The Internet of Things has gained immense popularity in recent years. IoT apps have reached almost every major sector of the global market because of their smart and automated solutions to every user problem. Whether you are from healthcare, education, retail, or even the logistics and transportation industry, IoT app development has become a major aspect for almost all the sectors today.
Here’s a projected infographic showing the market demands and popularity of the IoT apps in the global market!
Business Aspects of IoT
- 95% of the decision makers expect their businesses to start using IoT applications by 2025.
- 63% of marketers believe that companies who do not leverage IoT in coming years will surely lag behind.
- Almost $115 billion has been spent by the common users in the IoT sector for smart home systems.
- The overall 5G IoT endpoints installed base is expected to reach 49 million by the year 2023 from 3.5 million in 2020.
- Almost 94% of the business that have used smart IoT applications witnessed huge returns on their investments.
- Over 90% of the commercial vehicles will become smart with IoT apps by the end of 2020.
Investment in IoT Applications
- Smart kitchens will help save almost 15% of the expenditures in the F & B industry by 2021.
- At present there are almost 28.3 million IoT apps in the global market.
- Of all the IoT applications, thermostats will hit the market with over 43% of the adoption rate.
- The active IoT devices are expected to reach 21.5 billion by the year 2025.
- The home automation sector of IoT is expected to generate a revenue of $157 billion by the year 2023.
As evident, the market of IoT applications has raised and reached to such an extent that the question of how to develop an IoT application has been replaced by the question – How much does it cost to develop an IoT application?
That’s why, in today’s article, we will be discussing the total cost that would be needed to develop an IoT application. Do you have a similar idea? Are you also planning to develop an IoT application for your business? Here’s the perfect place to begin with!
But, before you start!
So, you have an idea for an IoT app development? Then, you will probably be looking for the cost and features of the IoT application! But, before you proceed must have a basic idea about how your app will work. Meaning, you need to ask certain questions from yourself before initiating the IoT app development work.
Here are some of the questions that you should answer before starting the IoT app development.
- What is the main motive behind your IoT app development?
- Who all will benefit from your app?
- What type of hardware components will be used?
- What special features will you include in your IoT app?
- What else can be possible challenges while developing an IoT application?
Once you get answers to all such questions, your IoT app development journey will be much smoother and streamlined. You will have a target audience to focus on, and you will also be knowing the scope of your IoT app in solving the issues of your target audience.
Besides that, having a detailed knowledge of your project will even let you know what all issues you will face while developing the app, so that you can have dedicated resources available at the time of need! Once you have an exact plan and all the dedicated resources, you will get an accurate estimate of the project!
Factors Affecting the IoT App Development Cost
Now that we have discussed what all you need to address before developing an IoT app, let’s move on to some other crucial factors that significantly affect your IoT app development cost!
1. Designs and Features
The design and features play a vital role in any sort of mobile or web application. The type of theme you select, the color combinations, the font size, and the type of content, majorly affects the overall effectivity of your IoT app. Furthermore, in today’s digital world, customer experience has also become a major aspect while developing mobile apps or web applications. You need to invest in the UI/UX part of the app to make it best suitable for your target audiences.
Similarly, the features of your IoT app will also affect its overall efficiency. Meaning, if you do not add at least two to three advanced features in your IoT application, then chances are high that your competitors may win the race!
Hence, all that eventually adds up to the cost of developing an IoT application. Remember, the better the design and functionalities of the app, the better will be user interaction and lead conversions. However, you don’t need to fill your app with all the advanced features during the beginning.
As an expert in IoT app development, we suggest you to include only some of the advanced features during the initial time, and add as you scale up!
2. Hardware Selection
The next factor that affects the overall development cost of the IoT app is hardware. The type of hardware you integrate with your IoT application will also affect your development cost. For instance, we have several hardware stages that not only help you to efficiently select and design the IoT app but even influence the total development cost. To name a few of them, we have
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Analyze Stage
The IoT app development team will analyze the scope and features you want to add in your IoT application. Tasks like a consultation, budgeting, concept development, technical requirements planning, and cost estimation will also fall under this stage.
