Here have the 18 elements to consider when building an IoT cloud platform.
Typically, IoT cloud platforms are compared in terms of security features, protocols, data formats, data analysis, and visualization capabilities, and the application environment they provide.
There are many IoT cloud platforms that may have a full suite of features but may still not be up to the task required by the customer. An IoT cloud platform may have the most important features, but there may be other factors that make it less suitable for the customer’s needs.
A recent study identified 18 factors to consider when considering a platform that can be a common approach to an organization’s choice of IoT cloud platform.
While organizations may still need to conduct an initial analysis of their own requirements and gain insight into key platform features, these findings can be used as a starting point for evaluation and selection.
IoT Cloud Platform Building Element 1: Stability
While there are hundreds of platforms on the market today, many of them may be problematic. They may not even be able to deliver to end-users. This is a major concern for buyers. Some 93% of respondents to the study identified platform stability as a very important factor.
IoT Cloud Platform Building Element 2: Scalability and flexibility
As deployments begin to scale over time, a IoT cloud platform must be able to seamlessly adapt to a growing population of IoT devices and larger volumes of IoT data. As such, you need a platform that can grow with your business and support it through all stages of development. Again, the flexibility of the technology should not be an issue.
IoT Cloud Platform Building Element 3: Pricing models and business cases
This can be a differentiating factor for a variety of reasons. For example, some platform providers get you started at a lower cost and increase pricing after the initial phase. Other platforms are inexpensive but have limited functionality, and you will end up paying more once you need to upgrade to a fully functional platform.
IoT Cloud Platform Building Element 4: Security
Security by design has become the norm in the world of IoT platforms. This can include various items such as device-to-cloud network security, application authentication, cloud and device security including authentication and certificates, and data encryption.
IoT Cloud Platform Building Element 5: Time-to-market
Some platform providers offer support packages to their customers to help with product development and reduce time to market. Other platforms also provide in-house expertise to help customers throughout the process. To find out how platform providers can help users in the post-sales environment.
IoT Cloud Platform Building Element 6: Data ownership
Extracting and processing IoT data comes with the issue of data ownership. Depending on the country/region of jurisdiction, you have a variety of legal interpretations, rules, and regulations. Before choosing a cloud IoT platform, it may be helpful to review the data rights and data protection regulations that are binding on the IoT platform provider.
IoT Cloud Platform Building Element 7: Data analysis and visualization
Not all IoT cloud platforms have built-in data analysis and visualization tools. Therefore, when choosing a provider, look for a platform provider that can provide you with the ability to extract, aggregate, and analyze data, while offering data visualization tools or integration.
IoT Cloud Platform Building Element 8: Compatibility with existing IoT infrastructure
IoT devices can work with many different infrastructures, and IoT platforms are increasingly hardware independent. Despite this, organizations need to ensure that the IoT platform they choose is suitable for older generation technologies. Platforms should ultimately be compatible with existing IoT infrastructures.
IoT Cloud Platform Building Element 9: IoT Protocol support
Organizations should aim for an IoT platform that can support a wide range of protocols and new protocols and enable them to easily upgrade these protocols. The IoT protocols such as Wifi, Lora, Bluetooth, NB-IoT, Zigbee, Sigfox, etc. For the 12 Common IoT Protocols And Standards, please click here.
IoT Cloud Platform Building Element 10: Interoperability
Before selecting a platform it is important to understand whether the chosen IoT platform can be integrated with other (open source) environments.
IoT Cloud Platform Building Element 11: Redundancy and disaster recovery
As errors will always occur, organizations should ensure that their IoT platform provides a dedicated infrastructure to protect the integrity of data and other assets during unforeseen events. This may include regular data backups and failover configurations, among others.
IoT Cloud Platform Building Element 12: Attractive interface
An easy-to-use interface is critical to the organization-wide adoption of an IoT platform that will be used by a variety of people, both technical and non-technical. All services and functions should be easy to access and intuitive.
IoT Cloud Platform Building Element 13: Application environment
IoT platforms with a cloud IDE or an integrative IoT development environment are becoming increasingly popular as they significantly accelerate IoT deployments. When choosing a platform, organizations should consider the application development environment offered, common interfaces, etc.
IoT Cloud Platform Building Element 14: Platform migration
As a company grows and begins to scale, or as technology requirements change, a given IoT cloud platform may no longer be able to respond to a company’s needs.
The organization may have to migrate to another provider. The possibility of platform migration should be considered for a potential migration to another IoT platform.
IoT Cloud Platform Building Element 15: Hybrid cloud
For some organizations, a hybrid cloud is a less important requirement. However, in situations where a company needs to handle sensitive data or mission-critical processes locally, leaving less critical operations to be managed by an IoT cloud platform, a hybrid cloud may become important.
IoT Cloud Platform Building Element 16: Bandwidth
IoT platforms need low latency and high bandwidth. They need to be able to efficiently transfer device data and facilitate communication between layers and components within the IoT ecosystem.
IoT Cloud Platform Building Element 17: Edge intelligence and control
Edge computing is considered to be the future of IoT. Similarly, IoT cloud platforms are moving to the edge of the IoT network. As a result, platform providers are beginning to integrate edge functionality into their IoT offerings and extend it across the entire IoT infrastructure, in addition to cloud computing.
IoT cloud platforms are no longer just a cloud service but are increasingly geared towards distributed edge intelligence. To facilitate the work of connected devices that process data locally at the IoT edge, these platforms need to be able to support new topologies and incorporate edge functionality.
IoT Cloud Platform Building Element 18: Experience
A solid team with a history of successful pre-deployment and experience in the intended application domain is often a good choice.
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