IoT has taken the world by storm and is expected to bring out the next revolution. Numerous technologies came out during these past few years, and the internet of things is considered one of the best. IoT software development holds a specific place for all of this, as, without custom software, the most practical of uses can’t be achieved for a particular business setting.
If you plan to use IoT for your business, you should probably start searching for IoT software development. Having said that, there are certainly a few things to know before jumping in. We will discuss the internet of things, how it would benefit you, and how to develop IoT software. We hope you will find the answers you have been looking for by the end of today’s blog. Let’s get started.
What is the Internet of Things?
Internet of Things is a connected network of physical devices that can communicate and relay data and control and monitor real-world devices. IoT is based on a machine-to-machine (M2M) principle, where connected devices are used to control physical machines and devices.
There are both consumer and business applications of IoT, and to implement what you need, there is IoT software development. The basic use is interaction with physical devices; then there is data gathering, real-time monitoring, and controlling of those devices. Smart home solution development are the greatest example of IoT in the current time.
Also Read: IoT Consulting Services: Everything You Need to Know
Benefits of IoT Software Development
The working and implementation of IoT might seem easy from the definition above, but that’s hardly the case. You will need IoT software development services to ripe out the maximum benefits. In most cases, everything needs to be customized to achieve the below-mentioned benefits on a massive scale.
a. Cost Savings
The majority of resources and money goes into operations, risk management, depreciation, etc. With IoT, you can imagine a world where every machine works efficiently, under optimum conditions, and lasts much longer. All these are achievable with IoT; using the devices, you can save major costs that come with infrastructure, reduce downtimes, improve efficiency, and reduce human staff.
b. Improved Efficiency
Almost every industry spends most of its budget trying to improve efficiency. With IoT, you would already start to imagine what a 24/7 working myriad of devices can do. The machines won’t need breaks, can take decisions based on real-time data, and shut down or restart machines in varying cases that may arise.
c. Data Gathering
For both consumer-facing businesses and manufacturing businesses, data is absolute gold. In a setting where IoT devices work with the customer, you can gain major insights to decide on business plans for further improvements. For manufacturing, a dataset containing the optimum functioning plan can be derived for the particular set, settings, and machinery of a business.
d. 24/7 Workability
Devices don’t need breaks as humans do; they can operate 24/7 when done under the right conditions and strain. IoT devices will let you monitor everything in real time; you won’t need to worry about machines overheating as those devices can manage the load accordingly. No breaks or vacations for IoT devices, and you only need human interaction for monitoring.
e. Error Reduction
The chances of machines making an error compared to humans come out to be in favor of machines in most cases. You can hire IoT software developer who can focus on reducing errors for the whole system. A near-perfect setting can be created through a range of IoT devices and good custom enterprise software development.
f. Behavioral Insights
A business can tap into major insights with IoT, and this has everything to do with improving customer service. Using the devices, you will be able to track usage, patterns, and behaviors and improve based on those. Many companies are using their insights to improve every day, and if you don’t, you will probably be missing out on it.
How to Develop Custom IoT Software?
For optimum results, IoT development services are usually the preferred choice of businesses. But knowing the steps to development is a must, as you understand what you want the best. Better negotiations can be achieved with basic information, and that’s what makes the points below so important.
Step 1: Making a List of Features
a. Device Management
Device management is the most basic of features as you would need it every once in a while. There are various ways to manage devices, the things you can do, and the automation you can use. You will be presented with capabilities based on the devices you select, and your IoT device management software development service provider will implement and integrate those capabilities into your solution.
b. Data Collection
Collecting data can lead to major benefits, as discussed above, but you need to do it right. You can both set up repositories to store data and work on it later and collect and act on real-time data as well. Depending on the network and the devices you use, the IoT development partner will notify you of the possibilities and build databases that can be accessed through the software.
c. Data Visualization
Data visualization is where things get tricky, as it doesn’t just require expertise but experience as well. Many IoT developers you hire might have either, but you need to look for those having both. Data visualization will help you analyze the data from a central dashboard for every device in the system. This dashboard’s categorization and functionality will require the expertise and experience mentioned above.
