Wachter’s VP of Strategic Innovation, Matt Tyler, joins this IoT For All Podcast episode to discuss how IoT can improve customer experience and the role of solution integrators in IoT. Matt begins by Wachter, along with their current offerings and target audience. He then goes into depth on industries that Wachter focuses on and their use cases in retail. Matt and Ryan then go into a high-level conversation around the current IoT landscape and challenges before wrapping it up with Matt giving advice to people preparing to begin their IoT journey.

About Matt

Wachter’s VP of Strategic Innovation, Matt Tyler, joins this IoT For All Podcast episode to discuss how IoT can improve customer experience. Matt begins by introducing himself and Wachter, along with their current offerings and target audience. He then goes into depth on industries that Wachter focuses on and their use cases in retail. Matt and Ryan then go into a high-level conversation around the current IoT landscape and challenges before wrapping it up with Matt giving advice to people preparing to begin their IoT journey.

Interested in connecting with Matt? Reach out on Linkedin!

About Wachter

Wachter approaches every project with a team of certified experts who consult, design, procure, deploy and maintain all of your AV systems. Wachter’s expert AV solutions, Structured Cabling, Electrical, Network, and Physical Security Solutions leverage direct partnerships with the top technology manufacturers to meet your specific needs.

Key Questions and Topics from this Episode:

(01:04) Introduction to Matt and Wachter

(03:35) Wachter offerings and target audience

(05:55) Where Wachter helps businesses

(07:12) Focused industries of Wachter

(08:08) Use cases in retail

(10:11) Value customers receives

(12:38) Current IoT landscape and challenges

(14:42) Advice for preparing for IoT adoption

(17:34) Future of Wachter

Transcript:

- [Voice Over] You are listening to the IoT for All Media Network.

- [Ryan] Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of the IoT For All Podcast, the number one publication and resource for the Internet of Things. I'm your host, Ryan Chacon. If you are watching this on YouTube, we would truly appreciate it if you give this video a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel. If you're listening to us on a podcast directory like Apple Podcasts, please subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as they are out. All right, on today's episode we have Matt Tyler, the VP of Strategic Innovation at Wachter. They are a leading solutions integrator that enables business' transformation by solving complex challenges to keep organizations successful. On today's episode, we talk a lot about Wachter's role in IoT, the view they have on the industry, IoT service capabilities, some of the really exciting use cases that they're involved in, as well as challenges in IoT and with digital transformation in general, advice for overcoming these challenges, and a number of other really interesting topics that I think you'll get a lot of value out of. So without further ado, please enjoy this episode of the IoT for All podcast with Matt Tyler, the VP of Strategic Innovation at Wachter. And without further ado, please enjoy this episode of the IoT for All podcast. Welcome Matt to the IoT for All Podcast. Thanks for being here this week.

- [Matt] Yeah, thanks for having me.

- [Ryan] Absolutely. So I think the best way to kick this off would be to have you give a quick introduction about yourself, background, experience, anything you think could be relevant to our audience. Start off with that.

- [Matt] Sure. You know, as the IoT has transformed over years, closer to a decade now with the IoT terminology, we're an OT systems integrator, and that's my background, is I come from the industrial electrical side. So commercial industrial electrician. Got into infrastructure and low voltage cabling early on in my career. Moved in through my Cisco certifications, so became a network engineer beyond that, and now I serve as the Vice President of Strategic Innovation for Wachter, where I oversee our manufacturing partners, as well as our go-to-market solutions, and then also manage our new business development teams, as well.

- [Ryan] Fantastic. So I'd love it if you could tell our audience a little bit more about the company, kind of what you all do, the role you play in the space, kinda just at a high level.

- [Matt] Sure. Wachter is a 92-year-old nationwide solutions integrator, and the reason why we make that designation of being a solutions integrator is that we have a number of different technology expertise within the greater market. So we have industrial controls and automation, and we have audio visual specialists in the commercial space, we have electronic physical security, so cameras, access control, all of that kind of good stuff. We're also a Cisco Gold partner, so we hold all of the network certifications and making sure all these IoT solutions work properly on a network. And, you know, the systems and the solutions we're providing to our customers are becoming far more complex and it requires a little bit of talent from each one of those different vertical stacks. So we take all those different systems and we integrate them together into being solutions. So we have about 2000 people coast to coast in-- The United States. We cover a little bit into Canada, cover a little bit into Mexico, but primarily in the US. And really what sets us apart from our competitors is we do that with our own W2 employees, meaning that they are our full-time staff, rather than relying on a network of subcontractors. We provide quality and consistency across the board 'cause it's done with our own individuals.

