As technology advances, we are becoming more and more interested in the idea of home automation. We feel that it would be great to have the lights turn on at a certain time or even have the blinds automatically go up in the morning. This is called the internet of things and we are only on the tip of the iceberg.

Every year it seems as though there is some new way to automate our lives. While I am not going to get into the advantages and disadvantages of automation in this post, I am going to talk about 2 big players in this space.

Both Cisco (CSCO) and Sierra Wireless (SWIR) are in a position to benefit greatly from the internet of things. But one is a better long term play than the other. Which one is it? Continue reading for the analysis of these two companies.

Overview Of Cisco

Cisco  is a tech stalwart. They were around when the tech bubble burst at the turn of the century. The stock took a beating then and even then took a long time to recover. But the company is much healthier now and is looking towards the future.

The business of Cisco is manufacturing routers, switches and other software for internet connectivity. Since you need these devices to automate your home, Cisco sees a new income stream on the horizon.

As a result, in 2016 they purchased Jasper Technologies which will help Cisco with processing and analytics of the internet of things.

They have also partnered with the major automakers to provide high speed data transfer networking technology inside the vehicle.

Recently Cisco reported earnings per share of $0.60 which beat estimates by $0.02. Revenues came in at just shy of $12 billion, which beat estimates by $40 million but was a 0.5% decline compared to last year.

The good news is that Cisco knew this revenue drop was coming but is expected to hit upcoming revenue numbers.

As you can see, Cisco is in a good place to take advantage of the internet of things.

Next up is Sierra Wireless.

Overview Of Sierra Wireless