Enterprises designing and developing IoT must think about how they will scale their solutions over time.
Top 3 takeaways on scaling the IoT
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IoT scaling is fraught with uncertainty around change—change in regulation, technology and commercial arrangements
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Enterprises must act to keep solutions compliant, resilient and adaptable over the long term, if they are to scale successfully
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An expert IoT solutions provider can advise on measures for flexible IoT that scales efficiently and cost-effectively. These include eSIM and SGP.32, and an application enablement platform.
Challenges scaling IoT projects
There are a range of practical challenges when scaling IoT projects but, in essence, they all come down to uncertainty. ‘The only constant is change’, after all, and no more so than when it comes to the IoT.
Enterprises that can’t adapt to and withstand that change could find it expensive and problematic to scale their IoT. They risk expensive surprises like unplanned site visits and compliance issues that can contribute to total cost of ownership (TCO).
All of which means that flexibility is an IoT baseline requirement. Each enterprise must design for uncertainty from the start with fallback options, a flexible technical and commercial approach, and a strong partnership with their IoT solutions provider who can advise on scaling the IoT reliably and cost-effectively.
Four pitfalls to avoid when scaling IoT
Enterprises keen to expand their IoT fleets nationally, internationally or globally, feel the pressure of decisions they fear will lock them into certain technologies or commercial arrangements. As situations change, this can create big problems further down the line.
Inflexible strategies can leave enterprises at the mercy of change and unfavourable conditions surrounding:
Regulation
Each country and region has its own regulations. It is challenging enough to ensure compliance with everything that is relevant to get an IoT project launched. But regulation doesn’t stand still, so product and compliance managers must stay abreast of any changes that affect their IoT estate.
Take permanent roaming as an example. Each country sets its own policy around how long devices can roam. In many regions, permanent roaming is restricted or banned, meaning IoT devices can’t exceed the permitted time if they connect through a non-native network.
Then there is data sovereignty. In some markets, sensitive data must remain within national borders. In others, it must pass through local infrastructure or be handled by a local legal entity.
Together, these limitations affect everything from network selection to cloud routing and traffic handling.
Technology
Each IoT solution has its own requirements - mains or battery-powered, stationary or on the move, below or above ground and so on. Solutions designers and their IoT advisors must weigh up all considerations to arrive at the best connectivity technology.
However, not all technologies are ubiquitous. Some may have varied availability according to region. Others may not be available at all.
NB-IoT, for example, which suits stationary solutions that need long-battery life and may be located underground or in indoor environments where signal penetration is a challenge, isn’t available nationwide in some countries. Globally, there are only around 140 NB-IoT networks, roaming agreements are limited and support for the technology could change over time.
In fact, technologies in general change over time. Take network shutdowns, familiar to many from 2G and 3G, which has meant significant change for those with deployments dependent on the legacy tech.
Technology moves fast, making futureproofing tricky, but failing to plan for change can lead to hard lessons being learnt.
Commercial arrangements
Network charges change and commercial arrangements in other regions, where SIMs connect to local networks, may take a different approach, making ongoing cost management and TCO a continuous challenge.
Traditionally, cellular connectivity has been transacted through long-term, fixed contracts but enterprises now want more flexibility, not least to give them greater cost control. They want the freedom to switch networks, update profiles or adjust service levels without making physical and expensive site visits to change out SIMs.
Costs
A rigid approach to all these pitfalls can lead to ROI-busting costs in IoT projects but there is another significant factor that can contribute its own pain as companies scale their IoT. That is the unexpected. Mechanical breakdowns, power outages and system disruptions can result in IoT downtime, reparation costs and a loss of customer satisfaction. As IoT projects scale, the impact of outages is magnified.
Nothing can prevent the unexpected, but resilience measures can help defend against outages, maximise uptime and react, respond and recover from downtime. Therefore, teams designing for the IoT must build resilience into their projects.
eSIM and SGP.32
Enterprises need flexibility to switch networks, update profiles or firmware remotely, and generally manage their IoT SIMs over-the-air (OTA).
OTA enables operators to communicate with, reconfigure and manage devices and SIMs without having to physically access those devices.
That way, they can make improvements to, or add new, functions to devices and optimise code to address bugs and security vulnerabilities. Working remotely, enterprises have the ability to do these things without incurring visit costs, to act more quickly should there be a security need, and to minimise device recalls. It is efficient and cost effective.
eSIM supports remote network profile management to, for example, switch to another network for better service or commercial arrangements. Network switching is now more accessible than ever, thanks to the latest GSMA eSIM standard, SGP.32, which was designed specifically for the IoT.
It enables a remote user to instruct the eSIM to pull a network profile from a secure server. That user can instruct many eSIMs to get the new profile simultaneously, which can be a huge time and cost saving for large IoT deployments.
Application enablement platforms
An application enablement platform (AEP) with no-code or low-code development tools can help enterprises scale their innovation.
These platforms have drag-and-drop tools, pre-built integrations and automation.
When enterprises first develop their IoT solutions, an AEP reduces the need for design expertise and large developer teams. As they scale, the platform can help fast-track programmes without traditional programming
How Wireless Logic can help
Wireless Logic is an IoT solutions provider able to offer practical guidance on network connectivity, application enablement and scaling IoT deployments.
You need a partner, not just a connectivity provider, but an expert to help you design and scale your IoT with resilience, control and adaptability in mind. Contact us to discuss your IoT needs and get more information on:
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Enterprise eSIM connectivity for global IoT
- SGP.32 buyers guide: what you should be asing about eSIM
- How to access and reduce TCO in IoT