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Modelling
The dedicated designers and engineers will develop a model of your IoT solution and will present it to you so that you can have a look at how your app will work.
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Prototyping
Normally, there are many sprints or models the designers and engineers have to create to get a final layout. That also adds to the IoT app development cost!
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Testing
The testing is the most crucial part. Once the prototype has been selected, it is tested under different conditions to make sure that it performs effectively when integrated in the software solution.
3. Infrastructure of Your IoT App
Like hardware, the infrastructure of your IoT app also has three major aspects that impacts the overall development cost.
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Network
An IoT app will not serve its purpose until it is connected to a high-speed and error-free network. All the smart devices only work when they are connected to a short-range wireless network and LPWAN. So, to connect the IoT application to the wireless networks, you will have to invest some money.
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Middleware
Now, it is no surprise that third-party integrations have become a major aspect of the web and mobile applications. To enhance the capabilities of your IoT app and to satisfy the user-needs, third-party systems are needed. And to connect those systems to your IoT applications, you would be needing middleware components. The Middleware component acts as an interface between the IoT app and the third-party system, hence enhancing the functioning of your IoT application.
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Cloud-based Storage
Cloud-based systems are very secure and scalable when it comes to data security. As an expert in software development and mobile app development, we recommend you to always invest in cloud-based applications, otherwise you may have to deal with the major cybersecurity issues!
4. Complexity and Size of your Organization
Besides all the hardware and features of your app, the complexity involved will also play a major role in defining the cost of your IoT application! For instance, if you chose to include some high-end features in your application, then you may have to incur some extra cost.
Similarly, if you wish to develop an IoT app for smart homes, then it may cost somewhat less as compared to an application to manage smart vehicles. Your team size also affects the total cost of developing an IoT application. With more people, you would be needing more access control options, more features, and detailed reports. However, the storage would not be a great issue for you if you have opted for the cloud-based application.
Remember, the more complex will be your IoT application, the more will the developers have to work on it, and eventually, more will be the cost!
5. IoT App Development Team
Choosing the right technology partner also impacts the development cost. Now, many times it is seen that the companies, in order to pay less, hire a freelancer. Although it is not a bad practice, it can impact the overall working of your IoT application. How? Let me give you the reasons.
Firstly, the freelancers are associated with a credible company, so you are not sure whether or not they will provide a complete solution. Secondly, they keep on shifting to new trends and technologies. Hence, if you need any support from them in the future, they might not be available. Lastly, a freelancer will surely not have the exact knowledge of the challenges that might come while developing an IoT application. All these issues could be seamlessly solved by hiring dedicated IoT developers from an experienced software engineering firm!
An experienced firm will not only have the complete knowledge of the software but will even provide you all the dedicated resources you might need during the project development.
However, don’t go for companies that bid less. IoT app development is a vital project that involves quite a lot of resources. So, if a company is bidding quite low, then chances are that they either have just started or are not credible which in both cases may not be very useful for you! Hence, look for an experienced and credible firm at first, and then at the prices!
6. Testing and Launching of IoT Application
Once you have finalized the development team, and they have developed your IoT application, it is time for the testing. The testing also impacts the overall cost of your IoT app development. Meaning, if you have opted for automated testing, then no doubt it will show you even the minutest of the errors and will even provide you the solutions for those, but it will also charge more.
On the other hand, the manual testing costs less, but it is not as efficient as the automated testing. So, decide the type of testing on the basis of the type of your IoT application. Also, you could even connect with your technology partner to check whether they provide the testing functionality or not!
We, at Matellio, ensure that none of our clients faces any sort of problems during the app development, by offering the testing functionality. Our experienced and cost-effective testers make use of manual and automated testing to ensure a smoother and error-free application for the expansion of your business!
7. Maintenance and Post-Launch Support
Last but not least, the maintenance and post-launch support also adds up to the cost of developing an IoT application for your business! The development of IoT applications doesn’t end at testing and employment, rather it starts from there! The technology partner you have chosen for your IoT app development is responsible to provide your maintenance and post-launch support once your application rolls out in the market.
