The world is speedily transforming into a place where the digital world rules our lives. The incessant revolution of technology is making significant advancements in sensors, processors, wireless connectivity ICs, hardware, edge computing, etc. IoT software development is promptly garnering ground for different intriguing applications like smart offices, smart homes, factories, connected logistics, etc.

The market of IoT, or the Internet of Things, will apparently reach a high value. Other revolutionary advancements such as Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence are also playing a crucial role in fueling the development of IoT apps that make devices and machines interact with one another.

Besides tech conglomerates, even startups have started emerging to ride the wave of the Internet of Things to develop a more intelligent world. With that stated, here are the seven key parameters to consider for IoT software development.

1 The OS: Importance of Operating System

When compared to mobile devices or desktops, IoT devices have less memory, power, size, and processing. Thus, choosing the right IoT operating system that fits your device’s capabilities and requirements is imperative. The system’s architecture encompasses a wide number of sensors connected to the gateways. They get connected to remote cloud platforms. The IoT operating system is crucial to:

• Security
• Connectivity
• Storage
• Networking
• Protocol support
• Remote device management
• Other IoT system requirements

A few IoT systems have the capability to process data in real-time. They are real-time OS or better known as RTOS. Each IoT device has its own perspective, so the choice depends on the careful assessment of the capability and requirements of different IoT OS available in the market. 

2 IoT Protocols

IoT works with interaction between devices, sensors, servers, gateways, and applications. However, certain IoT protocols and standards are there to make the IoT system function & transfer information. In general, protocols get used for personal computers, tablets, and smartphones that may have IoT devices constraints like:

• Bandwidth
• Range
• Power consumption

That’s why IoT network protocols have got developed, and newer systems are evolving. Besides wired (Serial, USB, and Ethernet) and wireless (BT, Wi-Fi, and LoRA) protocols, the IoT systems have IoT protocols with low transmission overheads, such as CoAP, MQTT, XMPP, UDP, or AMQP. 

3 Data Processing & Collection

As IoT applications drive immense data, data processing and collection play a crucial role in making the IoT systems functional.  A lot of planning requires the data to get collected, stored, and processed within the environment. Data size stored on the cloud with platform requirements is another significant factor. 

4 Cross-Platform Compatibility

Cross-platform compatibility is another critical aspect of IoT development as the IoT ecosystem involves devices with various protocols, operating systems, and architectures. The team of IoT development must accomplish the right balance between software and hardware functions for the IoT platform to deliver the best performance in spite of heavy OS, bug fixings, and device updates. 

5 Quality Assurance 

Quality assurance is another criterion determining the IoT software development’s successful outcome. In general, IoT is a complex shared system that includes various integrated network components, resources, and applications. Without suitable testing, there might occur constraints in computation and communication. You need to develop an optimized and reliable IoT device. For this reason, quality assurance is a prerequisite.

6 Security

Since IoT is everything about numerous connected devices, the network might be vulnerable to hacking & other cyber-security attacks. With more IoT apps getting built for personal spaces and houses, hackers might have multiple targets to spy on people or scan for vulnerability. Security is an important concern in IoT development. To manage the precarious situations, developers should use TLS or DTLS (communication-layer security) & data encryption as the most effective remedies. 

7 An Intuitive Design

Regardless of how complex building the IoT app or software is, users should never experience trouble using it. Thus, the IoT app must be simple, intuitive, and design-driven. No user would want to read a manual to install & set up a new device or upgrade technology. Thus, designers should ensure:

• Secure and simple onboarding

• A seamless transition between systems and devices

• Personalized UI & adjusting products to the behavior patterns
• A unified environment for the whole IoT system

With the aforementioned things examined and factored in, a developer can carry forward the IoT product development and generate a successful outcome.