Developing IoT devices: what to consider to make a profitable business

IoT devices are all hardware that can be programmed to communicate with other devices or web services without direct human intervention. Since all the projects in the IoT industry are unique, their owners often have to look for a team of specialists to create such equipment on a turnkey basis. We will tell you about the specifics of these services below.

8 Things to Consider When Starting a Business in the IoT industry

First, we offer to elaborate on all the aspects you must consider when developing Internet of Things devices.

Competition

If your product is intended for a large target audience, it’s important to analyze competitive solutions before you start to create IoT devices. So you can avoid duplication of functionality, take into account the mistakes of already launched solutions, and, in the end, make your project better and better than competitors.

Needs of end users

The needs of the target audience can change dramatically over time and under the influence of “sudden” trends. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic has made significant changes to the usual processes in the healthcare sector, transforming many services into the remote format. Think about it when you develop IoT devices; maybe you can also provide a symbiosis for your product with something extra-relevant to the present time.

Potential to use existing IT infrastructure

If your project is being created to integrate with existing IT infrastructure, consider that you can use it more than you initially thought. In particular, the devices it includes can also become part of new IoT systems and act as IoT hardware, collecting and processing data in the same way as devices specially designed for this purpose.

Prospects for creating a scalable platform

Carefully analyze the prospects for developing your IoT project. Perhaps in the next few years, it may require scaling. This factor must certainly be taken into account in its initial IoT development process. Otherwise, when expanding or improving your IoT solution, you will have to redesign it and build IoT devices from scratch again.

If you are interested in building an IoT device, you will need the help of IoT developers. Our team provides such services. Whether you need to integrate a new product seamlessly with your existing digital infrastructure, create an architecture that can scale further, or beat the competition, we’ll get it right. Contact us to discuss your project in detail and estimate its budget.

Long-term business goals

Do you know what your project will be like in a year, five years, or ten years? It’s very important to understand from the very beginning of the custom IoT product development process: will your investment pay off years later? Will your project still be relevant? Can the project deployment help you reach new business heights? Answers to all of the above questions will give you a much more global view of your project and its demand for long-term time distances.

The adaptiveness of the product to changing trends

Trends can arise both suddenly (as in the case of the aforementioned COVID-19 pandemic), and naturally, as the previous ones become obsolete. Be that as it may, your IoT solution should have an advanced technology stack and be flexible enough to have opportunities to be upgraded to the new needs and desires of users with minimal investment and time costs.

Consider how this can be implemented when you develop IoT hardware devices. Perhaps you will be helped by the integration of artificial intelligence and/or machine learning technologies, which will take over the reorientation of business logic, as well as Data Fabric technology, which will help to connect disparate data sources within your IoT cloud platform, no matter how many they are.

Degree of interaction with the IT team

Decide how closely you are willing to work with your development team. Will it be a project for years, or is it a collaboration for just one IoT development life cycle? Do you have your own IT department that needs to collaborate with the new team to be also engaged in developing IoT devices? After you choose the optimal cooperation model for yourself, you will have a more accurate idea of ​​what your contractors should be.

Budget

And finally, a few words about the IoT product development budget. If it’s limited, this doesn’t mean that you have to put up with the low quality of the implementation of your product. Instead, you can turn to the services of outsourcing IoT hardware companies. In this case, you will be offered a more reasonable price, because, in the local IT market, IoT devices development services can cost less than in your country.

How can our IoT platform help?

Want to build the new IoT device for the existing project or create the whole IoT system from scratch? Let’s find out how our IoT hardware platform can help you.

2Smart is a platform that will allow you to create a custom IoT product design and firmware using a ready-made library from basic solutions. Also, this project helps to launch the finished product on the market and establish communications with users.

Using the 2smart constructor with an intuitive graphical interface, you can build your first IoT device in just half an hour, without a microcontroller and knowledge of programming languages. For this, you can use our knowledge base. With the 2smart platform, you can also create updates and even change the firmware.