- [Ryan] That's fantastic. Yeah, that's kind of, that's rare and I think a lot of our audience would understand to have a company with that many people all completely in-house and focused kinda on the same goal in that region, so that's fantastic. Can you elaborate a little bit more on two things. One, the kind of offerings you all have, as well as who your target audience is. And so as people are listening to this, it'd be good to kind of have the ears perk up of those that are most likely in your kind of target audience and who you focus on talking to and communicating with as when it comes to selling and pushing out your solutions.

- [Matt] Sure. So we don't manufacture hardware and we don't per se write software, either. We have to do integrations with software, so we team up with industry experts in these spaces, like Intel, like Cisco, like others to bring off the shelf technology and integrate those together for our customers. So another thing that makes us unique is the fact that we market ourselves to those major manufacturers, whether it's hardware or whether it's an ISV or a software vendor, and enabling quality and consistency to protect their brands when they're going out into the field, so we help bolster their partner programs. But still on top of that, 40% of our business is done through other integrators. So like I was saying before, the solutions aren't becoming any less complex as the years go on. We understand that there's gaps to be filled, and-- We've opened ourselves up to be partner-friendly. So we know that we may hold some expertise in the industrial space or maybe something in the physical security space, but there's another partner that owns the IT side of the house with their customer. They can feel comfortable with bringing us in and helping them out in fulfilling the gaps that they need filled so they can in turn offer a full turnkey solution to their customers. So our target market primarily is the Fortune 1000s. That's primarily where we service The most of our business, but we have 16 offices across the country so we're servicing small And medium businesses as well by really enabling and helping out our competitors a lot of the times as well.

- [Ryan] And you mentioned something a second ago about kind of coming in with other organizations to fill the gaps that they don't fill. What are those gaps in most situations? Can you kind of sum up what you usually see companies coming to you asking to kind of bring you in to help them provide that full solution?

- [Matt] Sure. So we have, for example, we have IT systems integrators that are partners at, may own a data center for an industrial plant, right? And they have that long-term relationship with that customer. Well now, all of a sudden some of the process automation from the factory floor needs to be connected into that data center or that enterprise network. Our talent is building the networks on the plant floor that are ruggedized, industrial grade, that comply and can ingest the data from the disparate systems and sensors out on that plant floor. So we'll go out and connect, we'll aggregate that data, and then provide that back to that IT systems integrator to bring that data into their data center for visualization, for inspection, whatever it might be. Where they might not have that capability to be on the plant floor tying into the PLC networks and the automation systems.

- [Ryan] Gotcha, okay, fantastic. And you've mentioned a kind of industrial space. What industries aside from that are you all focused on, or is that kind of where your wheelhouse is, your focus?

- [Matt] No, I'd say that's probably the smallest as far as revenue goes, it's probably our smallest group. It's just one of the most specialized. Retail is our largest vertical market. So whether it's quick serve restaurants, casual dining to boutique, high end fashion retail, that's our sweet spot. So point of sale, wireless and wire networks, security, video analytics, so shopper behavioral analytics, things like that. And then even the display in advertising technology. So I said we have a audio visual team That is out there doing consulting design work and then also implementing digital media walls, sound systems, any way to make an immersive shopping experience for our customers.

- [Ryan] Gotcha, yeah, that actually be my next question. When you mentioned retail, I was gonna ask kind of what those use cases look like. And you mentioned something earlier as well about your relationships with organizations like Cisco, Intel, and so forth. How does that relationship kind of bleed into the solutions you offer and the use cases that you all focus on?

- [Matt] Sure. One of the hottest technologies that we're involved with right now is we're in partnership with a company called PROTO. And PROTO has developed and just patented the world's first holographic technology that can be used for the masses. I'm sure everyone's heard the stage presentations in Vegas of all these great holographic Celebrities

- [Ryan] Yeah, sure.

