Black Box Launches Connected Buildings Solution

Black Box, a solutions integrator, recently introduced its Connected Buildings product, which the company described in the release as a suite of solutions and services to enable digital experiences in smart buildings. Black Box said it designs, deploys, manages and maintains the foundational technology that connects the internal ecosystem of interoperable devices and sensors that work together to enable human-to-human, human-to-device and device-to-device interaction.

“Demand for the IoT building is growing exponentially. Now more than ever, our customers need spaces that are interactive, adaptive, automated and secure,” said Doug Oathout, SPV, Portfolio and Partnerships, Black Box. “At Black Box, we apply our broad portfolio of IT solutions to take the complexity out of connected buildings and make it simple for our customers by giving them one trusted partner to handle their IT services. Whether updating hundreds of existing locations or outfitting one location from the ground up, our team of project managers, engineers and technicians works with our clients to craft a solution that creates consistent customer experiences and reliable communications at every location.”

The Black Box Connected Building reportedly is enabled by several technology enhancements: 5G/CBRS and Wi-Fi to augment existing wireless systems and create connected buildings; edge networking and data centers to collect data and combine it with AI to make smarter devices; and cybersecurity for governance and assessments, incident and event monitoring, endpoint detection and response, and VPN and firewall services.

The Connected Building service reportedly offers assessment, consulting and project management, and on-site services for configuration, staging, installation and logistics.

“With Connected Buildings, our role is to simplify IT for our clients — especially in complex enterprises and when they have little or no remote IT support — all while helping them meet the device deployment challenges inherent in digital transformation,” Oathout added. “The results speak for themselves: IT operations managers who have chosen Black Box as their digital transformation partner have cut project costs by more than 33%, slashed the time for retrofitting existing locations from years to months, and experienced the same high-quality results whether they're based in Mexico City; Mumbai, India; or Memphis, Tennessee.”