d. Virtual Device Control/Remote Access
Taking control of the devices is one of the fanciest features you can have in your IoT software. You can literally control the heaviest machinery from your desk. But you need to give a good amount of thought to how you want to use this feature, the IoT devices will come with different capabilities, and you might need to spend more to have those with remote access available.
e. Push Notifications
Major alerts about anything can be pushed through email and SMS notifications to anyone in the organization. Your IoT software development partner will implement the feature based on your requirements, and we recommend going all in on it. The reason for it is that you can combine remote access and push notifications to control everything going on in the system remotely, and use it for major advantages.
f. Configuration Management
Configuration of the machines can be altered per requirements through IoT devices. You can include this feature to remotely configure the settings according to how you want them to be. In a manufacturing setting, you can overhaul entire production or reduce through the dashboard; convenient, isn’t it?
Step 2: The Development Part
Once you decide on the features, it’s going to be time for the development part. You may want to consider IoT consulting services to guide you through the decision-making process. You will need to make major choices here that would decide the course of IoT software development. The platforms and technology stack would be the two major choices here; both will majorly affect the workability and the cost of getting your software developed. Once you are done with this step, you can move on to choosing who to hire to get the job done.
The Platform for Software Development
The number of devices, the features you want, and the performance you seek will all be considered when determining the platforms, you need to focus on. Most people are choosing web-based cloud software solutions. While it may be an ideal choice for others, we believe on-premise desktop software is equally matched.
This is because IoT devices can run on networks rather than just the internet; you can fortify security with on-premise software. Python, Java, DotNet, and C++ are the top technologies for building the basic architecture for software; Azure and AWS are major choices for cloud-based implementation.
Choosing Team Members for IoT Software Development
Based on the platforms you choose; you will need to hire experts to build software for each. A basic team of enterprise software development company would include the same as building any software. But on top of that, you need to ensure they are experienced with IoT as there would be an impending need for it, considering the devices to be connected and data to be relayed.
- Project Manager
- Embedded System Engineers
- Back-End Developers
- Front-End Designers
- Testers
- Database experts
Technology Stack
The technology stack you choose will determine the performance and efficiency of your software. When you avail of software development services, they would usually tell you the best stacks available for your requirements. But it is always good to know what your options are and research them a bit to know which offers what. IoT software development consultation can also help you with it, as they will analyze your requirements and give you an optimum solution.
Software Development Tools
- Linx
- Bootstrap
- Cloud 9
- GitHub
- NetBeans
- Zend
Back-End Development
- Java
- JS
- PHP
- Python
Front-End Development
- Angular
- Laravel
- HTML
- CSS
- JavaScript
Data analytics tools
- Python
- Java
- Amazon EC2
- Amazon S3
- Kafka
- Scala
- Amazon VPC
- Amazon EMR
- Apache Impala
Utilities
- Elastic Search
DevOps
- Chef
- AWS CloudFormation
Databases
- Aerospike
- MongoDB
- Cassandra
- HBase
- MySQL
- Postgre
Step 3: Who to Hire?
Setting up Your Own Team
Setting up your own team for IoT software development is one of the choices. It is an expensive option considering you need experts to work on it. Hiring full-time development teams for your software alone will cost you dearly and would leave you in a dilemma down the line. This is simply because everything can’t happen at once, and you cannot hire someone for a few months and just lay them off. This option is only recommended if you need continuous work and development on the software.
Also Read- IoT Product Development: Use Cases and Development Process
Hire an IoT Software Development Company
When you hire IoT developers from a professional service provider, there aren’t many things to go wrong. The question is how to find a perfect partner. We at Matellio have massive expertise in IoT software development and will help you through your endeavors. We offer different hiring, staff augmentation, and turnkey models to provide you with a plethora of suitable options for IoT software development. Contact us for a free consultation, and we will get back to you within 24 business hours.
