Big Potential…Flat Sales

We have all heard about the powerful future of consumer connected devices – billions of devices catering to our every need.  Each year is going to be The Year when adoption skyrockets and we leap forward as a population.

So what is the holdup?

Turns out that privacy fears are the main thing holding back would-be customers.  This issue is a huge deal given the fact that 90% of consumers feel that connected devices are completely unsafe. The general public is willing to share data, they just want to control who has access to that information.  To this end, the entire GDPR enforcement effort is solely focused on controlling and protecting the flow of customer information.

On the other hand, it is clear from recent studies that success in the consumer connected device space is heavily reliant on features and providing a profound and moving experience.  Security is not flashy or impactful (until you are hacked…not exactly a great sales tool) and security by itself will never sell anything.

What To Do?

The truth is that connected devices providers have to focus on what they do best – provide features and functionality their customers desire.  In order to succeed in an environment where security is a fulltime effort, these companies really need to remove security from their consciousness.  Instead, security just needs to work and it needs to do so without getting in the way of the primary business offerings.

Sure security has special needs but those requirements have to stop getting in the way of business.  Protection has to change and fight and secure us behind the scenes and stop interfering with companies.

Consumers desperately need to check the privacy/security box and then, like the businesses providing connected devices to them, they want to focus on more important things – namely life and improving the quality of that life.

Until the security world grasps this concept and gets out of the way, businesses and consumers will suffer.  Until that time, connected devices will be stuck in their current quagmire and projections will remain just that.