Tysons-based Alarm.com in Smart Home Battle with Amazon and Google

Alarm.com, a Tysons-based home protection system, started as one of the pioneers of remote home security management. Today the company is fighting to hold its own in a market becoming increasingly saturated with smart home technology.

The company was started in 2000 as an innovation project within MicroStrategy, a business intelligence company based in Tysons. Matthew Zartman, the company’s director of communications, said Alarm.com has benefited from the technology talent pool in the Washington, D.C. area and that Tysons serves as a good central office location for employees living throughout the region.

Part of the company’s core model has been working with authorized dealers to install the products in client’s homes.

“The smart home can be pretty complicated and daunting to the typical consumer,” said Zartman. “There are a ton of options out there, and consumers want help understanding how they can get value from this new technology, and how they can get it installed and working properly.”

Investor’s Business Daily reported that the company took a stock market hit as a result of worries about competition from Amazon and Google’s smart home technology. Both companies offer smart home technology that customers self-install, while Alarm.com distributes its product through home security dealers.

“They are smart home security experts,” said Zartman. “They can provide advice for getting the right system, and they can provide installation and ongoing support. We believe that the combination of our solutions and our service provider partners’ expertise has been key to driving the mass market adoption of smart home technology.”

While smart home technology often focuses on entertainment and other home amenities, Alarm.com’s technology has remained focused on security. Recent moves into business protection and international coverage could help the company carve out a new niche.

In April this year, Alarm.com announced that it would be adding a new service for protecting small and medium-size businesses. Alarm.com for Business offers intelligent intrusion detection, video surveillance, access control and energy management

The company has also been making moves internationally. Alarm.com announced on Aug. 2 it was partnering with European insurance provider Aviva to offer Alarm.com coverage under the banner of Aviva Smart Home.