Building an IoT project: IoT project success factors

Now companies invest in the Internet of Things for a wide range of purposes, where the main ones are workflow automation, advanced data gathering, and life quality improvement.

Though more and more IoT projects are appearing and the expertise in this area is constantly growing, most IoT initiatives fail. Explore, what are IoT project success factors and how to avoid mistakes.

1. Product concept

While developing a software project, many companies fail to perform a marketing research, and IoT projects are not the exception. This step directly affects the final result: if you haven’t studied the market, you are unlikely to achieve success.

Even if your idea is great, building an IoT solution customers don’t need, will lead to IoT project failure. According to IoT surveys, the lack of a market necessity for your product is the main reason for it (42%).

So, before starting IoT project development, define a product concept. A project idea and goals your business needs to meet are the core of your future IoT solution. Determine your target audience, find out their problems.

Then, make a competitor analysis: find the main rivals, those who dominate the market in the niche you’re going to occupy and see how they solve user problems.

Also, study competitors’ products including the functionality, peculiarities, strong and weak sides. By making these important things you’ll understand what features you should implement so that your solution will stand out from the others.

2. Proof of Concept (PoC)

PoC is the evidence that the future product can perform certain functions and solve some user challenges. You may wonder, why not a prototype? And here is the difference.

A POC is a product not ready for market. The goal is to explore tools and technologies that might be used to make a prototype.

The prototype is a marketable product process where a POC focuses on demonstrating that an idea is possible.

At the stage of PoC creation companies design a prototype device, determine use cases, test it in different environments and document their findings.

PoC and research are essential for companies wishing to create a complex IoT solution that needs integration with new or niche third-party devices and services.

Find out more information about Proof of Concept, its goals, testing process, and results.

3. Security

Now everything, from smart cars to smart electric grids, can be hacked and the consequences may be terrible. In these terms, providing high-security level is the key requirement. Learn what are IoT security risks and how to cope with them.

4. Expertise

The Internet of Things is a complicated industry that needs the experienced specialists including business analysts, software developers, quality assurance engineers (QA) as well as accurate and effective project management and strong team cooperation.

Find out other useful tips on how to build a successful IoT project.