Summary
Coop Tender® Automatic Chicken Door has migrated to a service subscription business model for its Internet Wi-Fi Module with Universal Web App™ product.
In this article, the reasons behind the migration and the realities of operating a fleet of IoT (Internet of Things) devices is brought to light.
Notable Quote
“Traditional hardware purchases do not support software investments. Companies who are investing money to create ongoing value for customers through software but aren’t charging customers for that value either need infinite cash to support those investments (Amazon/Google) or those products will get shut down (Insteon, Revolv, etc.)” (Supalla, 2022)
Early Years
In the early years (2014 – 2015), the cost to provide the infrastructure and product to compliment and add value to their automatic chicken doors was low.
The IoT (Internet of Things) landscape was still developing. The ongoing costs for IoT device hosting and data were relatively low.
Coop Tender® decided not to charge customers for the ongoing costs of operating the IoT – Internet Wi-Fi Module and Universal Web App technologies.
The key notion was that IoT infrastructure operating costs would fall over time, like the drop in cost for data storage over the years. (Mearian, 2017)
IoT infrastructure operating costs have increased over the years instead of decreasing.
Current State
The landscape for IoT device infrastructure is dominated by data. As such, businesses which provide infrastructure services generate revenue from data storage and transmission, or by providing integrated services such as email and SMS messaging.
Beyond the initial hardware purchase, the ongoing cost of operating the infrastructure required to provide the benefits of an Internet connected automatic chicken door has increased to the point that it is necessary for Coop Tender® to begin charging for use of the infrastructure.
Subscription Service
Coop Tender® now offers a Cloud Service Subscription which helps to cover the costs of operating the IoT device infrastructure.
The service is free for the first year. After the first year, the service will renew at the yearly rate of $55 (15 cents / day). A monthly rate of $5 per month (17 cents / day) is also available.
What’s Included
- Wi-Fi Radio Module activation, setup, allocation, and hosting service
- SMS and email door status and alert notifications
- Key Metric data storage
- Wi-Fi signal strength
- Door status
- Power / battery voltage
- Coop temperature
- Ambient daylight value
- Data access and transmission
- Key Metric historic data
- Real-time metrics and data
- Universal Web App™
- Mobile Optimized – access from any mobile device or computer with an Internet connection and browser.
- Remote Door Programming and settings maintenance
- Remote Door Operation
- Key Metric charts
- Firmware updates
- Technical support
Costs Covered with a Cloud Service Subscription
Your Coop Tender Wi-Fi Cloud Service Subscription helps cover the costs which are incurred with each module for hosting, data, and messaging.
Technologies Involved
Each of the Cloud Service partners below provide an integral aspect to the Coop Tender® Internet Wi-Fi Module’s key features and benefits.
Microsoft Azure
- Universal Web App™ hosting
- SQL Server data storage and management
Particle IoT (Internet of Things)
- Wi-Fi radio module allocation and hosting
- Data services (inbound and outbound data requests)
Messaging
- Telnyx – SMS alert Messaging
- MailGun – email alert messaging
Subscription Billing
Subscriptions are automatically billed to the payment method associated with your subscription.
Purchase of a Coop Tender® Internet Wi-Fi Module or an Automatic Chicken Door bundle which includes the Internet Wi-Fi Module receives 1 year of free Cloud Services.
Each subsequent year will be billed at the yearly subscription rate of $19.99.
Customers may choose a monthly subscription billing rate of $1.99/month after the initial 1-year period by contacting us.
Cloud Service Subscription Cancellation
Cancel at any time by contacting us with your cancellation request.
Subscription Requirements
The following hardware components are required:
- Coop Tender® Automatic Chicken Door, Large Automatic Chicken Door, Extra-Large Automatic Chicken Door, or Automatic Chicken Door Controller
- Coop Tender® Internet Wi-Fi Module
One Cloud Services Subscription is required for each Internet Wi-Fi Module in operation.
Works Cited
Mearian, L. (2017, March 23). Data storage goes from $1M to 2 cents per gigabyte. Retrieved from ComputerWorld.com: https://www.computerworld.com/article/3182207/cw50-data-storage-goes-from-1m-to-2-cents-per-gigabyte.html
Supalla, Z. (2022, April 26). Hardware/Software Business Models. Retrieved from atomsandbits.io: https://www.atomsandbits.io/p/hardware-software-business-models
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