- [Matt] With PROTO, they have a refrigerator sized box that can be built into fixtures, built into the stores themselves and creates that one-to-one immersive experience. So with PROTO, too, they're a smaller startup organization based out of Southern California and they wanted to scale their product. They want it to go to the masses. Well, they partnered up with Wachter to be able to help consult with the customers, install the technology and then maintain the technology, where they never would've been able to do it fast enough for how what the demand and the consumption Is of it. The other thing that we have done as well is we had a partnership with Intel. And we noticed with PROTO, they had integrated Intel technology, and we're now helping them take further advantage of the technology. So there's Intel RealSense within that PROTO unit. Well, now we're taking the RealSense metadata and extracting that for demographics, dwell times, what content was playing on the screen, what the reaction is of the observer. So we've pulled in Intel to help with this three-legged stool effect on this brand new technology. And as a customer to these retail experiences, what is the value that the customer is getting from them? And I guess it'd be kind of interesting to hear just a little bit more detail of how this works. So, or what it is that is being interacted with, 'cause it's, you kind of laid out at least a general visual of what it does, but is it mainly for advertising? Is it mainly for showing, let's say, clothes in a store on a person in a hologram, or what is the general kind of goal and ROI that companies see with this? That's really where our specialty kicks in, as well. In some of that consulting. So the PROTO unit itself can be utilized for just about anything. It's just a matter of using your imagination. So we help customers use their imagination a little bit more. Digital signage, advertising, and product demonstration is where we see the first bite. That's where people clinging to. So let's just say we go into a high end glasses company, a reseller, so there's sunglasses, any kind of fashion eyewear. They can bring in their newest, greatest products, show it off, exploded views, all of that. The audio is integrated, as well. 3D content. Well, maybe they have a brand ambassador. It's a high end celebrity. Well, now that celebrity can beam live into a store And interact with customers. So it's not just demonstrating a product. Now it's engaging with those brand ambassadors, or maybe it's even the designer. Maybe it's a real high end brand And they want a designer from London to beam into New York to have have a one-on-one consultation with a customer. Well, that never could have taken place in the physical world. And then even taking it beyond that, now the CEO of that organization can even beam into the local stores and have fireside chats with their employees. So from an employee engagement perspective, it's a great tool to be utilized, especially in the time of labor shortages like we have right now.

- [Ryan] Sure. No, that's fantastic. It's kind of a futuristic technology that we've seen, I'm sure people have seen in movies and stuff being used in certain ways, but the technology hasn't always really been there obviously in the real world for us to interact with and be utilized in these situations that you're talking about. So, very exciting stuff that you have going on. I did wanna ask, though. It's a little kind of pivot from talking about this, but since you seem to work in a number of different industries with a number of different kinds of organizations all solving a unique set of problems, how do you all kind of view the IoT industry right now and kind of the biggest areas of, I guess the biggest challenges in the space? And IoT kind of bleeds into digital transformation as a higher level kind of category, but what are some of the biggest challenges that you all have kind of encountered and seen from your perspective?

- [Matt] IoT purgatory. There's a point solution for every problem out there. So there's a new manufacturer that pops up, a new software provider that pops up that solved something in a unique situation. So that's a challenge, is one, to be kept abreast of every new technology, what it's doing, is it cost affordable? Because that's another issue is, yeah, it works great from a proof of concept perspective. but it can't go to scale because it becomes cost prohibitive, either from a subscription model or a hardware costing perspective. So what we'll do is look for the common denominators. We work with Intel, we work with other manufacturers that are working with these other ISVs and hardware manufacturers to look for a common, part of that solution that can go across all those different industries that we serve. So we can start to then boil down and say, here's our stable of products. Even though that this product over here was designed for product tracking or logistical purposes, we can also use it in retail or we can use it in healthcare for medical equipment tracking. We just look for those common denominators to really boil that down, because if we were to keep up on all of the new technology, we would never have time to serve our customers.

- [Ryan] No, I totally agree. It's an interesting challenge that seems to be a pretty common one across the industry. How do you, when you have these conversations with companies, is there any kind of advice you can maybe provide for our audience around how to best prepare early on in their IoT kind of planning, IoT journey kind of phases to help avoid some of these common problems that you all have come across?

