What can go wrong with your IoT project
No one and nothing escapes Murphy’s Law, least of all IoT projects. The law states, “If anything can go wrong, it will.” IoT projects are deeply complex, and the slightest error could set back or compromise an entire project.
The best way to mitigate that risk is by partnering with an IoT expert to develop your product. They will start your IoT project by documenting as many of the things that can go wrong as possible. Then, they’ll work with you to mitigate them as much as they can. As you search for a partner to help you develop your connected product, ensure they’re considering and accounting for these common ways a project may veer off course.
1) Failure to deeply consider IoT scalability
At the start of every IoT project, it is vital to closely look into the ability of the system you design and develop to handle the capacity expected. Most people starting an IoT project hope to build in scalability for the number of users to grow and the data captured to expand. Many plan to add additional features and functions in the future. When you start an IoT project, you want the option to expand your offering. But that option doesn’t come for free; you need to build that option into your project.
Many projects don’t look close enough at the impact of scale. They may also fail to look far enough down the road. Perhaps the number of calls going back and forth to the cloud will exponentially increase your costs. Or perhaps the growth of your system will overload your database structure causing slow response time. Maybe the way your application is designed will not easily accommodate new features causing delays and cost challenges. Before you go on your IoT journey, consider how the system will expand as you do. Plan for growth before you start software development.
2) Limited map of the end to end IoT solution
The IoT journey is very complicated. Each step has to go right and line up. To ensure things stay on track, map every step carefully. Clearly document each step and what is needed for success. Often, internal teams have a firm handle on one or two of the steps, but not every one. Nobody wants to admit that they don’t fully know something. So, teams forge ahead and assume they’ll figure it out as they go instead of passing their assumptions by a network. Is speed to market more important than the risks inherent in that speed?
There are key steps in the IoT journey that necessitate careful planning. For each project, you will first have to work out the device and the firmware within. Next, determine how that device will connect and what it needs to connect to. Then, consider the application that connects to the device and what functions are most important to both you and your audiences. After that, consider the cloud infrastructure and database needs at play. Then, work out how you want the data visualized so it is simple and actionable. In order to account for every step of your growth--and these are just a few--an end to end map will be a great help.
3) Waiting to call in an IoT specialist
In the world of medicine or law, if things get complicated, you call in someone with deep expertise in the area. You call in a specialist. With respect to what can go wrong with your project, waiting too long to consult a specialist can be costly.
In a recent conversation, an organization admitted they likely would need to start over on their IoT project. When a specialist took a look under the hood, they found that the structure of the application itself was essentially painting them in a corner with respect to future functionality. As is often the case, they did not know what they did not know.
There are aspects of your project that your team has a great handle on. That’s good and to be expected. You know your product and your market. The value of a specialist comes with the deep experience in IoT and knowing the paths to success and the pitfalls to avoid. Don’t wait to get a second opinion or call in someone who has walked this road before. You’ll be glad you did. At some point, it becomes incredibly risky and expensive to refuse to seek an expert perspective.
Calling IoT initiatives complicated would be an understatement. They are deeply complex and contain parts that need to work closely together. One unsound link in the chain can impact the integrity of the entire project.
4) Your designers and IoT developers are not talking
We have the great architect Louis Sullivan to thank for the saying, “Form follows function.” In essence, the design of something should respect its intended use and purpose. When one or the other gets out of balance, problems arise. In the case of IoT development projects, it is far too common for designers (the ones responsible for form) and the developers (strongly focused on function) to not even talk. If they do connect, it happens way too late in the process for anything meaningful to be accomplished.
Perhaps your designer has a strong visual idea. If they bring it up too late in the process, you may be faced with the disappointment that that idea won’t work on the mobile platform you have chosen. Perhaps your developer is way down the road with code and there is no way to make the design visually appealing given what is already created, so you end up fitting something in and squeezing out important visual real estate. What if your brand guidelines are not taken into consideration by your development team and you need to backtrack? It is also possible that your design team is envisioning an experience that will stress or limit the platform and they don’t even realize it.
Your IoT application must honor both design and development. Ideally, these groups are collaborating along the way and working as a team. If not, you will find one side or the other in a position of compromise--which does not bode well for the success of the initiative or even adoption in the market. The process of designing and documenting an approach to IoT development can be called solution architecture. The name itself serves as a reminder to honor form and function.
5) Cost constraints are constraining the project
Keeping with the architecture theme, there is a term often used to describe project management efforts in the world of construction called value engineering. In summary, this process examines the function of a project deeply to determine any cost efficiencies possible. In many cases, it looks to cut costs without project impact. In principal, this effort is wise. However, there is a point of diminishing returns. This point manifests when the material chosen will weaken the quality of the product itself. How does this impact your IoT project?
First of all, let’s agree that IoT is custom software. It is not an out of the box solution. The variables are many as are the options for finding a solution. Thus, trying to fit a solution into the limits of your budget may demand some reductions in scope. Be ready for that. Also, be ready to understand the impact of these scope changes. Decide firmly what’s important to you, as well as your customers, and communicate these features to your provider of choice. Then, make determinations as to what features you can either remove or put off that won’t impact the project success. Choosing what is vital to your MVP is not the same as value engineering quality components. Next, be careful if you shop based on hourly rates. A lower hourly rate developer may take twice as long. Pick your specialist carefully understanding that.
Software expenses must be managed without creating any impediments.
6) You develop an app, not an experience
I am sure you’ve heard the words engaging customer experience at every turn in marketing and business circles. Many organizations recognize valuable experiences create customer loyalty and brand affinity. The problem comes when software development forgets this important fact. Think back to the launch of the Mac with respect to other computers of the day. At the time, C:/ was considered user experience in some software circles. The team at Apple changed that forever. They put ease of use front and center.
As you look at your project, you are not simply creating an application that connects devices. This is more than software. What can go wrong? If you build an application that meets all of your requirements and is too hard to use, your audiences won’t adopt it. If you create an application that is easy to use without valuable data for your own team to use, you won’t learn anything. These days, a connected application is just as much an extension of your brand as your product is. In many cases, it is the product. Give the experience complete consideration. Load the application yourself and see how it works. Ask users what they think. Conduct actual user experience design research. Connect with your brand values and your personality. Look at this as experience development as much as application development.
These are just a few of the potholes to be aware of as you work on your IoT project. There is value in bringing along a guide on this journey. Outside Source is ready and willing to be that guide.