IoT platforms: Different types of platforms and how to choose the one you need

What is an IoT Platform

An IoT platform is software that connects devices, sensors, actuators and industrial equipment in a digital environment, creating a network so that they can communicate and create valuable information . It would be something like a bunch of Lego pieces, each with a different shape and color, which we could assemble at our whim to put together (virtually) any model.

The principle behind the notion of platform is the usual "do not re-invent the wheel" and, instead, rely on the experience of others who have already built systems similar to the one we intend to develop. This speeds up the implementation time and avoids the most typical mistakes, as well as allowing the user to focus on what they do best: their business logic.

Platforms are trending in many areas, but especially in the IoT world. According to Gartner, these layers of abstraction that shield developers from the complexity of the underlying system encourage widespread adoption of IoT and edge computing, especially as functionality becomes more sophisticated, which we have been seeing over the past few years. These platforms fill the gaps created by the lack of standards for IoT application deployment and orchestration. But what are the pieces we need to put our system in place? Or, put another way, what are the typical components of an IoT platform?

Components of an IoT Platform

The scope of IoT is very broad, encompassing such disparate environments as wearables and wearableswearables smart cities or industry 4.0 in general. In this article we will focus on industrial applications, which is where we have the most experience, although many of the items discussed below are also extensible to other environments such as smart homes o smart cities.

IoT Connectivity

IoT connectivity is the component that enables the connection of assets in the field with assets in the cloud, where the devices in the field -the IoT nodes- are generally in charge of collecting the necessary data and the assets in the cloud are in charge of storing them and facilitating their analysis. IoT connectivity is the backbone of any IoT application. Recently we have seen how decision making is moving ever closer to the edge, towards IoT nodes or Edge nodes. But despite this, the umbilical cord that connects that edge to the core systems is still essential for the proper functioning of the application.

Connectors for communication protocols

Connectors for communication protocols are the lowest level hierarchical component of the application that exist in IoT devices, IoT nodes or Edge nodes, whatever we want to call them. These devices are often connected to other devices in the field such as sensors, actuators or industrial equipment. These industrial equipment come from different vendors, each with their own hardware and firmware, and speak very different protocols, which can range from widespread industry standards such as Modbus, to more specific or even proprietary protocols. Therefore, the role of connectors that allow the nodes to understand these protocols is very important when collecting data from the equipment.

Node management and monitoring

Node management and monitoring is the component that becomes necessary as IoT deployments grow in number and geographic dispersion, making the need to centrally manage them evident. This management is usually handled by a fleet management module, which allows displaying basic health information of all these devices and performing actions such as remote software updates.

You may be interested to know : The importance of OTA updates

Application Development Interface

The application development interface is the component that allows data to be collected (through the protocol connectors mentioned above) and sent to the cloud (using IoT connectivity) is usually handled by an application deployed on the devices. If we talk about Edge Computing this application will also perform more complex processing within the nodes, i.e. it will contain part of the business logic. In any case, many platforms already include an integrated environment for application development and debugging. In many cases, this environment incorporates low-code functionalities, allowing users to implement their systems using simple graphical interfaces, in which they simply drag and drop elements, connect them together or select options from drop-down menus.

Application deployment and orchestration

Application deployment and orchestration is the component where applications running inside devices need to be deployed remotely and securely. All IoT platforms include an application orchestration module that allows sending applications to the devices, updating them, getting information about their status, etc...

Data ingestion and storage

In recent years we have been seeing a shift towards more device-side analysis and decision making(Edge Computing), but, despite this, databases remain a central element in any application. We can have centralized databases in the cloud (with their redundancies) or partial databases on each device that, ideally, are synchronized with the central databases.

Processing and visualisation

Raw data has limited utility and it is not until we analyze it in detail that we begin to extract value from it. Most platforms include processing and visualization tools, or facilitate integration with such third-party tools. Data analysis ranges from simple data crunching to the use of complex artificial intelligence models.

Related reading: AIoT the perfect fusion of the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence

Command analysis and dispatch

Once the data has been processed, applying our own business logic to make decisions, we need those decisions to be turned into actions. In other words, we need them to be transmitted downstream so that the devices actively participate in the management of the business. This is not always desirable but sometimes it is interesting for IoT nodes to act on their environment, and that is why the platforms include a module that allows these commands to be sent.

Cybersecurity

Any IoT platform must be robust operationally but, in particular, it must be robust in terms of cybersecurity. This is especially true in the industrial world. Indeed, security is one of the most important barriers to adoption of IT technologies by established companies with a strong OT heritage. These security features include such things as data encryption, port cancellation, network service limitation, authentication enforcement, etc....

Which platform should I choose?

There are many types of platforms and the above breakdown is only intended to present some of the services that these platforms can offer. When selecting an IoT platform, it is useful to distinguish between generic platforms and more specific products..

Why choose a generic vendor iOT platform?

Generic platforms are those of providers such as Azure, AWS or Google, which offer a comprehensive ecosystem of tools. The options on these platforms are virtually endless, but they tend to have a considerable learning curve and are not tailored to the specific needs of certain customer segments.

Why choose specific IoT platform products?

At the other extreme, we would have the more specific platforms such as Barbara IoT, with more limited capabilities, but adapted to very specific verticals, in our case to sectors such as the electricity sector, railways or critical inventory management. These platforms usually provide better user support and much shorter development and deployment times.

If you are interested in this article and want to know more about how to get started with an IoT project, contact us and we will study your case .

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