Internet of Things (IoT) is the new wave of connectivity; every organization whether small or big can deploy to make the most of its resources. The current hype around the IoT is huge and every day a new company announces some IoT enabled product. The most common mistake often made in building an IoT network is underestimating the complexity of IoT network design, operation, and management.

Building an IoT network is a complex task because the process of the building tends to break down when done on a massive scale. There are challenges with sourcing and qualifying end devices for their applications, device configuration, implementing encryption and security services, and ultimately generating contextualized data for their use cases. The following steps are essential to building an IoT network

Make an Inventory

It is essential to take a complete requirements inventory before building an IoT application and the supporting network. Some important aspects to the question are the power supply, the range of Radiofrequency, security requirements, updating at intervals, wired or wireless, communication rate between devices.

These aspects will guide to select proper technology, devices and deployment model to meet the requirements of an application.

Skills Required

Developing and operating a secure and scalable IoT network requires significant skill and knowledge. Along with skilled software engineers, application developers and programmers to develop a functional network, network engineers should be employed to connect devices together and their maintenance. The important Operation skills required are network design and RF planning (gateway placement and performance planning), deployment (Radio Access Network site acquisition), and maintenance (escalations and managing service inventory). Network Operations requires skill for monitoring and alerting, performance monitoring, troubleshooting and customer support.

Partnering with an IoT connectivity provider

The Internet of Things requires network connectivity and business engagement across an entire ecosystem of participants, including Communication Service Providers, enterprise organizations and solution providers. To confidently address the critical elements of network security, scalability and flexibility, the best approach to align with a proven IoT connectivity partner capable of offering managed network connectivity, connectivity enabling technology and flexible business models that support scaled growth. Partnering with an IoT connectivity provider to helps in reduced risk, faster time to market and a direct link to driving IoT connectivity revenues with value-add applications.

Systems Integrator

Security, scalability, and flexibility are requirements of any network. Large scale production IoT networks require a highly sophisticated management stack and, operational and business systems is highly complex and costly. Many service providers who have struggled to handle the complexities of building and managing an IoT network and have gained a significant advantage by partnering with IoT ecosystem partners.

System integrators have partnered with IoT network providers and leverage their expertise for connectivity services, end device qualification, device management, and contextualized data delivery. Working with a trusted ecosystem partner with expertise in these areas can significantly reduce risk.

There are many challenges in deploying an IoT network on a large scale. Understanding and managing the complexity, knowing proper configurations, and sourcing the right technologies and devices and security needed can be tough, but taking the time to go forward into the above four steps will give the foundation for success.