{"id":16421,"date":"2016-11-17T19:59:13","date_gmt":"2016-11-18T00:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/digitizing-our-homes\/"},"modified":"2016-11-17T22:31:29","modified_gmt":"2016-11-18T03:31:29","slug":"digitizing-our-homes","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/digitizing-our-homes\/","title":{"rendered":"Digitizing Our Homes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is the world\u2019s largest e-commerce retailer by market capitalization and revenue, and the world\u2019s largest internet company by revenue. In 2015, Amazon generated over $107 billion in net sales, and, as of market close on November 17th<\/sup>, 2016, had a market capitalization of over $370 billion1<\/sup>. Amazon has grown to become a digital behemoth by disrupting traditional, physical brick and mortar retailers. But as the e-commerce portion of its business has matured, Amazon has embraced the physical world through the Internet of Things (IoT), attempting to both bolster its core online retail business and add completely business lines.<\/p>\n

IoT \u2013 Connecting the Physical and Digital Worlds<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amazon\u2019s first foray into the IoT world came in November 2014 with the announcement of Echo, a home speaker that, more importantly, also acts as a personal digital assistant2<\/sup>. Users can activate their Echo by speaking a key phrase (\u201cAlexa\u201d), followed by a prompt. Echo can answer factual questions (e.g., \u201cWhat is the capital of Canada\u201d), play media (e.g., \u201cPlay Beyonce on Spotify\u201d), and even fulfill household requests with the right connected hardware (e.g., \u201cTurn on the living room lights\u201d). And of course, Echo allows customers to make online purchases through voice commands, connecting this new business with Amazon\u2019s existing e-commerce core.<\/p>\n

\"Amazon
Figure 1: Amazon Echo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The release of the Echo led to meaningful changes in Amazon\u2019s business and operating models \u2013 Amazon was now also a hardware manufacturing and software development business. As a result, the company needed to create a supply chain of multiple parts suppliers and develop a manufacturing process and capacity for the new product3<\/sup>. It also needed to work with other IoT providers (e.g., Belkin for power outlets) and digital content providers (e.g., Spotify for music) to create integrations that Echo could tap into to provide its rich functionality.<\/p>\n

These efforts have been unquestionably successful. Over the past two years since its release, Echo has been installed in an estimated 1.6 million homes and has become one of Amazon\u2019s pillar products4<\/sup>. More recently, Amazon released a lower priced version called the Echo Dot to further penetrate the living rooms and bedrooms of its customers. However, as it moves forward, Amazon must address new business and operational challenges posed by both its competition and external threats.<\/p>\n

\"Amazon
Figure 2: Amazon Echo Dot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Figure
Figure 3: Estimated Echo Installed Base over Time4<\/sup><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Competition from Tech Giants<\/strong><\/p>\n

Though Amazon was the first to market a home digital assistant, many other personal assistants have existed on consumers\u2019 phones (e.g., Microsoft\u2019s Cortana, Google\u2019s Assistant, and Apple\u2019s Siri). It\u2019s no surprise that many of these companies are trying o bring those assistants into the home. Most recently, Google launched Home on October 4th<\/sup> this year, its response to the Echo. Using Google\u2019s artificial intelligence algorithms and the power of Google Assistant, Home presents a significant challenge to the Echo.<\/p>\n

\"Figure
Figure 4: Google Home<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For an IoT product that is intended to be the centerpiece of home automation, hardware has become less important than the software that connects the physical and digital. As competitive pressures mount, Amazon must redouble its efforts as a software<\/em> company, in combination with its strengths as a hardware business, to ensure its digital assistant remains as smart, or smarter, than others on the market. This will be no easy task given the scale and technical know-how of its competitors, and the complexity of effectively managing a software, hardware, e-commerce, and logistics business is immense.<\/p>\n

Challenges in Privacy and Security<\/strong><\/p>\n

One significant concern customers have with putting Echo into their homes is privacy, given that the device is always passively listening. In order to promote mainstream adoption, Amazon must be able to convince its customers that their private conversations will not be recorded. As Robert Graham from Errata Security says, \u201cit\u2019s like willingly bugging your own home and hoping no one tunes in\u201d6<\/sup>. Amazon insists that the device does not record any data and only sends information through the internet after a user says the activation phrase, but the company must do a better job of educating its customer base. Additionally, Amazon must consider its position on law enforcement \u2013 will it take a hard stand against privacy violations, even from law enforcement, or will it allow wiretapping of Echos? For the consumer, it is clear which option is preferable.<\/p>\n

Amazon must also make significant investments to combat security risks from hackers and other malicious third parties. Security threats have become more sophisticated, widespread, and damaging in an increasingly connected world, and Echo presents a prime opportunity to maliciously intrude into the homes of millions of people. In addition to investing in its virtual assistant software, Amazon must create world class security protections against malicious digital threats.<\/p>\n

The Echo has given Amazon a foothold in the home as the market for IoT starts to take off, but it must continue to innovate on its products, its operations, and its strategies to remain a market leader. [799 words].<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1] Amazon.com, Inc. (2015). Form 10-K 2015. Retrieved from SEC EDGAR website http:\/\/www.sec.gov\/edgar.shtml<\/p>\n

[2] Stone, Brad; Soper, Spencer (2014-11-06). “Amazon Unveils a Listening, Talking, Music-Playing Speaker for Your Home”. Bloomberg Businessweek<\/em>. Bloomberg L.P. Accessed 17 November 2016.<\/p>\n

[3] Brustein, Joshua (2016-04-19). The Real Story of How Amazon Built the Echo<\/em>. [ONLINE] Available at: http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/features\/2016-amazon-echo\/<\/a>. Accessed 17 November 2016.<\/p>\n

[4] Business Insider Intelligence. 2016. How many Amazon Echo smart home devices have been installed?<\/em> [ONLINE] Available at: http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/how-many-amazon-echo-smart-home-devices-have-been-installed-2016-6<\/a>. Accessed 17 November 2016.<\/p>\n

[5] Roberts, Daniel (2016-10-04). Google launches Home, its answer to Amazon Echo<\/em>. [ONLINE] Available at: http:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/news\/google-launches-home-its-answer-to-amazon-echo-170913655.html. Accessed 17 November 2016<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[6] Cranz, Alex (2016-03-15). Amazon’s Alexa Is Not Even Remotely Secure and I Really Don’t Care<\/em>. [ONLINE] Available at: http:\/\/gizmodo.com\/alexa-is-not-even-remotely-secure-and-really-i-dont-car-1764761117<\/a>. Accessed 17 November 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How Amazon is trying to build a bridge between our digital and physical worlds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2459,"featured_media":16424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[52,2247,2019,1503],"class_list":["post-16421","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amazon","category-amazon-echo","category-internet-of-things","category-iot"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/digitization-challenge-2016\/","yoast_head":"\nDigitizing Our Homes - Technology and Operations Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/digitizing-our-homes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Digitizing Our Homes - 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