Brian Jones, Editor of The Gateway, recently conducted an interview with Chris Hollinger of Siemens Building Technologies. Mr. Hollinger is product manager of SBT’s system integration group in Buffalo Grove, Ill.

BJ: Mr. Hollinger, would you please provide a brief background on yourself and Siemens Building Technologies for our readers?

CH: I manage solutions for APOGEE system integration related to standard protocol integration, system workstation software integration, building automation system integration, as well as lighting control system integration. I have been in the integration group since 1997.

BJ: Siemens has been a major force internationally in the Building Automation Industry for many years. Within the US your presence is much more recent but you still are one of the major players in the marketplace. What did Siemens do to achieve this level of success?

CH:Siemens Building Technologies was created by Siemens’ acquisition of the Landis & Staefa organization. Landis & Staefa was the compilation of Landis & Gyr Powers and Staefa Controls, both of which have been major players in building automation for many years. In fact Powers Regulator, the original organization, which eventually became Landis & Gyr Powers has been in the building controls business for over 100 years in the US.

Today Siemens Building Technologies has achieved success through a focus on customers and customer solutions for building automation. Customer focus is achieved through dedicated field offices, expert personnel, and superior technical solutions.

BJ: Who do you see as your strongest competitors?

CH: Certainly the strongest competitors are familiar names in building automation systems such as Johnson Controls, as well as somewhat new names by way of the recent acquisitions in our industry – such as Schneider Electric.

BJ: There have been a number of significant acquisitions recently within the building automation industry. Does this have any impact on your product or market strategies? Do you see this as potentially increasing the level of competition in the industry?

CH: Definitely the acquisitions signal a new chapter in the industry, as far as visibility of the industry and strength of competition. This competition also means the strength of solutions going forward should be quite beneficial to customers. The theme that seems to be true across the competitive landscape is breadth and depth of solutions.

BJ: Consistent with your position as a multi-national manufacturing and services company you have multiple product lines supporting the BAS marketplace. Do you see any convergence happening?

CH: Striking a balance in providing customer-focused solutions while leveraging development efforts worldwide is always an important challenge.

BJ: Does your organization support projects related to all the available product lines?

CH: The organization in Buffalo Grove, IL is focused on integration solutions for the APOGEE product line, which is sold and installed in selected areas throughout the world.

BJ: Siemens go to market strategy includes both company owned field locations and independent resellers. Do you support both types of organizations on integration projects?

CH: Yes, both independent distributors of APOGEE, as well as Siemens Building Technologies’ own field offices are supported with integration solutions for APOGEE.

BJ: Standard protocols and open system are having more impact on the building automation industry than they ever have in the past. How did this influence the definition, and evolution, of your BAS product line?

CH: The APOGEE product line has been designed since the beginning for flexibility and compatibility. Standard protocols such as OPC and SNMP provide great flexibility for integration solutions, to meet varied customer needs.

BJ: Where do you see Facility Management Systems / Building Automation Systems technology, in general, are heading in the foreseeable future? 

CH: I see more and more emphasis on standard protocols, especially with relation to IT friendly standards. I also see an emphasis on network infrastructure, and leveraging development in that area. Future development focuses on integration capability and cost effective solution delivery.

BJ: Do you think that the integration of FMSs with enterprise, IT, networks and management systems will become ever more prevalent? Is there a specific size or type of customer where this is critical to their business?

CH: I do believe that more and more customers will see specific benefit to building automation and IT level system integration. This will be driven by customers with the foresight to understand that building automation captures important organizational data. This data can enhance day-to-day business decisions.

BJ: With BACnet and Web Services both gaining in popularity do you see the time where customers will be able to mix and match head end systems with their automation controllers of choice? If so, how far in the future do you expect to see this happening?

CH: Standard protocols have allowed system level software and building automation controllers to more easily be mixed for several years now. However, one must always realize the limits to this capability. For facility wide access for system monitoring and control, choices are abundant for system software solutions. However to engineer, commission, and program a building automation system, automation controllers rely on vendor specific tools and software based interfaces.

BJ: What impact do you see Industrial Ethernet technologies having on the Building Automation industry?

CH: Ethernet is an important network technology for building automation, and has several advantages including providing a network architecture that is familiar and proven. More and more solutions will rely on Ethernet.

BJ: Do you see the need to bring status information from SNMP manageable devices like network switches and UPS systems into the BAS environment?

CH: (We have seen quite an interest in using the APOGEE Insight software to manage various building systems including UPS systems, power generation systems, etc. I do believe that monitoring network infrastructure is also a possible point of interest, though generally this would be a new area for building automation solutions.

BJ: CABA took a leadership role in the establishment of the Open Building Information Xchange (OBIX) which has now transitioned to OASIS. How influential is this initiative on your product directions?

CH: I’d prefer not to comment on this one, as its unclear what direction oBIX in particular is going to take.

BJ: The S4 Group has support SBT field offices and your systems integration group on multiple large SNMP integration projects and more are in the works. Can you share any information with our readers about these projects and future directions with S4?

CH: We have used the OPC SNMP agent solution from S4 for certain large integration projects where the customer has requested information from APOGEE to be available to an IT level application software package. Typically SNMP is the protocol of choice for IT level application software packages.

BJ: How did you find The S4 Group?

CH: Steve Jones inquired with us as to our interest in the software offerings available from S4, and the timing was such that the solution made sense and filled needs on certain projects.

BJ: What did you find unique about our products and services? 

CH: The user engineering focus was impressive from the standpoint that the solutions did a nice job of taking a complex problem and solution, and putting a user interface around the solution that made on-site engineering straightforward and relatively easy to implement.

BJ: Thank you for spending time with us today, is there anything else you would like to add?

CH: Thank you for the opportunity to take a look at relevant and progressive topics in the building automation industry, and thanks to S4 for their help in meeting customer needs.