The global IoT market was estimated to be around $1.18 trillion a couple of years ago. It’s growing rapidly, with around 40 billion connected devices projected by 2034. This has happened with the help of the tireless efforts of IoT project teams across the world. They face pressure to innovate, deliver and maintain top-quality products and services to the consumers, who range from common users to large-scale organizations.
The industry is seeing a surge in demand, and to meet their targets, teams adopt smart operation strategies. They strive to overcome every type of technical and coordination-related productivity bottlenecks. This makes it interesting to analyze the problems IoT project teams face and the solutions they come up with to successfully execute and implement their plans.
Device integration delays
IoT teams are dependent on how well the multiple vendors work in tandem to deliver them sensors, gateways and controllers. This seamless coordination between IoT project teams and vendors is important because IoT devices use a wide range of protocols and firmware versions. Delays hamper the communication channel, which leaves teams with very little time on hand. Within a limited time frame, they have to troubleshoot connectivity-related issues. They could easily utilize this lost time to advance core features.
Teams minimize the delays by clearly defining hardware standards well before the procurement is initiated. They test the device compatibility in the first stage and frame hardware guidelines based on that. This process also helps them to create middleware layers that support multiple protocols. The overall simplification achieved because of this process prevents unnecessary efforts that go into configuration tasks. If you and your team are also working on an IoT project, it’s important to note down the hardware standards so that the purchase process is smooth. From knowing how to see clipboard history on Mac to sharing data on the cloud with the teams are some of the steps that ensure safe and efficient projects. When you are in complete control of the information you create, share, and edit in coordination with your team, productivity is bound to be better.
Inconsistent data hampering the analytics
Analytics play a major role in understanding anomalies. The data is used to fix system behavior, which ultimately ensures a good project execution rate. A fluctuation can lead to inaccurate sensor readings, because of which developers spend hours to even days knowing where the error is originating from. It could be from hardware, environmental interference or network fluctuations.
To overcome this challenge, IoT project teams can set automated validation rules. These can filter extreme values and the moment they see an anomaly, an alert is triggered. trigger alerts when anomalies appear. Regular calibration schedules keep critical measurements on track even if one of the sensors fails.
Gaps between hardware and software teams
IoT is a fine combination of hardware and software. The teams working on these two aspects have their own set of tools, schedules and work plans. A common ground is therefore important to maintain a seamless workflow. Everything from timely sharing of data to personal behavior plays a big role in bridging the gaps between the two teams.
Practical coordination steps for hardware and software teams include:
- Shared technical documentation with 24/7 access for all
- Cross-functional sprint reviews at regular intervals
- Centralized issue-tracking tools with a process leader in charge of final resolution
These practices enhance IoT team collaboration, which in turn leads to a high productivity level for everyone.
Security tasks disrupting development
Security requirements in IoT systems are immense. It’s a complex web of encryption, authentication and access control because of which projects are often delayed. To overcome these challenges, the security plan should be introduced at an early stage in the development process.
To avoid any architectural redesign need and any possibility of vulnerabilities in the future, predefined security templates and timely scans should be followed.
Insufficient testing in real-world environments
Field environments differ greatly from the lab ones. IoT devices will work differently when exposed to various factors outside the lab that range from weather conditions to power fluctuations and network signals to an individual’s usage style.
To avoid any typical failures in the real world, IoT project teams must simulate real-life conditions in testing irrespective of the time and money it might take.
Typical testing progression for IoT projects
Stage 1 – Laboratory validation after rigorous tests
Stage 2 – Simulated real-world conditions
Stage 3 – Limited real-world deployment
Stage 4 – Improvements based on deployment analytics
Firmware update complexity
In a tech-oriented world, manual updating of a large volume of devices is a recipe for disaster. It will be slow, risky, demotivating and costly. This leads to further problems like devices becoming unusable or a service blackout.
To avoid these situations, over-the-air updates and that too during low-traffic periods, are the correct method to use.
Infrastructure that does not scale
As mentioned earlier, the IoT market is on a big rise. If teams build systems only for current device volumes, there will be struggles for the teams as the usage number will go up. All the productive hours will be lost in providing upgrades.
To ensure maximum productivity of the teams, align them to build scalable cloud architectures, which are designed to handle changing workloads automatically. IoT project management should move towards innovation and not merely fault corrections and basic upgrades.
Poor documentation balance
The data collected from development and testing teams grows tremendously fast and within no time, it creates piles of documentation. This can leave the teams overwhelmed, thereby leading to a drop in productivity.
The need here is to provide concise and high-quality documentation to the teams. The key documentation concepts include:
Sensor profile – A description of how a specific sensor behaves, laid out in a manner that makes interpretation easier.
Firmware lifecycle – An explanation of how teams have worked so far to develop, test and deploy. It should contain version history and step-by-step process guidelines.
System architecture map – A visual and textual overview instead of large text to show how devices, networks and apps interact.
The right amount of data presented in the right style helps teams handle IoT implementation challenges with confidence.
Conclusion
IoT project teams face multiple workflow challenges when there is a need to deliver high-quality products and services to diverse consumer groups. Improving productivity helps teams address these challenges efficiently without compromising quality. This makes productivity a key performance metric in the success of IoT projects.
The post Everyday Productivity Challenges in IoT Projects and How Teams Solve Them appeared first on IoT Business News.