- [Matt] Yeah, it's, and especially in larger organizations, getting other departments involved early. So if you are the end user and you're gonna be consuming an IoT product or solution, make sure you're bringing in other departments. Whether you think they're they're needed or not, a lot of times budget share comes into play. So something may be too expensive for our organization if just marketing needs it or if just security needs it. If the budget can be shared across multiple departments and we can expand that solution, it becomes far more cost justified when more people are involved. The other thing is to get IT or other governance bodies within the organization involved early, as well. We've seen a lot of times where there's an incubator or a lab within a company. They'll bring something in, it's great, everybody loves it, it solves the problem, but you know, security compliance, other issues with being on the corporate network fall into play and then it all just falls apart, and it could be a year or two worth of work that just falls apart in a matter of 30 days.

- [Ryan] Yeah, for sure. I definitely agree with both of those, and I've kind of noticed there's definitely some unique challenges that occur or come up in the early stages of an IoT kind of development to the pilot stages and so forth that are kind of unique to a lot of industries, but there's also a lot that are very common across industries and use cases, and you've mentioned a couple here that are really good. I think also getting that buy-in from other individuals within the organization as early as possible so that you don't spend the time investing in the pilot, and then once the pilot is successful, have trouble now getting it to that next phase of scale, which then is supposed to benefit everybody, things like that. And then as the industry matures, I think as technology continues to get better, new technologies arise, cost continues to go down, it just makes it more viable for a lot of these solutions and use cases to exist.

- [Matt] A hundred percent agree with that. We see it as time goes on, it's like Moore's law, right? Everything doubles, but actually halves in costs, so, and especially with some consolidation that's going on in the market space as well, it's helping us better understand all of the solutions because a lot of that consolidation is happening, so there aren't so many options to choose from. But it also helps our customers make a choice.

- [Ryan] Yeah, absolutely. So tell me a little bit about, as we've been talking about obviously you're offering solutions, some thoughts and views on the market as a whole. What does the future look like at the company? What are some of the things that you're most excited about happening in the space or to happen in the space or anything maybe that you have cooking up inside that you're comfortable sharing publicly that we should be on the look out for?

- [Matt] I think the most interesting and exciting things in the IoT and kind of where we're moving with our customers is around AI. I mean, it's a buzzword, it's a buzz term, however you wanna call it, AI is everything, but rarely do we see good quality AI happening. And it's just over the last six or eight months where we're starting to see that shift from, hey, this is a really neat idea to, hey, we can really put this into use. There's a lot of big players out there that have used AI in the past, and it's not new, For the masses, it's becoming far more relevant, where a quick serve restaurant that has a budget of $50 a month can actually use AI to offset one or two employees that they can't even find to to fill those spots.

- Right? Whether it's drive-through ordering or predictive analysis about who's about to come into the restaurant. In quick serve restaurants, their two highest costs are labor and wasted food. So if there's anything that AI can do, whether it's around predictive analysis or automated attendance. We're saving an industry that might not be able to stick through it because they can't find enough people to work in that industry. So AI definitely is one, but then two is the integration of systems and other existing solutions that our customers have. So really taking advantage, not just a, hey, we're gonna come in and sell you a point solution to do X, Y, and Z. It's, we have this really neat interface that now we can bring in all of your automation, we can bring in all of your security, we can bring in all of your HVAC, and the AI in the system on top or the dashboard, whatever it might be, can now make intelligent decisions about what needs to happen within your facility. So as we see the gig workforce, right, or gig economy where people are staying at jobs for only a year or two, in a job that may take five to 10 years to gain enough experience to do effectively-- We're having AI learn from the surroundings around it in making those intelligent decisions in place of those long-term employees that have the years of experience behind them.

- [Ryan] Absolutely. Yeah, it's interesting when we talk about AI, because as you mentioned, it does kind sometimes come off as a buzzword or people are kind of just checking the box in their material to say that AI is involved because it knows it markets well and drives engagement. But to do AI well and to implement it well, to make it useful is a challenge for companies. And those who do it well I think really are gonna be able to kind of stand above others and provide something of real value to the industry, especially as more use cases get out in the market and people start to really understand the value of these technologies, AI kind of being put on top of a lot of that and integrated inside adds tons of value and it's a very exciting space to kind of pay attention to.

- [Matt] It is. We're spending a lot of time and effort in engaging with the AI companies. The hardware manufacturers like Intel and some of their new offerings is only allowing us to expand and provide greater value to our customers.

- [Ryan] Absolutely. And to wrap up here, I wanted to ask you, for those audience members who want to learn more, follow up, dive into a lot of the topics we've kind of talked about today and see kind of what's going on at the company, your offerings and so forth, what's the best way that they can do that?

