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IoT Platforms: Different types of platforms and how to choose the one you need

By 6 lipca, 20229 października, 2023Software development

Because of that, ThingSpeak has great analytical powers and helps its clients achieve a near-real-time analysis of data from hundreds of sensors. Bosch IoT Suite is an all-around, good IoT platform with a German approach to security and reliability. They offer their secure server for information storage but also support the on-site data storage. This platform allows the developers to deploy the prototype application very quickly.

There is also the pricing model (and the hidden costs you might encounter, in specific types of platforms such as those of mobile network operators, costs for instance can also include the data plan costs for mobile connectivity). And when you start looking at each of the different levels of functionality you can go further. In an article on selecting the best edge platform for your needs we dive deeper into some critical edge capabilities. In the previously mentioned article on IoT device lifecycle management we dive deeper into that aspect and so on. As you can see from the few names of vendors mentioned so far, the reason why the market is so diverse is related with the origins and background of the platform which in turn says something about their strengths. Another category of IoT platforms are the so-called IoT network provider platforms with vendors such as AT&T, Orange Business Services, Telefónica, Verizon, and Vodafone.

IoT platform growth and spending

We cover every landmark event in remote support, hot releases, and insights from ace experts. As mentioned in an article on the MachNation 2018 IoT AEP ScoreCard, the MachNation MIT-E test lab for IoT platforms looks at several IoT platform test categories from the perspective of performance and overall evaluation. Again, this drives market, go-to-market and ecosystem/partnership and M&A evolutions and these are important to consider when selecting an IoT platform as we’ll see. When
choosing an IoT platform vendor for your organization, it’s important to
consider which stage of development and execution your company is at. This article will discuss the four types of IoT platforms
and look at which ones could benefit your organization.

What types of IoT platforms are there

The gap you are experiencing might be covered in the next release, not to mention the new functionality, partners, and tools they’ll continue to provide throughout the years. By now, it should be clear that there are many benefits to leveraging commercially available IoT platforms. But believe it or not, many companies, particularly those who are engineering-driven, believe that they need to build every single piece of their IoT solution. As you move towards market fit and scale, the focus should shift towards IoT platforms with more scalability, stability, and a global footprint. The IoT device enclosure, hardware user interface, etc., are elements that require the focus of both your engineering and industrial design teams.

Commercial IoT

All the devices are connected via TuyaOS, its open source operating system which connects with major brands (such as Siemens) and other platforms such as Google Home and Alexa. An IoT platform is a software framework that enables the management, connectivity, and interaction of IoT devices or things over the Internet. It provides a scalable infrastructure, data analytics, real-time monitoring, and other essential features to deploy and manage IoT solutions. Device Management involves the provisioning, configuration, authentication, monitoring, control and updating of devices deployed in the field to ensure they are functioning correctly and securely.

  • Healthcare IoT is at the forefront of improving patient care and healthcare management.
  • Consumer IoT (CIoT) refers to the use of IoT for consumer applications and devices.
  • An IoT platform built on IBM Cloud is a fully managed cloud service for device management, flexible and scalable connectivity options, secure communications and data lifecycle management.
  • The connectivity protocol used in IoT ensures data is transferred effectively and securely between devices.

M2MLabs Mainspring is an application framework for developing machine to machine (M2M) applications such as remote control, fleet administration, or smart terminals. Besides flexible design tools for devices and connection between machines and applications, it offers validation and normalization of data, long-term data repository, and data retrieval functions. Think of an Internet of Things platform as a group of technologies that provide the building blocks for developing your product. IoT platforms provide the “infrastructure” you use to create the specific features of your solution. With the open-source Azure IoT platform from Microsoft, you can quickly build scalable and secure edge-to-cloud solutions. Utilizing ready-to-use tools, templates and services, you can develop flexible applications according to your company’s needs.

Privacy, autonomy, and control

One type is the connectivity platform, which focuses on managing communication between IoT devices and the cloud. This type of platform ensures that data from sensors and other connected devices can be securely transferred and analyzed. IoT platforms are software solutions that enable the deployment, management, and integration of IoT devices and their data. These platforms act as a bridge between the physical devices and the applications that control them, providing a centralized hub for monitoring and controlling IoT devices. If we talk about Edge Computing this application will also perform more complex processing within the nodes, i.e. it will contain part of the business logic.

Industrial IoT (IIoT) is radically altering the landscape of manufacturing and supply chain logistics. By integrating sensors and data analytics into industrial processes, IIoT optimizes operations, minimizes downtime, and bolsters safety measures. McKinsey estimated that IIoT applications could have an economic impact of up to $3.7 trillion annually by 2025. The Internet of things requires huge scalability in the network space to handle the surge of devices.[129] IETF 6LoWPAN can be used to connect devices to IP networks. With billions of devices[130] being added to the Internet space, IPv6 will play a major role in handling the network layer scalability. IETF’s Constrained Application Protocol, ZeroMQ, and MQTT can provide lightweight data transport.

Best IoT Platforms for 2023

It’s important to understand what these products are capable of so you can match one with your organization’s specific needs. In a previous edition of its IoT Application Enablement Platform (AEP) ScoreCard the company found that service providers and enterprises become more interested in open-source IoT AEP technologies. It is pretty hard to pick the right IoT platform that would fit your purposes as you need to look not only the things you need right now but consider the possibility of an upgrade and what directions the platform is going in the future.

What types of IoT platforms are there

Therefore, it’s a case of seeking the best match, rather than one AEP being better than another for all end-users in all situations. The purpose of an IoT platform is to manage and monitor hardware, software, processing abilities, and application layers. The Internet of Things can include anything with a sensor that is assigned a unique identifier (UID). The primary goal of the IoT is to create self-reporting devices that can communicate with each other (and users) in real time.

Connectivity

IoT Connectivity Platforms focus on enabling communication between IoT devices and the cloud. They provide functionalities like device authentication, secure data transfer, and real-time monitoring. IoT analytics platforms are essential tools for businesses looking to make sense of the vast amount of data generated by IoT devices. These platforms provide businesses with the ability to collect, analyze, and visualize data from various IoT sources, such as sensors, devices, and applications. Additionally, these platforms provide scalability, security, and interoperability features that are essential for successful IoT implementation.

Their role is to seamlessly manage the connectivity between your devices and your Cloud platform, across many cellular operators (or other types of specialized network operators such as SigFox). By taking over the non-differentiated functionality, IoT platforms help you reduce your development risk and cost, and accelerate your product’s time to market. The goal of an IoT platform is to provide all the generic functionality for your application so you can focus on building features iot platform vendors that differentiate your product and add value for your customers. When choosing a provider, you should consider the technical capabilities of a platform, its partner ecosystem, industry-specific features and, in general, the provider’s reputation. A resolution passed by the Senate in March 2015, is already being considered by the Congress.[210] This resolution recognized the need for formulating a National Policy on IoT and the matter of privacy, security and spectrum.

Industrial

From an IoT developer perspective, an AEP provides the actual application development environment, often supported by drag-and-drop configuration of application components in a graphical user interface. Often AEPs will provide some level of functionality that might be considered to fall within the domain of a different platform type, potentially via APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) to third party platforms. For instance, APIs that support the management of cellular connections supported by a third-party Connectivity Enablement Platform (see below). The main device management standard relevant for low cost IoT is Lightweight M2M (LwM2M). It was developed by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), which previously developed the OMA-DM standard for phones.

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