Time for a Better IoT Platform? 7 Things to Look For

Choosing the right IoT platform is an important decision. Migrating to a platform that cannot meet your business needs can set you back by leading to unnecessary costs or time-consuming delays. That is why it is vital that businesses carefully consider both immediate and long-term needs before looking at various options and making the switch.

Here are the 7 things that you need to look for when deciding which IoT platform to move to.

7 Essentials for an IoT Platform

1. Scalability

Scalability becomes increasingly more important as you grow the number of connected devices. The more devices you connect, the more costly and risky it becomes. If you want to be able to continue to gain important insights from your data without compromising productivity, it is vital that you find an IoT platform that can handle increased data loads as you begin to connect more devices, gather more data from devices, and collect data more frequently.

Ultimately, you want to choose a platform that is built with scalability and optimal performance in mind. The platform should be able to support millions of devices with different usage and technological requirements. At the same time, this platform should remain reliable, eliminating the possibility of data loss and outages except for in the most extreme circumstances.

2. Campaign Management

In addition to performance scalability, it is also vital that your IoT platform can scale when it comes to campaign management. As your enterprise adds more devices, you need to be able to manage these devices efficiently and in a timely manner. Your IoT platform should allow you to add devices, change programming, and watch and monitor performance remotely. Enterprises need a platform that allows them to update edge software and individual programs simultaneously across many devices.

3. Flexible Data Model

Each type of connected device is unique and generates different kinds of data, which means that a one-size-fits-all approach to data does not work when it comes to IoT platforms. Look for a platform provider that offers a flexible data model that can support your product technology choices and keep up with your growing business data needs as they change over time.

4. Security & Privacy

When reviewing potential IoT platforms, you also need to consider the security of your smart products, communication protocols used by the smart product, and the data generated by your products. Look out for enterprise-grade security that can protect your IoT network at every level from a range of threats, both internal and external. Not only are cutting-edge encryption technologies important for the security of these factors, but you will also want to ensure that the platform is flexible in being able to comply with future legislation as well.

Some other important security features include secure networking that allows you to transfer data over highly secure SSL and TLS frameworks and built-in data validation frameworks. Enterprises should also look for a platform with session management that allows you to control how and when your staff log into the platform as well as permissions to manage who is able to access which resources.

5. Data Access & Analytics

In order to get the most out of your IoT investment, you need to be able to access and understand the rich data that your devices are generating. Find an IoT platform that makes it easy to export and analyze the data that is collected from your products and solutions. Choose an IoT platform solution that offers an easy-to-use data analytics dashboard that gives you better overall visibility of your IoT data.

6. Cloud-to-Cloud Integration

Your company will want to choose an IoT platform provider that allows you to easily integrate with third-party cloud services that you use now or may use in the future, such as a customer relationship management (CRM) system. Using an IoT platform with cloud-to-cloud integration ensures that your business processes are not interrupted and that you can make actionable decisions on the data and insights that you gather from your devices.

7. Technology for the Future

If you want to get the most out of your investment, it’s vital that you choose a platform that offers future-proofed technology. There is no way to tell how exactly your product will evolve and what data needs you may have in the future. Most IoT platforms are already built with the capabilities to handle any challenges you may face, like fast-paced growth or global scalability.

Platform providers also work to ensure that their platforms are secure and compliant with new security measures as they arise. Working with a company that knows the ins and outs of IoT and is constantly working to innovate within the industry gives you the peace of mind in knowing that your future needs will be met, even those you don’t know about yet.

Making the right IoT platform choice now will help you gain a competitive advantage over those businesses who are struggling to develop their own IoT platform or waiting to dive into the world of connected devices. Now that you know what to look for in an IoT platform, you can make a more informed choice that will help you drive business growth.

If you’re ready to partner with an IoT platform provider that can help you get your solution to market faster and help you gain actionable insight from your device data, speak to our migration team today. Our IoT experts will guide you through the process of full-scale commercial IoT deployment and make the migration process fast and easy.