IoT App Development Challenges: Top 5 Things You Must Not Ignore
The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the major contributors to making the world a better place. The power of connection with smart appliances and devices is something that was only talked about but never explored and felt. With IoT now being one of the technological advancements that are shaping the world in an evolved way, software development companies are developing IoT apps that elevate the user-experience top-notch instantly.
With both users and businesses aware of what IoT is capable of, every business today plans to accommodate IoT technology in their services. While doing so, they often forget or sideline the fact that there are certain primary challenges when adopting the technology. In the fight to serve all the latest services on a platter to users, businesses loosen their grip of the future.
An IoT app development company needs to look at all aspects and has a transparent discussion with the business to make sure that the app development process is smooth, and the app developed is free of any challenges. In the blog today, we are going to talk about IoT app development challenges and the solutions to cater to those challenges. This is a must-read for you if you are thinking of getting an IoT app developed for your business.
1) Connectivity Challenge
We all are aware of the fact that IoT is all about connecting smart devices with the power of the internet. Once enabled with IoT solutions,companies can easily manage all their connected devices via one device i.e. mobile phone. It’s only because of this feature of IoT, smart homes, smart appliances and more came into existence.
The challenges with connectivity in IoT technology is that the development company or the business often disregards how to connect devices to the Internet and the cloud computing platform. This connection is determined by the type of device application environment and the communication infrastructure of these devices. On the other hand, poor connectivity is also one of a challenge that halters the IoT sensors to monitor, process data and supply information.
Solution: The solution to the connectivity challenge should be highlighted during the design and device application environment of the IoT apps. Since IoT apps would need an internet connection that could be via Wi-Fi or cellular data. Based on the connection, the IoT development company should be open to all options and invest according to the audience and type of IoT app in the development process.
2) Security
One of the main reasons why IoT technology is somewhat neglected by businesses is due to its security lag. The IoT apps are vulnerable to security threats and have faced challenges in the past. The challenge is not only with network security but with the security of all components in IoT apps. The connected devices bring in humongous data which invites cyber-attacks and hacking.
Fact Alert: Gartner has projected that 25 percent of all identified enterprise attacks will involve IoT by 2020. Only 10 percent of IT security budgets will be assigned to protect systems against these attacks.
Solution: To manage security challenges, the IoT app development company tends to tackle a few factors while developing an IoT app for the business. To mention a few are physical security, data exchange security, cloud storage security, and updates. Few measures could be taken by the IoT application development company to manage security threats like:
• SL/TLS encryption technologies
• Isolated VLA
• Detached corporate VPN
• Modern and updated anti-virus
• End-user and machine-to-machine authentication
• Vetted frameworks for web development and design
3) Data Management
As explained above, IoT is all about connected devices, how they function using internet technology and how data is going through an implicit channel of inflow and outflow. This requires extensive coverage of cloud storage to manage this data. IoT app data needs to be stored only after processing, otherwise it's a waste. Thus, the IoT app development company needs to figure out tools and techniques to manage the data.
Solution: The development team needs to ensure that they manage the data effectively. They need to plan efficiently for the way data is collected, stockpiled or administered within an environment. Also, IoT app development companies need to see the data size that is being stored on the cloud. It's beneficial to involve data experts, analytic engineers, and machine learning resources to get insights from data stored on the cloud.
4) Compatibility
One cannot be sure if the IoT app would be compatible with the hardware and software infrastructure of the business or not. There needs to be a balance of hardware and software compatibility of the IoT app. Equipping the IoT app with features, functionalities, updates, heavy OS reduces the performance and takes a jibe at the app. This hampers the overall compatibility of hardware and software drastically.
Solution: When the IoT developers are developing the IoT application for the business, they need to ensure that the application should seamlessly integrate without increasing challenges and hampering the processing in the IoT ecosystem given both hardware and software. There are open standards and architecture models for cross-platform deployment.
Bottom Line
Concluding the blog, there is no rocket science when it comes to IoT app development. Businesses have ideas in which they want to include IoT technology. This calls for a fair deal as it’s a revolutionary trend and bringing benefits that one could only imagine. IoT application development company has been transforming the business's ideas into IoT apps.
However, there are challenges with the development that need to be well-aware of so that the process of development is smooth, and the output is what that has been expected by the business. The success depends on how these challenges are catered and how effectively it transforms the business.