Vodafone
REFERENCES

Full oversight thanks to remote maintenance and smart alarms

“We are involving tarent in many important decision-making processes and have the utmost confidence in its team.”
Dr. Sebastian Groß, Head of Digital Building Management Solutions, Vodafone

About Vodafone

Vodafone is one of the world’s leading communications companies. In Germany, every other person is a Vodafone customer – whether surfing the web, using a phone, or watching TV; or connecting an office, farm, or factory with the aid of Vodafone technology. The company is a single-source supplier of Internet, cellphone, landline, and television services. With its nationwide optical-fiber cable network, Vodafone reaches more than 24 million households, including more than 22 million at gigabit speed. By 2022, Vodafone will supply two-thirds of the entire German population with gigabit Internet connections. Vodafone’s 4G network reaches more than 99% of all households in Germany. Since mid-2019, Vodafone has also been operating the first 5G network in Germany, reaching over 25 million people. By the end of 2021, Vodafone will expand 5G coverage to cover 30 million people.

 

Data is the key to the future success of any business. As one of the global leaders in the field of IoT, Vodafone is massively expanding the Internet of Things, researching future opportunities – and creating the technical infrastructure for “ubicomp”, or ubiquitous computing. Vodafone’s network of devices (narrow-band IoT) for industry and business covers almost 97% of the German territory.

 

As a reliable partner to the real estate industry, Vodafone offers solutions ranging from signal delivery and the construction and operation of high-performance home networks to digital building connectivity.

Situation

Vodafone is strongly expanding its smart building activities within the real estate sector. “Building connectivity 4.0” makes remote maintenance possible, increasing the reliability and energy efficiency of the processes involved. Meter readings can thereby be taken conveniently via a dashboard without staff having to visit the property.

 

Vodafone wanted to first equip two complete buildings with gateways and various sensors in a proof of concept (PoC). The sensor data and the readings taken were to be transmitted in real time to a connected IoT platform. To network all of the necessary components, a completely new infrastructure was needed. This is because, for example, sensors were being used that had only just come onto the market. The PoC has now been successfully completed and further developed into a production system that is already used in practice.

Our solution

Rapid implementation is as important to our clients as our professional skills. As a full-stake IoT integrator, we put together a Scrum team in a short time. The team members started the first sprint only 14 days after specification of the initial requirements and supported the client until the successful launch of the project. The aim was to achieve complete implementation of all technical aspects, from sensor data and the IoT platform to the analysis of data in the customized dashboard.

 

We first determined the feasibility of the project with the aid of the PoC. In addition, we supplied test homes with the necessary hardware as quickly as possible. The tests were successful. We therefore embarked directly on the development of the live system and are continuing to develop it.

 

For the PoC, we equipped 2 buildings with IoT sensors from various vendors as well as gateway devices. The equipment involved included heat meters, smoke detectors, cold water meters, door and leakage sensors, and a number of other IoT components that are relevant for the residential building sector. The sensors were supplied by manufacturers such as Q-Loud, Sontex, and Lansen. Develco gateways were used.

 

Our main focus was on seamlessly connecting the sensors to the Develco gateways so as to enable error-free reporting in real time. We now have hundreds of gateways and sensors in live use.

 

This kind of smart building infrastructure is advantageous from a logistical point of view. It also enables smart, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly management of energy with automatic billing. We are proud to have been involved in this flagship project for digitization in the residential building sector. We also hope that other property owners will seize the opportunities offered by digitization and promote the use of building connectivity.

Key facts

  • Scrum team up and running in less than 2 weeks
  • MVP released after only 3 months
  • 80% reduction in metering costs
  • 6-person Scrum team: 1 Scrum Master, 1 Product Owner, 4 developers

Technologies

  • W-LAN Mesh
  • Zigbee
  • Wireless M-Bus
  • MQTT
  • Kafka
  • Databases: MongoDB, InfluxDB
  • Programming languages: Kotlin, Java, C, Go

Methodologies

  • Agile project management
  • Scrum-based development
STATEMENTS

About the project

Dr. Sebastian Groß
Head of Digital Building Management Solutions
Vodafone

In the context of our Smart Building projects, tarent is supporting us on the integration of the various sensors and gateways involved in our “Building Connectivity 4.0” product. tarent is assisting us not just in the selection of those items but also ensuring that – irrespective of the sensor and vendor involved – data is transmitted securely from the sensor to the database and stored in an easy-to-process format. As a result, our clients can implement almost all applications via a single set of gateway infrastructure, whether the recording and billing of heating costs are involved, the maintenance of smoke detectors, or sensor-based support of janitorial and building management systems. We particularly appreciate the fact that our tarent colleagues deliver highly professional and independent support across the entire data process, from the sensor to the cloud, always work very quickly, and also provide us with optimal advice about other partners. We are therefore involving tarent in many important decision-making processes and have the utmost confidence in its team.

Mario Meltzow
Projektleitung
tarent solutions GmbH

Being involved in such a modern and exciting project was a superb opportunity for us. What was particularly appealing was participating in every stage of the development from the idea to the live operation phase. While we can’t work with the latest technologies and sensors on every project, we learned a lot from this project, while at the same time doing what we do best. We were able to make technology-related decisions quickly and accomplish the sprints very efficiently. What we really value about this project is the chance to develop something collaboratively rather than simply providing software. We look forward to continuing to develop Vodafone’s building connectivity services in the future.

Technology and experience

tarent in figures

26

years of experience

4

office locations

300 +

IT professionals

50

digitization experts

15

partners

27

parallel development projects


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