AUSTIN, Tex.—Most enterprise IoT projects fall apart at the proof of concept phase, according to a recent survey conducted by Cisco. Yet most of the companies that abandoned their projects said they planned to double down on their investment in the internet of things. A recent report from Enterprise IoT Insights (www.enterpriseiotinsights.com) offers some practical pointers for enterprises that want to embed connectivity and computing capabilities into assets.
“It seems clear that enterprises see value in the IoT, but most companies are unsure how to securely and cost-effectively connect assets and equipment to the internet,” said Martha DeGrasse, author of the Enterprise IoT Insights report, “Embedded IoT Design: The Basics.”
The on-demand report outlines basic hardware and software elements of an IoT system design, and highlights some of the important choices that companies need to make as they evaluate projects. The report lists six best practices for IoT development that were highlighted in conversations with analysts, semiconductor companies, and service providers interviewed by Enterprise IoT Insights.
Analyst Lee Ratliff of IHS Markit, who focuses on wireless connectivity for the IoT, said companies do not need to spend too much time trying to understand which connectivity standard will dominate the ecosystem. He said that because there are so many disparate use cases for connected devices, there is room for many different kinds of wireless connectivity.
“The IoT is always going to be a heterogeneous type of network,” Ratliff said in a press release. “There’s a really wide gamut of requirements and capabilities and there’s no one technology that can span all of that in an ideal way.”
Dedicated low-power wide area network technologies will be appropriate for some use cases, while others will need the security and reliability of cellular. The report outlines the basic differences between three new cellular connectivity standards developed specifically for the IoT: LTE Category I, LTE Category M1, and narrowband IoT.
For companies considering IoT deployments, hardware choices can be just as critical as connectivity choices. The report explains some of the options available to developers of new solutions, including development boards and kits, as well as pre-certified modules and modems.
Security is another major concern for enterprises that want to connect their assets or equipment to the public internet. Companies and analysts interviewed for this report said that solutions available today can secure most IoT devices, but developers cannot include security as an afterthought. Secure architectures and security professionals need to be part of a successful IoT deployment from the beginning.
The companies that contributed insights to the report include Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Qualcomm, Intel, Sequans, LitePoint, National Instruments, Gemalto, NXP, Cisco, Digi International, and NimbeLink. The report was published in tandem with an on-demand webinar featuring panelists from IHS Markit, Verizon, Sequans, and LitePoint.
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