2smart solves all issues and challenges related to testing. In particular, there is a special environment where you can optimize your product if it doesn’t meet the technical specifications drawn up in advance. With the 2smart platform, you can learn how to monetize your product.

Find out more about this solution on our website. Now we propose to consider several case studies that were implemented through our platform.

Custom ACS development

One of our clients was a cottage business owner who needed a custom ACS to organize access control for staff and residents.

In particular, it was required to create a compact Plug and Play controller for controlling electric locks and electric drives. The client also needed a scalable cloud access control system with the ability to work on isolated servers and a web interface to configure cloud access control.

For the prototype, an ESP32 with a built-in Wi-Fi module was chosen. As for the firmware, our specialists picked Arduino IDE instead of the native one. This approach was due to the simpler testing procedure inherent in the Arduino IDE.

As a result, after five months of productive work and using the complete IoT development stack, we launched compact ACS controllers with wireless data transmission along with a web application for administering access control to the system. Three months later, the product became commercial, and the customer launched mass production of controllers.

Industrial heat pumps enhancement

One of our clients asked us to develop a user-friendly interface for the remote configuration of heat pumps. The client also needed tools for remote collection and storage of telemetry data.

At the time of contacting us, there was already a working product on the market, which, however, was quite difficult to use. Users had to visit the technical room where the installed heat pump to change the device settings. Since orientation to users is one of the critical success factors in the IoT business development process, this inconvenience had to be eliminated. That is why we decided to connect heat pumps to 2Smart Cloud after talking with the client.

As a result, the functionality of the existing solution was extended with the tools needed for remote connection to heat pumps, data collection, and integration of these devices with a mobile application to manage their functionality.

Thus, the client achieved the business goals with minimal time and financial costs, improving the functionality of an existing product, simplifying its firmware using our documentation and SDK, and reducing support and maintenance costs.

Smart greenhouse based on the 2Smart automation platform

Another example of a business process in IoT is a smart greenhouse deployed for our customer based on the 2Smart Standalone automation platform, which makes it possible to implement local IoT device management.

The greenhouse design provides temperature and humidity sensors in the air and soil, as well as the level of carbon dioxide in the air. This data is gathered and analyzed by the platform.

Controlled devices for artificial lighting, watering, and fertilizer supply are also connected to a computer with a deployed automation platform. This allows the solution’s customer to use advanced automation scenarios, including custom ones, to obtain an excellent yield of cultivated crops.

The 2Smart Standalone platform is designed to be used in any business environment, including industrial or agricultural. It makes it possible to provide a complete IoT working process, which includes collecting data, processing it, transmitting it, analyzing it, taking action, and refining and improving the system based on feedback.

In addition, this platform meets our vision of the future of IoT in consumer electronics, as it can be used to deploy an advanced smart home.

Conclusion

IoT-based solutions, being a set of devices with sensors that can collect and send information, solve various problems with the help of special software, and be managed remotely and centrally, always have to be “sharpened” for each project individually.

That’s why it is so important to find for your project not just specialists who will be engaged in building the Internet of Things devices, but those who will take into account absolutely all the aspects that we have listed above. Only in this way will you be able to ensure the maximum return on your financial investment and achieve long-term business goals. If you are looking for IoT device development experts, just be confident: you have already found them. Contact us in any convenient way to discuss your idea of using IoT devices in business and find out more details about building IoT devices.

FAQ

Now we propose to find out the most frequent questions that may arise when developing an Internet of Things product.

Which examples of IoT devices can I use in my project?

It all depends on what your IoT application will be used for. For example, you can use sensors, lights, alarms, heart rate monitors, pedometers, respiration rate trackers, movement trackers, and so on. To understand what devices your project needs, it’s better for you to contact the experts.

How to create an IoT device solution?

To build an IoT device solution, you need to figure out three aspects: what kind of hardware will be in your project, what communication protocols will be involved, and what cloud IoT platform will be chosen as the basis.

What are the peculiarities of IoT product development?

Unlike traditional software development, you also have to create IoT devices in this case. In addition, such hardware often has a much more primitive design than PCs and mobile devices, requiring a special IoT approach to all IoT product development stages.