoming faster and more robust, there’s no reason to believe that DIY home security will not follow.
In the end, the cloud is the perfect platform for DIY home security and monitoring. Very few people would have expected as much when the concept of the cloud was introduced in the 1990s by telecom companies experimenting with virtual private networks. Indeed, cloud computing was thought to be terribly insecure. It was, but things have since changed.
Thanks to the now secure and reliable cloud, more homeowners have access to home security systems and monitoring to help keep them safer. DIY systems are affordable, relatively easy to install, and rather effective at doing what they are designed to do. Is it any wonder the reputation of the cloud is improving all the time? The more we can put in the cloud, the better it becomes. Home security and automation is just one part of a much bigger picture.
Waqar Hassan is a Blogger, Author and Entrepreneur who heads an IT & Web Company. He loves writing and manages several blogs including https://menaentrepreneur.org and https://www.migratemusicnews.com. Waqar Hassan is one of the top Freelancers in the SEO and Digital Marketing Industries. He can be contacted at http://www.waqarhassan.con OR via [email protected].