- [Matt] Yeah, the best way is to visit us wachter.com. We have all of our solutions outlined on our website. We have contact information so you can reach out direct or you can get me on LinkedIn, as well.

- [Ryan] Fantastic. Well, Matt, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. I think our audience is gonna get ton of value out of this episode and hearing all the insights that you were able to share today. Thanks again.

- [Matt] Thanks, Ryan.

- [Ryan] All right, everyone, thanks again for watching that episode of the IoT for All Podcast. If you enjoyed the episode, please click the thumbs up button, subscribe to our channel, and be sure to hit the bell notification so you get the latest episodes as soon as they become available. Other than that, thanks again for watching and we'll see you next time.

- [Voice Over] You are listening to the IoT for All Media Network.

- [Ryan] Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of the IoT For All Podcast, the number one publication and resource for the Internet of Things. I'm your host, Ryan Chacon. If you are watching this on YouTube, we would truly appreciate it if you give this video a thumbs up and subscribe to the channel. If you're listening to us on a podcast directory like Apple Podcasts, please subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as they are out. All right, on today's episode we have Matt Tyler, the VP of Strategic Innovation at Wachter. They are a leading solutions integrator that enables business' transformation by solving complex challenges to keep organizations successful. On today's episode, we talk a lot about Wachter's role in IoT, the view they have on the industry, IoT service capabilities, some of the really exciting use cases that they're involved in, as well as challenges in IoT and with digital transformation in general, advice for overcoming these challenges, and a number of other really interesting topics that I think you'll get a lot of value out of. So without further ado, please enjoy this episode of the IoT for All podcast with Matt Tyler, the VP of Strategic Innovation at Wachter. And without further ado, please enjoy this episode of the IoT for All podcast. Welcome Matt to the IoT for All Podcast. Thanks for being here this week.

- [Matt] Yeah, thanks for having me.

- [Ryan] Absolutely. So I think the best way to kick this off would be to have you give a quick introduction about yourself, background, experience, anything you think could be relevant to our audience. Start off with that.

- [Matt] Sure. You know, as the IoT has transformed over years, closer to a decade now with the IoT terminology, we're an OT systems integrator, and that's my background, is I come from the industrial electrical side. So commercial industrial electrician. Got into infrastructure and low voltage cabling early on in my career. Moved in through my Cisco certifications, so became a network engineer beyond that, and now I serve as the Vice President of Strategic Innovation for Wachter, where I oversee our manufacturing partners, as well as our go-to-market solutions, and then also manage our new business development teams, as well.

- [Ryan] Fantastic. So I'd love it if you could tell our audience a little bit more about the company, kind of what you all do, the role you play in the space, kinda just at a high level.

- [Matt] Sure. Wachter is a 92-year-old nationwide solutions integrator, and the reason why we make that designation of being a solutions integrator is that we have a number of different technology expertise within the greater market. So we have industrial controls and automation, and we have audio visual specialists in the commercial space, we have electronic physical security, so cameras, access control, all of that kind of good stuff. We're also a Cisco Gold partner, so we hold all of the network certifications and making sure all these IoT solutions work properly on a network. And, you know, the systems and the solutions we're providing to our customers are becoming far more complex and it requires a little bit of talent from each one of those different vertical stacks. So we take all those different systems and we integrate them together into being solutions. So we have about 2000 people coast to coast in-- The United States. We cover a little bit into Canada, cover a little bit into Mexico, but primarily in the US. And really what sets us apart from our competitors is we do that with our own W2 employees, meaning that they are our full-time staff, rather than relying on a network of subcontractors. We provide quality and consistency across the board 'cause it's done with our own individuals.

- [Ryan] That's fantastic. Yeah, that's kind of, that's rare and I think a lot of our audience would understand to have a company with that many people all completely in-house and focused kinda on the same goal in that region, so that's fantastic. Can you elaborate a little bit more on two things. One, the kind of offerings you all have, as well as who your target audience is. And so as people are listening to this, it'd be good to kind of have the ears perk up of those that are most likely in your kind of target audience and who you focus on talking to and communicating with as when it comes to selling and pushing out your solutions.

- [Matt] Sure. So we don't manufacture hardware and we don't per se write software, either. We have to do integrations with software, so we team up with industry experts in these spaces, like Intel, like Cisco, like others t