Control4 is on a hot streak when it comes to making friends in the right places. The home controls company has just signed a strategic agreement with Cisco for its platform to be integrated into Cisco’s Smart+Connected Communities and Home Energy Management Solutions.

When Cisco went shopping around for a HAN partner, it was not just looking for a company that could adjust the HVAC. Instead, it wanted a company that had a platform that could deliver comprehensive energy management along with a variety of other consumer offerings. Cisco’s Smart+Connected Communities are all about “putting the network into the fabric of the community,” said Todd Tatum, a Manager for Unified Communications Product Management at Cisco.

Control4 is a natural fit in Cisco’s Smart+Connected Communities, because the company offers security, lighting controls and other high-tech automation features. Tatum sees additional features like home health care services or concierge offerings being built on top to offer a truly automated lifestyle in these communities.

“We’re really looking to deliver services into the home,” said Tatum. "We’re planning for the cities of the future."

However, the partnership will not just be to connect the cities of the future, like Songdo in South Korea, which is being built from the ground up and will be fully networked. Cisco will also resell Control4’s EMS 100 (which includes an in-home display, Advantage software and smart thermostat) to its clients and integrate Control4 technology into Cisco’s Service Delivery Platform.

For Cisco, the partnership allows them to have an integrated offering for both utilities and builders while Control4 gets massive exposure to the global market. Although Cisco is certainly the gorilla in this relationship, Richard Walker, President of Control4 Energy, noted that in a home automation area rife with startups, Control4’s OS system has matured over the past seven years.  

“We really see this being a long-term relationship,” said Richard Walker, President of Control4 Energy.

Cisco also was a leader in a recent round of funding, the amount of which was not disclosed. The announcement comes on the heels of news in January that Control4 is teaming up with Silver Spring Networks to deliver its home area network controls to utilities. Control4 was also chosen by NV Energy for the HAN component of its smart grid project.