Internet of Things Product
Internet of Things Product is the group of physical objects connected to the Internet over a wired or wireless medium. Objects in the term defined as fitness trackers, smartwatches, Bluetooth etc., act as IoT products. The IoT solutions are sub-divided into
Sensing devices-Gathers the information based on the environment and converts it into digital signals
Actuating devices-It react based on the digital signals.
Communication between the devices occurs through peer-to-peer communication and connects to the network through the gateway and gateway-less connection.
IoT Solution Architecture
The IoT solution architecture creates IoT devices connected and functioning in various environments.
The IoT architecture is sub-divided into four types.
Application layer- The application layer comprises embedded software and operating system which senses and actuates the device. Various applications include mobile, desktop and web, which help the users to manage and sensor the data.
Service and Application Support layer-As the name suggests, the application layer is used for storage, data aggregation etc. It is also used to minimize IT infrastructure costs by implementing it in the cloud.
Developers implement network layer-Various networks like Wi-Fi, cellular and wired connections for handling the various components and applications in the IoT environment.
Device Layer-The device layer is subdivided into,
A gateway capabilities-Gateway capability supports wired and wireless devices such as Bluetooth, Zigbee, LPWAN and Z-Wave, which helps connect various devices for communication purposes.
Regular device capabilities- The IoT device nodes collect and share the data. It builds the network to add a new node or remove the malfunctioning device. Only a limited set of data is processed by using sleep and awake mode, which is used to save energy.
This IoT architecture comprises security management and device components. Security measures include data confidentiality, support security such as mobile payment etc. Device components include monitoring the performance, software updates, device activation and deactivation. These functionalities are present in various IoT platforms.
Iot Product Development Lifecycle
The development lifecycle phase is sub-divided into four types,
- Learn
- Purchase
- Use
- Trial/Proof of concept
The methods mentioned above are described by familiar infrastructure vendors like Microsoft and Google.
Apart from this, several other classifications include,
Product idea validation
Product discovery
Minimum Viable Product development
Market launch and MVP scaling
Product Idea Validation
Besides studying research papers and consulting with experts, choosing the target domain is important. Some of the domain includes healthcare, manufacturing industries, educational system etc. Analyzing the various marketing frameworks, including TEMPLES, VRIO, and Porter’s Five Forces, also plays an important role. Industry-specific location and geographic location should also be maintained.
The concept of competition in the market includes price, strategy etc., for the product. The IoT product should satisfy the customer’s requirement, so the product should be designed based on that.
Implementing an appropriate business model such as one-time purchases, subscriptions, and monetization of several services and products. Opting for Business Model Canvas template helps to develop the model.
Using SWOT analysis, one can predict what type of resources is lacking in IoT devices for development. Some of the resources include hardware, embedded, and mobile.
It Product Discovery
The IoT product development lifecycle helps to analyze the product’s ideas, scope and technical vision regarding the product. This work is done by a good business analyst who analyses the company’s internal and external stakeholders and determines the product’s functionality. Based on that, one can choose the right technology for the project, IoT architecture, which increases the product’s flexibility and estimated cost.
The IoT Prototyping is used for product development lifecycle, technology roadblocks, and prototype testing based on the functional and non-functional requirements.
At MVP Development
The main three phases included in this are,
Hardware design
Infrastructure setup
Application development
The major concepts for designing IoT devices include Analysis, Modeling, Prototyping, Testing, and Certification.
The IoT Infrastructure development includes Embedded Software, Connectivity, Cloud Infrastructure, and Supporting Infrastructure.
IoT Product launch and Scaling
- The beta user group is used to test MVP
- A good marketing plan should be developed to participate in industry-specific technology and events and partner with influencers.
- New functionality is added to increase the product’s features.
- The customer should give good feedback regarding the product.
Summary
In the above article, IoT Product development is discussed in detail. The IoT product is developed in various stages and phases. It involves a set of the organization or team members to develop the product.
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