If you have chosen an experienced firm like Matellio, then it will surely provide you the best and cost-effective support like addition of features, scaling of the solution, and so on. Apart from that, if you have hired any freelancer to your team, then ask them to provide you the relevant support when needed.
Additionally, make sure that the technology partner you have chosen follows the clean code methodology. Meaning, anybody with a similar skill could help you by referring to their codes as and when needed.
What is the Final Cost of Developing the IoT app?
So, we are at the most awaited section of our article, i.e. the total cost of developing an IoT application. Now, apart from the factors mentioned above, there are some more factors that you need to consider to calculate the exact cost of the development.
These factors include the geographical location of your development team. Meaning, if you have hired a team from the USA or UK region, then they will surely charge you more than any Asian development team. Furthermore, the UI/X engineers, the consultation charges, the post-launch support charges, and so on.
If you want an exact estimation of your IoT app development, then you can reach us anytime! We have IoT experts that can predict the exact cost of the IoT app development. We are a leading software engineering firm with all the dedicated resources to help you grow and automate your business in the most technological way. Want to see how satisfied our clients are? Reach us today!
Challenges of the IoT Application
Having talked about the IoT app development, there are certain challenges that you might face during your development journey. For instance,
1. High Investment Costs
The high investment cost is probably the most concerning aspect of IoT app development. Often people do not have the required resources and yet they wanted to launch a successful IoT application. As a leading IoT development company, we suggest all our followers start with small-scaled IoT implementations and then scale it up as they grow.
That will not only help them eliminate the high investment issue, but they will even have a clear idea of how the application enhances their business and what all is needed in the future! Additionally, you could even make the use of SaaS (software as a service) services and public storage infrastructures to reduce their initial development cost.
2. Cybersecurity Issues
Cybersecurity has always been a major concern for global businesses and with the advancement of digitization, this concern has become deeper. As per a study, the average cost of a data breach can cost you up to $4 million! So, to eliminate all such security issues, you should include all the relevant security tools and systems in your application.
Including clean code methodology, and cloud computing storage can significantly help you avoid major cybersecurity challenges! Besides that strong internet passwords, and multi-factor authentication can also help to keep your IoT data secure from fraudsters.
Cryptography algorithms, encryption technology, and fire and forget mode of your IoT app are some of the advanced security methods that can help you eliminate cybersecurity issues. If you need any further assistance, contacting a cybersecurity expert could also help in mitigating the losses due to poor security!
3. Improper IoT Development Standards
Now, that is a major issue while developing any sort of web or mobile application in the IoT sector. Although there are many standards that are being followed for IoT development, not having global standards is the most concerned issue of the IoT sector. The IoT sector doesn’t have the universal standards that can be followed everywhere across the globe while developing the IoT applications.
However, many leading agencies like IEEE and The Open Connectivity Foundation are working on developing the global IoT standards so that IoT data could be easily shared across different platforms!
4. Inadequate Communication Infrastructure
While we talked about connecting IoT applications to wireless networks, that’s the most tedious task. Why? That’s because not all the users get the perfect cellular networks at all the places, and building a strong network infrastructure could again be a bit more expensive. So, what’s the solution for this?
As an alternative, you can use the LTE-NB and LTE-M networks as they leverage the present networks to speed up the data exchange process and give a wider coverage.
Ready to Launch your IoT Application?
With all that, you are now ready to launch your IoT application in the global market. To conclude, we can say that the world is fastly becoming more tech-savvy, and if you do not adapt to its changing needs, then you will lag behind. Leveraging smart IoT solutions in enhancing your business operations and customer experience is one of the sure-shot ways to achieve greater profits and brand value. Still, got questions over IoT app development? Don’t worry, we have got you covered!
We are a leading IoT app development company that has provided thousands of IoT applications to a multitude of industries. So whether you are from education, retail, real estate, or even the transportation industry, we have got the perfect solutions for you all. Our IoT experts and a strong development team ensures an error-free and scalable software solution to satisfy all your customer needs.
No matter what all requirements you have, we will fulfil them soonest and at best competitive prices. Reach us out to discuss your business idea today. Plus, get a 30-minute expert consultation free on your first visit. So, hurry Up!
Till then, Happy Reading!
